:00:12. > :00:23.Coming up on the programme, it's a year to the referendum on Scottish
:00:23. > :00:26.independence. Is the BBC giving independence. Is the BBC giving fair
:00:26. > :00:30.access to both sides of access to both sides of the
:00:30. > :00:35.argument? And if the Scots vote to leave the UK, what implications does
:00:35. > :00:41.that have for the future of the BBC? We will hear the opinions of some
:00:41. > :00:45.young voters and the BBC's responds. We have some questions that haven't
:00:45. > :00:48.been answered, that's a massive point, people want to know what the
:00:48. > :00:56.they are not being given. they are not being given.
:00:56. > :01:00.On the 18th of September next year, everyone in Scotland aged 16 and
:01:00. > :01:04.over will get the chance to vote on its future. They will be asked the
:01:04. > :01:08.question, should Scotland be an independent country? A simple enough
:01:08. > :01:12.question but one that has already aroused considerable argument
:01:12. > :01:16.of the issue has come under of the issue has come under
:01:16. > :01:18.particular scrutiny with most of the complaints received by Newswatch
:01:18. > :01:23.according the —— accusing according the —— accusing the
:01:23. > :01:30.corporation of an anti— independence bias. Thomas Machan's Beach e—mail
:01:30. > :01:48.was typical of those: —— Thomas McCann's.
:01:48. > :01:54.I've come to talk to some younger potential voters in next year 's
:01:54. > :01:56.referendum here at Clyde College. Some of the students here, 17 and
:01:56. > :01:59.time potentially in that referendum. up, will be voting for the first
:02:00. > :02:05.time potentially in that referendum. What do you think of the coverage of
:02:05. > :02:12.think the coverage is pretty 50/50. It's just that I think it is always
:02:12. > :02:17.in the same sort of narrow context. I just think there's not any
:02:17. > :02:24.of the UK, important to London? UK? Why
:02:24. > :02:24.of the UK, important to London? There is an assumption that the
:02:24. > :02:36.it. We need to help you understand people are
:02:36. > :02:40.it. We need to help you understand why you can't do this. What is your
:02:40. > :02:49.view of the coverage and how far you think it is answering the questions
:02:49. > :02:53.you might have? I think the coverage is not as big as it should be, it's
:02:53. > :03:00.a massive story for our generation and future generations. There's not
:03:00. > :03:02.enough in the media. The last story about independence or the yes
:03:02. > :03:06.campaign was e—mail is getting hacked, that has told me nothing
:03:06. > :03:09.about why I should vote yes or no, it has only told me that is a bad
:03:09. > :03:13.thing that's happened, it's not given me a clear idea. In terms of
:03:13. > :03:18.thing that's happened, it's not how the BBC basically portrays it
:03:18. > :03:21.all, I feel as aggrieved, I feel there's not enough on either side. I
:03:21. > :03:29.am part of both better together am part of both better together and
:03:29. > :03:33.Yes on Facebook —— Better Together. Every day you will have countless
:03:33. > :03:38.information and facts on both and they are never reported by the BBC,
:03:38. > :03:40.reported by anyone. You need to reported by anyone. You need to
:03:40. > :03:42.remember that people don't want remember that people don't want to
:03:42. > :03:46.hear about it all the time, they don't want the constant reminder
:03:46. > :03:49.that this debate is happening and everyone is going to have to make
:03:50. > :03:54.this massive decision that's going to affect our country. As for the
:03:54. > :03:56.BBC, I think they do do it fairly enough. In terms of news coverage,
:03:56. > :03:59.do you think it is balanced, or is do you think it is balanced, or is
:03:59. > :04:07.there a sense there a sense of bias at all? I do
:04:07. > :04:08.think that sometimes with the Yes campaign there's a bit less of a
:04:08. > :04:11.level of reporting going on, and it level of
:04:11. > :04:16.in the way they report it, like. in the way they report it, like.
:04:16. > :04:19.Alex Salmond holding up a saltire behind David Cameron, it gets loads
:04:19. > :04:23.of attention, it is treated as if it of attention, it is treated as
:04:23. > :04:26.discussion. I don't think it's bias discussion. I don't think it's bias
:04:26. > :04:28.at all. discussion. I don't think it's bias
:04:28. > :04:29.National National Party of the Yes campaign
:04:29. > :04:37.are louder than the are louder than the No campaign. I
:04:37. > :04:41.don't think it's bias, I think it is purely because Alex Salmond likes to
:04:41. > :04:52.it with this crazy image of Alex shout his mouth about a lot of
:04:52. > :04:57.it with this crazy image of Alex Salmond being this despot, trying to
:04:57. > :05:01.separate the union. I feel sometimes that the BBC can play into the
:05:01. > :05:03.scaremongering that a lot of these sort of unionists want, they can
:05:03. > :05:07.say, you know, this will happen say, you know, this will happen and
:05:07. > :05:13.this will happen rather than looking at it from a more rational point of
:05:13. > :05:16.view. Do you think the BBC has a vested interest in the Unionist
:05:16. > :05:21.point of view? I don't know if that's the case. I would imagine on
:05:21. > :05:24.some level that they did. Especially since what would happen to the BBC
:05:24. > :05:27.in Scotland after independence, in Scotland after independence, it
:05:27. > :05:31.is up in the air and no one even here knows what's going to happen
:05:31. > :05:35.with it. You raised the issue about what will happen to the BBC after, I
:05:35. > :05:39.wonder if that's something you have thought about. If Scotland were to
:05:39. > :05:41.vote for independence, what difference would it make? That's an
:05:42. > :05:46.important thing for me. I am on important thing for me. I am on BBC
:05:46. > :05:51.to the BBC if we vote yes is to the BBC if we vote yes is
:05:51. > :05:54.critical, because I feel that the BBC gives some of the best news
:05:54. > :05:58.coverage in the world and that's very important to me. Are not too
:05:58. > :06:05.sure what should happen to the BBC, there should be a divide, and
:06:05. > :06:08.English BBC, a EBC, and a Scottish BBC, the coverage of the stories
:06:08. > :06:11.internationally is of a high internationally is of a high
:06:11. > :06:17.standard so I don't think we should lose that. We have so many questions
:06:17. > :06:20.that aren't being answered. That's a massive point the BBC should take on
:06:20. > :06:25.answers to these questions and they are not being given. Whether that's
:06:25. > :06:29.the fault of the politics at the top, that could be the case, but the
:06:29. > :06:32.media should not try to pick sides and make people choose sides, but
:06:32. > :06:34.is what will happen if you vote yes is what will happen if you vote yes
:06:34. > :06:41.or no. Thanks very much. or no. Thanks very much.
:06:41. > :06:50.with the tricky task of reporting on specifically, the BBC headquarters
:06:50. > :06:54.with the tricky task of reporting on the buildup. Viewers across the
:06:54. > :06:56.will see plenty more of figures such will see plenty
:06:56. > :06:58.as Brian Taylor, BBC Scotland's as Brian
:06:58. > :07:02.political editor and author of a political editor and author of a
:07:02. > :07:07.up coverage of the independence reporting Scotland will be
:07:07. > :07:08.up coverage of the independence debate, as Will Newsnight Scotland,
:07:08. > :07:10.which opts out of the UK wide which opts out of the UK
:07:10. > :07:15.programme from 11pm Monday to programme from 11pm Monday to
:07:15. > :07:17.Thursday. The person in charge of BBC Scotland's news and current
:07:17. > :07:21.affairs output is John Boothman. We affairs output is John Boothman. We
:07:21. > :07:25.have had a lot of complaints from people who feel there's a bias in
:07:25. > :07:30.the BBC coverage of the independence issue, and anti— independence bias,
:07:30. > :07:34.possibly even because the BBC has a vested interest in staying in the
:07:34. > :07:40.union. We want to be and we strive to be impartial, it a cornerstone of
:07:40. > :07:42.all of journalism. The debate has begun and will become even more so a
:07:42. > :07:46.polarised debate, it's not like polarised debate, it's not like an
:07:46. > :07:48.election where you have got four or five different parties, four in
:07:48. > :07:50.Scotland, three, now UKIP, in Scotland, three, now UKIP, in
:07:50. > :07:55.England. You have got two sides in England. You have got two sides in a
:07:55. > :07:58.polarised debate. When you're trying to sit in the middle of that
:07:58. > :08:01.debate, to be in partial you're going to be the subject of
:08:01. > :08:05.complaints. To be fair we have on planes from both sides. We deal with
:08:05. > :08:09.these individually —— we these individually —— we have
:08:09. > :08:14.complaints. You don't feel overall that there is an issue with more
:08:14. > :08:16.coverage on the anti— independence side? It depends who you talk to. In
:08:16. > :08:20.a polarised debate you're going to a polarised debate you're going to
:08:20. > :08:22.get complaints from both sides. You're in charge of news and current
:08:22. > :08:29.affairs in Scotland and affairs in Scotland and also
:08:29. > :08:31.nationwide, how do you reconcile what a Scottish
:08:31. > :08:38.needing bombardment? It is possible a UK audience, that might not be
:08:38. > :08:42.needing bombardment? It is possible for the BBC to cover the story at
:08:42. > :08:45.different levels. But at the end of the day, at a UK level, the
:08:45. > :08:48.implications of this debate and the implications of this debate and the
:08:48. > :08:52.big implications for the UK. While I big implications for the UK. While I
:08:52. > :08:53.accept that there's less of interest so far in this story south
:08:53. > :08:57.interest so of the border, I think that is
:08:57. > :09:00.something that is growing and will something t?I ? something towing
:09:00. > :09:05.grow over the period of the next year. A number the students we spoke
:09:05. > :09:10.to at Clyde College said they felt the coverage focused too much on the
:09:10. > :09:20.breaking news stance, flag—waving, and the political infighting, and
:09:20. > :09:21.for issues they care about, welfare or student living and so on ——
:09:21. > :09:22.stunneds ?? I stunneds. or student living and so on ——
:09:22. > :09:27.stunneds. Two things have happened in the past period, there's been a
:09:27. > :09:31.concentration on process, because it was not until a few months ago that
:09:31. > :09:36.we knew what the question was. We didn't know until it you months ago
:09:36. > :09:40.what the date was. We now know the question, should Scotland be an
:09:40. > :09:44.independent country? We now know the date, September the 18th. We also
:09:44. > :09:48.know it will be covered by the electoral commission. Yeah, we do
:09:48. > :09:53.news programmes, and sometimes there is a tendency if someone is engaged
:09:53. > :09:56.and others are launching a campaign that that is what we would cover.
:09:56. > :10:00.But I can assure everyone that during the course of the next year,
:10:00. > :10:05.slightly over a year, we will get into the meat of all of the issues
:10:05. > :10:09.that we're talking about, whether its economy, welfare, defence,
:10:09. > :10:14.immigration, all of these issues across a whole breadth of the
:10:14. > :10:19.in the run—up to the referendum. A in the run—up to the referendum. A
:10:19. > :10:23.lot of viewers will be wondering what a "yes" vote for independence
:10:23. > :10:28.would mean for the BBC in Scotland. The BBC needs to do two things in
:10:28. > :10:32.the referendum. One, it needs to impartially cover the issue of
:10:32. > :10:36.broadcasting and what happens to it and our journalists will do that.
:10:36. > :10:40.Secondly there's the issue of what happens to the BBC. The BBC as a
:10:40. > :10:53.corporate identity has taken the position that it will not engage in
:10:53. > :10:55.scenario planning, that is right and proper. The BBC has experience of
:10:55. > :10:56.this after the last devolution referendum, it wasn't until after
:10:56. > :10:57.the democratic wishes of the the democratic wishes of the
:10:57. > :10:58.Scottish people were known, that Scottish people were known, that is
:10:58. > :10:59.Scottish pe? I Scottish peat is Scottish people were known, that is
:10:59. > :11:01.to create a Scottish parliament that to create a Scottish parliament that
:11:01. > :11:03.we have now, that the current model of broadcasting that the BBC uses
:11:04. > :11:14.edition of Newswatch. Many thanks to very much.
:11:14. > :11:16.edition of Newswatch. Many thanks to all who contributed and sent in
:11:16. > :11:20.their views. If you would like to send us your views on any aspect of
:11:20. > :11:26.BBC News and current affairs then you can telephone:
:11:26. > :11:40.You can watch this programme again and any of our additions from the
:11:40. > :11:40.past year. Thanks very much. For