BBC to trial Scottish Six

Doesn't really work as generally the devolved matters are probably higher up the running order.

I do think the national news being more self aware of what is and isn't devolved and explaining it clearer is the way forward. With the Doctors Strikes for example it would have provided a bit more context to explain why they're striking in England but not Scotland/Wales.

Another possibility I guess is that there are different versions of the same report that can be played out, so Scotland still get the 6pm news and the same running order but a different version of the report is run in Scotland (and if applicable, Wales too) where the matter has been devolved.

Along with BBC Alba's An La. Yes, I said that earlier on in the thread.

Worth remembering a third of the US local newscasts are taken up by ads too, so they're at 38-40 minutes of content compared to the 55 minutes or so a "Scottish Six" would take.

Even though it would break the 'tradition' of a London based News bulletin on BBC1 (and especially if it happened on ITV later), I have to say I agree this would be the best time to provide such a bulletin for Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland. Now what about England gaining a full hour's National/Regional News programming at 10pm too (could a more in-depth programme for each Home Nation kill off Newsnight though? Not saying this would be a bad thing as I feel the reputation of the programme is tarnished...I know many don't agree.)

Er no. I'm going to be old-fashioned here: the UK is a country. It still exists on every map I have. Cultural differences between Scotland, England etc are way over-exaggerated. There are countries in the world which are far more decentralised than the UK, with far more diverse regional cultures which still manage to have single national & international newscasts. This is about undermining the UK as a nation, as a polity, by the SNP and the BBC have caved in to it. Any practical considerations about how TV news is provided to people in Scotland or the UK as a whole is very much a secondary issue, if it's a factor at all.

If Scotland needs anything it's a more local news programme than Reporting Scotland. At the very least, there should be something similar to the 'Close Up' segment that Look East has. STV, already more local than the BBC to begin with, threw down the gauntlet years ago, yet the BBC have never responded to it. The SNP don't seem to have a problem with that either. Funny that.

I don't think it's just cultural differences, with the new "English votes for English Laws" and enhanced levels of devolution, there will be times when the network Six is covering things which just don't apply to Scotland. Giving something more relevant doesn't seem too unreasonable.

Give over. I tackled the devolution argument in my post. Other countries who have regions with far more self government than Scotland has yet manage to have national news programmes. Not least the United States.

Besides, what the hell's wrong with the odd story, like the junior doctors one, being run on the national news? It may only directly affect England or England & Wales. So what? That's 80+% of the UK population for starters and even so, is it really of absolutely no interest of the rest of the UK? And so what if individual Scots don't care for the story. I don't care about tons of items that both the network and North West news provide over time. Meanwhile, I will have a vague interest in the Scottish Higher exams results that the network news always cover every year. I will also want to know the results of Holyrood elections or whether Glasgow Rangers can remain solvent. Should these things only be covered by Reporting Scotland even though they supposedly don't directly affect me?

I see no point of a news bulletin being broadcast from Glasgow covering nearly all the same stories as the one from London will be doing at the same time. Whatever benefit jettisoning the odd story about English schools crumbling in favour of one about the tourist industry in Aberdeen may yield, it seems marginal to the cost of the duplication. But this isn't a practical proposal at all. It's an emotional one; a sop to separatists who only want Scottish accents on their news anchors or Scotland only weather forecasts, not ones showing the British Isles. So they can pretend they're watching an SBC or whatever the anagram would be in Gaelic. And what will be next? The Ten? The One? BBC Breakfast? These people cannot be placated. The SNP will never be happy about the BBC. Like the UK as a whole, nothing short of a totally separation will ever do. And yes, we live in a free country where people are allowed to believe that said country should not exist. But we shouldn't have to indulge them and allow them to pretend it doesn't when it does.

But you haven't tackled the devolution argument because Scotland is a unique case - sure many countries have federal structures but there isn't a massive separatist feeling in the US states and a long held belief of 'London-centrism'. In a few months nearly every policy area will be devolved to Scotland and of course Scottish viewers want to hear about how their nation is governed and how policy decisions affect them. Due to Scotland only accounting for about 9% of the population the BBC News at Six would only proportionately give about 3 minutes of airtime to Scottish issues and most of the time to English issues that have no bearing on the Scottish population and that is before you take into account foreign news stories most of which are pre packaged and could be played out at either end at little extra cost. BBC News at Six is also supposedly more domestically focused than the BBC News at Ten and I'm sure Scottish viewers would rather hear about the Scottish NHS, Scottish education system etc. than the completely different systems south of the border.

To Scottish viewers it is like if your news bulletin was filled with stories about the Scottish NHS, Scottish education systems etc. Given that most of the running order is taken up with stories about healthcare, education, politics and so forth it makes little sense in broadcasting a news bulletin to the Scottish people that has no relevance to their lives. It isn't the odd story, it's most of the programme. It's good that the BBC is waking up to the increasingly federal nature of the country and to Scotland's special nature. Now Scotland is nearly all governed from Holyrood and legitimately elected Scottish MPs are being barred from voting in the Commons on some issues - it probably is of no interest to Scottish viewers if NHS England are hitting their targets or if the English schools are being given a new curriculum.

Furthermore, it appeases the SNP and at a time when the BBC are being f*cked from every angle they need as little pressure on them and as many allies as possible.

I did address the devolution argument.

Scotland is not a unique case. It's part of the UK. There are plenty of countries which have separatist movements. They generally don't have their institutions falling over themselves to appease such movements because it's a waster of time if nothing else. Nothing the BBC do will ever appease the SNP, as I said in my previous post. The SNP cannot be appeased when it comes to British institutions. And stories about Scottish education, politics etc don't bother me, as I said in my previous post . You talk about 'English' issues and 'Scottish'' issues, as if they're totally distinct and never the twain shall meet but most network stories are either international, often with no direct affect on anyone in the UK or they're nationwide. There are relatively few 'English' issues, like the NHS hitting its targets and when they do appear, it's a two/three minute item. Cope with it. English schools getting a new curriculum? What about people in England who don't have kids? Should they get all upset that it's not relevant to them? Speaking of which, I'd be surprised if a story about Scottish schools getting a new curriculum would not make the network news. I, for one, would find that a worthy news item. Yourself and Billy Bragg may not but we're all different.

Maybe there should be a North West Six. Many more items on the network Six are not about the North West than are. I'm sure there are people all over Lancashire & Cheshire receiving counselling about the horrors the BBC subject them to every evening.

In Canada, there's a belief of a Toronto/Ontario/Quebec/Eastern Canada-centric bias and I believe in the US, there's the New York/East Coast bias and the sense of 'flyover' country being ignored.

Why are you against one of the BBC's 3 bulletins being split so it is more revelant to both the Scottish audience (which, thanks to devolution, will have a very wide range of issues that could do with some news coverage), and the remaining audience (where any devolved matters that aren't of particularly UK-wide interest can be dropped)?

There are two other bulletins that are still as they were, so you're not going to miss out on the most relevant Scottish news (and they may very well get better coverage if the packages are taken from the Scottish Six).

Scotland has elected its own Parliament and I think it would like to hear what decisions it has made (and not just the decisions that they've avoided from Westminster).

There's no need for a North West Six because the North West has no parliament of its own.

The silliest part of your argument is:



The Scottish Six is one bulletin out of three. There are still two UK-wide bulletins. It isn't giving up the One and the Ten.

If the North West had a parliament, would your opinion change?

Catalonia has a parliament. So does Bavaria. So does Alberta. All with much more responsibility than Scotland's. I bet all receive national news programmes not just ones for their respective areas.

You've not explained why the 'silliest part of my argument; is the silliest part of my argument, or silly at all.

Cool, there'll be the One and Ten, but that's not relevant if one only tends to watch the Six for whatever reason. They'll also be the next to go: give a yard take a mile and all that.

I've outlined my reasons for being 'so' against the plan; some more than once, over my previous three posts.

Lastly, I think you're being contrarian for the sake of it. It's your 'thang'.