Broadcast news Going berserk

Although I can understand a nyo n e’s w i s h t o k n ow t h e me s s a g e i n “h e a l t h b r o a d - casts” by the authorities, as Prof Alan Murdoch says (Letters, 16 September), I am sure that he will be as aware as the rest of us that the opportunity for this to be abused is all too tempting for any astute politician.

We are equally aware that there are no flies on Nicola Sturgeon, who knows a good deal when she sees one. It is often said that b eing in the public eye is always a go o d thing. Free publicity is oxygen to public figures and especially those who have an evangelical attachment to achieving one aim and one aim alone.

I f i t i s a “k e y t o o l” i n t h e “ongoing health campaign”, as Prof Murdoch says, then it is the information the “health broadcast” contains that is the impor tant thing. That information can be presented by a ny o n e a n d n o t j u s t t h o s e who are politicians or politically-appointed health officials. Indeed, these things are usually best put out by those who are neutral practitioners with no political bias. Civil servants are a prime example and Ian Mcdonald is a case in point during the dark days of the Falklands War.

Although Mr Mcdonald may no longer be with us, I am sure that there will be many people who could provide the information that Ms Sturgeon currently uses to appear daily on o u r t e l e v i s i o n s c r e e n s a n d in all the news repor ts. I am sure that Prof Murdoch will approve if it is simply a matter of the dissemination of necessary health information.

ANDREW HN GRAY Craiglea Drive, Edinburgh

T h e r e may b e S c a n d i n av i - an DNA but there is no such thing as “Viking DNA” (“Not all Vikings were from S candinavia and six per cent of UK population have their DNA”, Scotsman, 17 September), any more than there is cowb oy DNA or pirate DNA!

HARRY D WATSON Braehead Grove Edinburgh