The most interesting Scottish election commentary yesterday from @ailsa_henderson. Some good pointers for what the “independence majority” should do, at least in terms of tone, next: “I’m not talking about the rights and wrongs of holding a referendum or of independence, but just how people react to the issue. And we pick up in the data frustration about the way in which the constitutional issue has pushed other issues off the agenda. We absolutely see that in the data. But one thing we also see is that the Scottish electorate is much less nostalgic than the English electorate. And the same is true in Northern Ireland as well. And the thinking is that by having these important debates about our constitutional future, yes, they may well crowd out debates about how to improve education or how to improve health. But they also do shift our temporal focus from thinking about the glory days that we used to have to thinking about how can we build a different future. And regardless of what side of the constitutional debate you’re on, that shift in temporal framing does change the mindset. As a result, the Scottish electorate is also much less angry than the English electorate…”

🏆 Up for the cup #SMFCvPTFC #WeAreThistle

Really interesting thread on the 'abstraction ceiling' people supposedly hit with maths, essentially a nature versus nurture debate, but speaks very much to my own experience as someone who initially went to university to study 'pure maths'....and is now a sociologist.

We kick off our new inquiry on Scottish Broadcasting, hearing evidence firstly from a panel of academics (including @higgins_nick @catherinehapper), then from media & union representatives @ITVborder, @NUJScotland, @johnmclellan. Watch tmrw from 8:30am: scottishparliament.tv/

RIP our wonderful brother Mani. The greatest bass player and friend we could ever have wished for. X

COME ON SCOTLAND! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿⚽️ Scotland is in the World Cup for the first time since 1998 after a historic 4-2 win against Denmark 🏆

My article on changing models of #mediatrust - and the growing 'disconnect' between mainstream journalism and chunks of the population which is driving people further away from conventional 'news'. #bbc theconversation.com/what-a-d… via @ConversationUK

We've heard a lot about what's wrong with the BBC today. But what is to be done? Here's Dan and me discussing this a few months back. 👇

Zohran Mamdani delivers a groundbreaking victory speech.

RT @HackneyAbbott: If the government wants to sell our data to US Big Tech and wants to further curb our civil liberties, it should say so…

There are so many unprecedented actions happening right now. But this feels like another hugely significant turning point. Finding & publishing ‘unauthorised information’ is the very definition of journalism. And banning it is the first step towards an ever deepening darkness

Bragg is the last of the Reithians i.e public service ethos, intellectually serious, committed to making complex cultural subjects available to a broad audience. This stands in contrast to what TV has become in the modern-era: wall-to-wall quiz shows, soaps and reality TV.

The AI boom may create a new super intelligent life form. Or it may usher in an age of productivity miracles. Or neither. At this moment though, it’s making a small number of people fantastically rich, while placing strain on an economy that’s already been strained for 5 years.

Our research reveals the UK's media habits - and YouTube is taking over TV sets: 📺 Gen Alpha turn to YouTube first on their TV at home 🥈 It's the 2nd most-watched service in the UK, after the BBC 🕒 At home, people spent 39 mins on it daily in 2024 🔗 ofcom.org.uk/media-use-and-a…

Israel's crimes have got so bad that even the British media are starting to notice them.

This feels significant – it's happened because with a totally changed media, atrocities can't be covered up by mainstream narratives as people will go elsewhere for info. But for some of their readers, it will be a wake up call, the picture is impossible to ignore #GazaStarving

On BBC’s Today programme this morning Rachel Maskell came across as the sincere, honest & decent person she is. Suspending her for standing up for her constituents & following her conscience & then being abused by a No 10 spokesperson says more about the people in charge than her

British politics and media are deeply, structurally militarised. The US could bomb any country on the planet, do any amount of killing, and this would be the macho, glorifying, jokey response. The deeper message, swallowed whole: 'Who gives a fuck?!'

Notice how BBC reporting on Israel/Palestine is shifting in line with the Foreign Office. Obviously more balanced position is welcome. But it's the same structural drivers that led to the woeful failures in the earlier phase.

Glasgow University Media Group researchers are talking about media, public opinion and climate today at @UofGSPS 2 Degrees event: how can we respond to net 'stupid' zero?