Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon has hit out at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) after the Corporation moved to stop routinely broadcasting the Government’s COVID-19 briefings.
Ms Sturgeon warned that the lack of televised briefings could deny some of Scotland’s most vulnerable communities of vital public health information.
In a statement, the BBC said it would stream the regular sessions online, and only show them on television when they had news value.
The decision was also criticised by Chief Executive of Scottish Care, Donald MacAskill (pictured) who said he was “very disappointed that, in the midst of the largest public health emergency ever, BBC Scotland has decided to cut back coverage of the Scottish Government’s daily briefing”.
Ms Sturgeon admitted it was up to the BBC to decide what it broadcast.
However, she said that with the number of positive cases rising and winter fast approaching, it had “never been more important than it is right now” for her to communicate with the people of Scotland.
“The televising of these briefings at a time like this has been a public service and the BBC is a public service broadcaster,” Ms Sturgeon said.
“The televising of these briefings has been important in allowing me to communicate information and advice directly, and giving us the opportunity to explain the reasoning and rationale behind the decisions we’re taking, and the things we’re asking people to do,” she said.
Ms Sturgeon said with the nation going into winter “it becomes more important, not less important over this next period for me to be able to continue that very direct communication”.
“These briefings will always be broadcast on Scottish Government channels so they will always be available for people to see, but not everybody is as hooked into the internet and technology as some of us,” she said.
Head of Public Policy and Corporate Affairs at BBC Scotland, Ian Small said a decision on which briefings would be broadcast live would be led by “what information is being imparted by the Scottish Government”.
“Where it is appropriate to cover the briefings in their entirety, on TV, we will do so,” Mr Small said.
“These arrangements will be kept under review,” he said.
Edinburgh, 14 September 2020
