Kezia Dugdale: Sky's the Limit
Readers may or may not be aware that every MSP office in the Scottish Parliament has a television in it.
The power of remote control allows MSPs to tune into the BBC Parliament Channel, Radio Scotland, or even the lunchtime episode of Doctors, should they wish to brush up on the troubles facing local GP practices. And there is always Jeremy Kyle for the latest on the breakdown of our social fabric as a nation.
It also allows MSPs and their staff to tune into the Scottish Parliament's own debating chamber or any one of its six committee rooms, so that they can follow the day's developing business while working away.
However, earlier this year the Parliament renegotiated the deal it had with its TV provider and as a consequence MSPs have lost a few vital channels.BBC3, Channel 5 and Radio 1 stay but Sky News goes.
In fact the only 24 hour news channel MSPs have access to in the Parliament is BBC News 24.
The loss was particularly keenly felt when, a couple of weeks ago Sky News ran with the huge potential scoop that Abdel Basset Al Megrahi had passed away in Libya.
By the time MSPs in Parliament had cottoned onto the developing news story it had been retracted. But this does pose some interesting questions, particularly as it was recently revealed that St Andrews House, where most government Ministers hang out, still has access to Sky News.
Why is a national Parliament, in the 21st century age, in a 24 hour news cycle, cutting access to news services?
Surely if the Parliament is to shake its parochial image, it's parliamentarians and their staff should have ready access to international news channels, CNN, Sky, Russia Today, NBC, Al-Jezeera?
Or should our horizons end at Hadrian’s wall?
The power of remote control allows MSPs to tune into the BBC Parliament Channel, Radio Scotland, or even the lunchtime episode of Doctors, should they wish to brush up on the troubles facing local GP practices. And there is always Jeremy Kyle for the latest on the breakdown of our social fabric as a nation.
It also allows MSPs and their staff to tune into the Scottish Parliament's own debating chamber or any one of its six committee rooms, so that they can follow the day's developing business while working away.
However, earlier this year the Parliament renegotiated the deal it had with its TV provider and as a consequence MSPs have lost a few vital channels.BBC3, Channel 5 and Radio 1 stay but Sky News goes.
In fact the only 24 hour news channel MSPs have access to in the Parliament is BBC News 24.
The loss was particularly keenly felt when, a couple of weeks ago Sky News ran with the huge potential scoop that Abdel Basset Al Megrahi had passed away in Libya.
By the time MSPs in Parliament had cottoned onto the developing news story it had been retracted. But this does pose some interesting questions, particularly as it was recently revealed that St Andrews House, where most government Ministers hang out, still has access to Sky News.
Why is a national Parliament, in the 21st century age, in a 24 hour news cycle, cutting access to news services?
Surely if the Parliament is to shake its parochial image, it's parliamentarians and their staff should have ready access to international news channels, CNN, Sky, Russia Today, NBC, Al-Jezeera?
Or should our horizons end at Hadrian’s wall?
posted by Kezia Dugdale at
09:00
2 Comments:
Why should your horizons end at Hadrian's Wall if you have News24? And what difference does it make that the Scottish Government has Sky and the Scottish Parliament doesn't?
The Scottish Government is a separate body from the Scottish Parliament.
If you want Sky back surely you should be arguing that case with the Parliament authorities?
Have you done so?
"Huge potential scoop" equals totally failed to verify the story. Since Sky got it so badly wrong with Megrahi I can't see why it should be viewed as a credible news channel.
Can you tell us what vital channels the Parliament lost and who was on the committee which decided to lose them? Were they in fact news channels?
I've looked through the 2009 minutes of the Parliamentary Corporate Body for any information on who decided on the contract and what channels were changed but it isn't there. Do you have a link to the minutes of the meeting which decided to change the number of channels which are accessible from the Parliament?
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