Nicola urges BBC: Don’t axe my daily briefings
THE BBC should reconsider a decision to axe the broadcast of daily Covid-19 briefings, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The First Minister claimed the broadcaster could be putting elderly Scots at risk and stressed that her on-screen appearances were becoming more important to deliver her message.
The BBC will no longer televise the daily briefings but has said it will continue to stream them live online.
Major developments will still be broadcast on BBC One Scotland and the BBC Scotland channels.
But yesterday senior SNP figures reacted with fury as thousands of people signed a petition calling for the broadcaster to reverse the decision.
It comes after growing frustration from opponents about the amount of on-screen time Miss Sturgeon has been afforded during the pandemic – and the continued appearances with less than eight months to go before the next Holyrood election.
Recent polls have suggested the SNP could win a majority at the 2021 vote – with critics pointing to the daily broadcasts as part of the reason for Miss Sturgeon’s surge in popularity.
An opinion poll by Survation published yesterday showed 53 per cent in favour of breaking up the Union, with 47 per cent against.
Miss Sturgeon said yesterday: ‘What is broadcast on the BBC is a matter for the BBC but we are in unique circumstances right now and the ability for me and my colleagues to communicate directly with the public has never been more important than it is right now.
‘I have always taken great care to try not to stray into political territory. I’m not saying I’ve never slipped up – I am fallible. But I’ve always recognised my responsibility to keep these briefings very much on topic because I want people regardless of their politics to be able to listen and hear the messages that are so important.’
She said older people who do not have access to the internet and people with disabilities had found the briefings ‘particularly important’.
The First Minister added: ‘All I would ask is that they [the BBC] take all of that into account in the decisions that they make.’
There has been growing opposition to the briefings, which have aired live on television every day since March.
Political opponents had called for the BBC to stop broadcasting them routinely, with Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie previously writing to bosses.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney encouraged the BBC to keep televising the briefings, saying its decision was ‘a matter of regret’.
The briefings are currently shown live on both BBC One Scotland and the BBC Scotland channel, with some coverage also included as part of BBC Radio Scotland’s Lunchtime Live programme.
These will be scaled back as business at Holyrood is returning to a more normal basis.
Last night the BBC said that it would ‘continue to provide essential public information on the current pandemic’ but coverage was being adapted.
The corporation said there would still be reports based on the briefing as well as live television coverage of First Minister updates at Holyrood, and First Minister’s Questions.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘We won’t necessarily cover every single briefing live on TV. Rather, we will cover them based on their news value.
‘Where it is appropriate to cover the briefings in their entirety, on TV, we will do so. That is not, nor has it ever been, in question.’
The BBC confirmed that the briefing on Monday will be televised live as new restrictions on socialising are introduced.
More than 8,500 people signed a petition against the BBC decision within 15 hours of the news.
A social media campaign has also urged viewers to boycott the broadcaster.
Nationalist MSPs including James Dornan and Linda Fabiani voiced their frustration online, while Gillian Martin and Sandra White have written to the corporation.
‘Political territory’
‘A matter of regret’