I want to thank EKant (see comments) for drawing my attention to this piece from Scotland on Sunday. This is the worst side of jounalism, surpassed only by the idiot Hoggart;here an organ, which likes to be thought of, and thinks of itself, as a serious newspaper, sent a bunch of people out to deliberately see if they could provoke a reaction; as far as I am concerned this is about as wise as taking a stick and stirring it around in a hornet's nest. I mean, for pity's sake, if you set out to provoke a reaction then that is precisely what you will do! Surely, if you want to really know what people think you conduct a survey in the proper manner, rather than going out and rubbing people's noses in whatever it is you are trying to provoke a reaction about. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to have agreed with the tenor of this totally irresponsible piece of 'journalism'; a piece of unmitigated crap that is not worthy of the Scotland on Sunday, but which belongs down in the gutter alonside the tabloids, this is the sort of scaremongering that the Mail and the Scum are usually guilty of perpetrating!
Scotland on Sunday, you can do better than this rubbish; so why don't you?
June 22, 2006 at 9:12 am
I really don’t know what either you or EKant are worrying about. I thought it was quite interesting. Nobody got hurt. There was shouting, and some abuse. There was quite a lot of humour. Storm in a teacup, I’m afraid. I don’t particularly like the abuse, but I don’t think much of it is worse than that which has been directed at Germans by certain peole, whom you know, in my own sitting room.
June 22, 2006 at 9:54 am
There is a long tradition of folks disguising themselves as the opposite sex, older or younger, as a different race, as a fake sheik to elicit a more honest reaction than would be obtained by asking someone if they like or dislike old people/women/english football fans etc
if you walked around Newcastle in a Middlesborough shirt on match day there would be a percentage of locals who’d be prepared to take a pop verbally or physically, at that smoggy bastard so it’s not just scotland-england rivalry that produces such a response
maybe it’s a stunt but obviously an article that describes last of the summer wine as cultural imperialism isn’t taking itself too seriously and doesn’t purport to be a scientific survey. All credit to a scotsman who is prepared to roam around scotland in an england shirt during a football tournament in the name of research
I have been a fair few times to Scotland to some very posh places and some absolutely un-posh places and I’ve never been called an english anything, to my face anyway, and have generally got along with people I’ve met but we’re hoping to go away over the border next week and hopefully england will be still in the world cup so I suppose we shall just have to see if things are different given the slightly heightened atmosphere
June 22, 2006 at 11:04 am
Sorry I am in a rather disagreeable frame of mind today!
I am not in any way trying to say anything about anti-English/anti-Scottish sentiments; what I am saying is that rubbish like this is just the sort of journalism that fosters such attitudes. It might have been done with tongue in cheek, but if you set out to provoke a reaction then that is exactly what you will get, and quite frankly the nationalists don’t need to be given any excuses to promote their bigoted messages; and journalists who put this sort of rubbish into their grubby little paws should know better.
June 22, 2006 at 11:11 am
“Sorry I am in a rather disagreeable frame of mind today!”
Yes, you are. A little lite DIY in Junior Bond’s flat is called for.