Your Noon Briefing: Scotland’s creative industries, Hugh Dan MacLennan, etc

BEGINS a Scottish Government announcement: “The Culture Secretary has called on the UK Government to ensure the interests of Scotland’s creative industries are adequately represented in Europe.

“Appearing before the Scottish Affairs Committee, Fiona Hyslop urged ministers to ensure our interests are represented in the review of EU copyright regulations as part of the new European Digital Single Market Strategy.

“The creative industries in Scotland are worth over £5 billion to the Scottish economy and currently employ over 71,000 people.

“The Scottish Government has given its full support to the Skills Development Scotland Skills Investment Plan for Scotland’s creative industries which was launched recently with improved digital, diversity, business skills and the promotion of jobs at its heart.”

Read more, here.

An audio clip from the committee session can be heard here.

And the story is picked up, here, by The Herald, which begins its report, thus: “Scotland’s culture minister has said people should not ‘fixate’ on the idea of a new TV station for Scotland.”

* * *

WELL-known radio and television sports broadcaster, Hugh Dan MacLennan, has returned to one of his previous lives: the world of academia.

Dr MacLennan – who will be continuing in his role as a commentator on shinty, rugby, football with the BBC and BBC ALBA – has been appointed a Soillse research fellow at Edinburgh University’s Department of Celtic and Scots.

He is also a Professional Fellow in the Academy of Sport at the university.

Research projects involving Gaelic, broadcasting and, no doubt, sport beckon.

A shinty Blue at Glasgow University in the 1970s and PhD at Aberdeen University in the 1990s, Hugh Dan has also worked at the University of Stirling.

Hugh Dan recently led a team which launched a six-month-long exhibition about shinty – at Hampden Park stadium, in Glasgow – and has been working with the charity, Alzheimer Scotland, to develop a sports reminiscences project, through shinty.

* * *

WIDELY reported, including here, on dailymail.co.uk: “The much-loved and mysterious Loch Ness monster may have been invented by a cunning British public relations consultant, who dreamed up the idea of the creature in a London pub.

“The claims were made in a new book which suggests the story of the monster  was started to encourage people to visit the Scottish Highland following the difficult years of the Great Depression.

“The monster was invented by DG Gerahty, who was recruited by several Scottish hotels to improve the area’s tourism, claimed Professor Gareth Williams.”

* * *

AS announced here, in a media release posted yesterday on allmediascotland.com by The BIG Partnership comms agency: “Bauer Media Group has announced another addition to its growing creative team by appointing Mark Devlin as head of creative at Radio Forth.”

* * *

A DISCUSSION about cyberbullying is taking place later this week at the National Union of Journalists’ branch serving the Forth Valley.

The branch is to welcome – on Thursday – guest speakers, Fiona Davidson, who recently completed a study into cyberbullying of journalists for Glasgow University, and Glasgow Branch chair, John Matthews.

The meeting, open to NUJ members, is taking place in the Graeme Hotel, Grahams Road, Falkirk, from 7-9pm.

* * *

BEGINS The Herald’s Martin Williamson: “A Scots weekly newspaper was a the centre of a bizarre social media storm after inflammatory remarks were posted on Facebook and Twitter on its official feeds attacking itself and the editor.

“The Stornoway Gazette’s normally sensible diet of headlines and story links turned into a foray of insults about the state of the newspaper.”

Read more, here. And also, here, on the website, DailyBusiness.

* * *

AND begins an announcement issued today by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA): “Restrictions proposed in the Scottish Alcohol Bill would have a negative impact on the advertising and marketing communications industry in Scotland, Brian Coane, chair of advertising agency trade association, the IPA for Scotland, will tell the Scottish Parliament this morning.”

Read more, here.

* * *

SEEN anything you think readers of www.allmediascotland.com should be made aware of? Then just send the weblink to here and we’ll do the rest. All suggestions gratefully received. We’re back at noon tomorrow.