The Scotsman, The Green Lobby & Fallago Ridge.

A three week public hearing in Duns, into the Fallago Ridge wind farm, ended on Friday. Earlier in the week the Scottish Government appointed official (The Reporter) went on a site visit with many of the objectors, as well as people from the company who want to develop the wind farm. Throughout the Lammermuir Hills the familiar yellow and black signs littered the landscape. Unlike the turbines they are quick and easy to remove and do not do long term damage to the environment. The Reporter's decision will hopefully be quick. A big thank you to Dave Lochhead, the chairman of the Community Council along with the rest of the councillors from Cranshaws, Ellemford & Longformacus who have fought a good fight.

One of the biggest disappointments during the hearing was the deafening silence from the main Scottish media and in particular the Scotsman. They have provided virtually no coverage, possibly because it goes against their new found green credentials. When will they realize that turbines are about making people money, not saving the planet. Of course the Scotsman going green doesn't extend to their advertising policy. Much of their advertising is airline and foreign travel related, with a lot of Tesco thrown in. Since the paper's purchase by the Johnson Press it is increasingly going down market and feels more like a low brow, local paper than the brilliant newspaper it once was. You hear it from most people - 'aye the Scotsman's not what it was."

The Power of Advertising

Last week the Scotsman carried a supplement, an advertorial paid for by the Renewables industry that promoted on shore windfarms in which it accused the "small and very vocal minority" of attacking the industry unfairly. Accusations of NIMBY-ism were tossed around.

Today the Scotsman launches a campaign against plans to introduce crippling new charges that threaten Scotland's renewable power industry. The paper says the, 'Energy watchdog Ofgem is considering the charges for wind and tidal energy schemes in the Highlands and Islands - where the wind and tides are stronger than almost anywhere else in Europe. Such a decision would hamper the fight against climate change and jeopardise 30,000 potential jobs.'

Of course there's no link between the advertorial, which netted the Scotsman a pretty penny, or the advertising spend of the renewables industry and their current campaign. But you have to ask yourself how the Scotsman has been sucked into believing that 30,000 'potential' jobs are at risk.

The problem remains one of 'transporting' electricity from remote areas to where it is consumed. It's as if the Scotsman has not noticed the arguments over the Cairngorm pylons, nor is it aware that electricity leaks out of the cables the longer distances that it's carried.

The Scotsman is giving a voice to the Renewables industry that is rich and powerful, one that has consistently cried foul despite the huge subsidies paid to windfarm developers and landowners. The paper's stance is one driven purely by advertising spend and does them little credit. On the other hand with their rapidly falling circulation it matters less, although it is read by those who have the power to makes decisions. Alex Salmond in particular has gone from questioning on shore wind farms to opening new windfarm sites. The worm has turned, and like everyone else in politics, for him the scent of power is seductive.

The Scotsman would do better to have a campaign to save electricity, to benefit the less well off with schemes that save them money and to help all us by promoting the idea that in our cities advertising hoardings are turned off at 2 a.m. and offices don't have their lights blazing all night long.

Silly Season Comes Early

According to the Scotsman one of the day's top stories is 'Scots Splash as England is drenched. "It a tale of two Britains yesterday as Scots basked in the sun while England and Wales were battered by thunderstorms and heavy downpours. Temperatures reached 21C in parts of the Highlands and 20C in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.'

Well I left home this morning in cloud and it had been raining all night long; the roads were flooded in places. I was on my way to Berwick Upon Tweed to catch the train to London. Funnily enough as I crossed over the border to England it didn't start raining any harder. Not far out of Berwick on the train and the sun started shining.

The silly season has come early this year with nothing more to talk about than the weather - a story made more daft by the dumb attempt to prove that even Scotland's weather is better than England. The Scotsman's slide continues.

The Scotsman's On The Slide

According to the Scotsman this morning 'pressure on Douglas Alexander, the Scottish Secretary and the person responsible for choosing the ballot papers, increased yesterday when Sir Sean Connery called on him to resign over the problems with the Scottish election'. What bloody next - they actually pay people to write this kind of tosh. The once great newspaper is heading down the slippery slope on a daily basis. A celebrity speaks and we're supposed to listen; this kind of drivel does nothing for the Scotsman's credibility.

Update

Back from walking the dogs and I had an email in my inbox from All Media Scotand that gives the latest circulation figures for newspapers in Scotland. The Scotsman has a daily print circulation of 54,179 and the Herald 69,328. According to the email 'the figures for the Scotsman remain stubbornly downward: 3.4 per cent down, month-on-month; 12.3 per cent down, year-on-year. Its Sunday sister title, Scotland on Sunday, is down 6.7 per cent, year-on-year, and 4.5 per cent, month-on-month. Meanwhile, the year-on-year figure for The Herald is down 5.4 per cent (2.2 per cent down, month-on-month). As for its Sunday sister, the Sunday Herald, its year-on-year figure is 3.1 per cent down, year-on-year, and 0.4 per cent down, month-on-month.'

I had no idea that it was only about 1% of the population that read the Scotsman. Now I know it's not quantity but quality and I'm sure the argument is all about these people being the influential and the important in Scotland, and a lot of others read it online, but still!