Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Scotsman Letter About George Square £15 Million Rip Off- Herald Censors Any Mention
This letter about the George Square rip off (though the project has been essentially cancelled the £15 million budget is still going into some friends of Glasgow Labour's pockets) was in the Scotsman, our Edinburgh based "quality" paper, indeed it was literally highlighted.They even included mention of my UKIP membership.
On Thursday, councillors are going to “consider” the new two-stage plan for George Square in Glasgow.
The first stage is to spend £500,000 replacing the tarmac with a less hideous colour.
The second stage, of which we know nothing, will be to spend the rest of the £14.5 million allocated to the original project.
If they are “considering” what the second stage of the plan is, they know what it is.
Personally, I think they could have repainted the tarmac for a few thousand, but what do I know about spending other people’s money?
Neil Craig
(Secretary Ukip Glasgow branch)
Glasgow
It went out across the Scottish media. Of note is the fact that the ever diminishing Herald, Glasgow's "quality" paper, decided £15 million wasted by the council in the centre of the city, wasn't worth publishing a letter about.
Far less important to Glasgow citizens than an ecofascist whine about a group of beekeepers refusing to support their call for banning a pesticide.
The Herald have previously decided to censor letters from me on this subject, just as they censor any reply to the numerous letters from governmenmt funded PR people attacking UKIP, and as they have even censored online comments on both.
This is the same Herald which made a grovelling apology for having reported that the Labour council leader here had become ill with euphemistic "liver disease". Others said it was cocaine and alcohol addiction and he certainly went into a detox centre, but "liver disease was not quite far enough from the truth to satisfy. The Herald could certainly have defended their report but told the PCC they were apologising to maintain good relations.
Of course a large proportion of newspaper advertising comes from state organisations, including councils and the thin pagecount of the herald is not so likely to attract readers and thus commercial advertisers.
No doubt Lord Leveson would entirely approve of the Herald as the sort of "responsible" journalists, willing to apologise, that he wants the entire press to be.
Still I don't see that it is possible for this new censorship to take the press even halfway to being a state propaganda poodle since it is clearly more than halfway there already.
UPDATE Last night I found that this same letter had been published, in box, by the Metro, slightly shortened. I'm sure the metro has a far higher circulation than the Scotsman, which in turn must be significantly more than the Scotsman. This double publication is very pleasing.
I also sent the above article to the Herald to ask if they thought any part of what I said was off the mark but clearly they didn't.
On Thursday, councillors are going to “consider” the new two-stage plan for George Square in Glasgow.
The first stage is to spend £500,000 replacing the tarmac with a less hideous colour.
The second stage, of which we know nothing, will be to spend the rest of the £14.5 million allocated to the original project.
If they are “considering” what the second stage of the plan is, they know what it is.
Personally, I think they could have repainted the tarmac for a few thousand, but what do I know about spending other people’s money?
Neil Craig
(Secretary Ukip Glasgow branch)
Glasgow
It went out across the Scottish media. Of note is the fact that the ever diminishing Herald, Glasgow's "quality" paper, decided £15 million wasted by the council in the centre of the city, wasn't worth publishing a letter about.
Far less important to Glasgow citizens than an ecofascist whine about a group of beekeepers refusing to support their call for banning a pesticide.
The Herald have previously decided to censor letters from me on this subject, just as they censor any reply to the numerous letters from governmenmt funded PR people attacking UKIP, and as they have even censored online comments on both.
This is the same Herald which made a grovelling apology for having reported that the Labour council leader here had become ill with euphemistic "liver disease". Others said it was cocaine and alcohol addiction and he certainly went into a detox centre, but "liver disease was not quite far enough from the truth to satisfy. The Herald could certainly have defended their report but told the PCC they were apologising to maintain good relations.
Of course a large proportion of newspaper advertising comes from state organisations, including councils and the thin pagecount of the herald is not so likely to attract readers and thus commercial advertisers.
No doubt Lord Leveson would entirely approve of the Herald as the sort of "responsible" journalists, willing to apologise, that he wants the entire press to be.
Still I don't see that it is possible for this new censorship to take the press even halfway to being a state propaganda poodle since it is clearly more than halfway there already.
UPDATE Last night I found that this same letter had been published, in box, by the Metro, slightly shortened. I'm sure the metro has a far higher circulation than the Scotsman, which in turn must be significantly more than the Scotsman. This double publication is very pleasing.
I also sent the above article to the Herald to ask if they thought any part of what I said was off the mark but clearly they didn't.
Labels: letters, Media, Scottish politics
