Media bias against SNP exposed as ITV censured over inaccuracies in interview with Nicola Sturgeon

It has long been recognised that that there is a hostility towards Scottish independence by the mainstream media. Overwhelmingly the press has been hostile to the Scottish National Party (SNP). This is as obvious now as it was during the time of the referendum held on Scottish independence. This includes the broadcast media, and the BBC has often been criticised for its lack of balanced reporting on the issue. It is, of course not just the BBC. As is demonstrated as the ITV, the television channel that currently operates in England, Wales, Scotland, Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and north of Ireland, is censured over inaccuracies in an interview with Nicola Sturgeon

ITV have been criticised over an interview with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, where claims were made the SNP would have to impose austerity if Scotland became independent. The First Minister was appearing on the programme Good Morning Britain where the interviewer claimed the SNP had forecast they would have to impose “austerity policies” and “years of tight public spending” if it broke away from the rest of the UK. The interviewer, aggressively waved a piece of paper before Scotland's First Minister, claiming he was reading from the party's own Sustainable Growth Commission report. Nicola Sturgeon immediately attempted to correct the error but was dismissed  and ignored by the two English presenters of the programme. Nicola Sturgeon was trying to correctly state: “The report doesn’t say what you’ve just said. The report explicitly rejects austerity, the report recommends that an independent Scotland should have real terms growth in spending rather than the cuts we’ve seen.”

In continuing to override the reply of the Scottish First Minister, the interviewer (Ben Shepherd) was in fact being inaccurate. Actually the interviewer was referring to a summary, written by the Good Morning Britain production team, of a critique of the Commission Report produced by the Institute of Financial Studies! A viewer complained to Regulator Ofcom, (the regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting), who launched an investigation into the broadcast. They found that ITV breached broadcasting guidelines on accuracy and impartiality. ITV were forced to make an on air apology following the interview on June 8 this year. Ofcom findings stated: “We considered that the inaccuracy in this case had a significant impact on the remainder of the interview. This was because viewers would have not known whether Mr Shepherd or Ms Sturgeon was accurately reflecting the findings of Commission Report. “This potentially left viewers with an erroneous impression that Ms Sturgeon was either unclear about the contents of the report or deliberately misrepresenting its findings.”

The broadcaster was also found in breach of guidelines by Ofcom for failing to make the on air apology until four weeks after the interview was broadcast. Their apology read: “On 8 June we interviewed Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, during which we suggested to her that the SNP’s Sustainable Growth Commission Report had said austerity measures would be required in the event of Scottish independence. “In fact, the quote that we put to the First Minister was a summary of a critique of the Commission Report made by the Institute of Fiscal Studies, and not a quote from the Commission Report itself. We apologise for this error and for any confusion caused.”  However as an Ofcom spokesperson made clear it was the length of time it took for ITV to make the apology: “Our investigation found that this programme broke our rules on due accuracy, because the presenter claimed incorrectly that a political strategy report contained a statement it did not. “ITV broadcast an apology four weeks later which we considered was not soon enough after the mistake had been made.”

Despite this finding, do not expect a correction by the mainstream media to their ongoing anti SNP and Scottish independence bias. At the time of the Scottish independence referendum, it was the independent news media outlets that formed the main balanced argument in regard to the benefits of an independent Scotland. It will be the independent media outlets and socal media which will also continue to put this case forward in the future. As is shown by the present exposure of the ITV false reporting, it will be to independent media outlets that people will turn to in the future for information. This is a clear indication of the increasing importance placed on independent and social media sites for any kind of informed critical debate. It is also an indication of why such independent sites are loathed by those in the political establishment.