Your Noon Briefing: Brian Stormont, party political broadcasts, etc

BEGINS pressgazette.co.uk (here): “Another group editor is leaving regional newspaper group, Johnston Press – the third such departure to emerge in the space of a week.

“Brian Stormont, senior editor of the Angus County Press, has announced he is leaving the company after 25 years at the end of the month.

“Stormont has direct editorial responsibility for the Arbroath Herald, Guide & Gazette and Montrose Review. He is the group editor of 14 newspapers overall.”

He is quoted on holdthefrontpage (here), saying he is looking for a new challenge.

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THE SNP have been allocated a minimum of two party political broadcasts in Scotland in the run-up to the General Election, according to a statement issued by broadcasting regulators, Ofcom.

But the Greens (including the Scottish Greens) have been allocated none. UKIP, meanwhile, has been allocated pre-election broadcasts, but only in England and Wales.

Read more, here.

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BEGINS the Sunday Herald (here): “A new, multi-million pound movie about Bonnie Prince Charlie is at risk of being filmed in Ireland rather than Scotland.

“The producers of The Great Getaway are now urging the Scottish government to support efforts to have it filmed in Scotland.

“The Great Getaway will follow the story of the flight of Charles Edward Stuart to Skye in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden.”

The story is accompanied by a leader column, here. Plus a side panel, here.

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ALSO begins the Sunday Herald: “The Sunday Herald is hosting a panel discussion on freedom of speech and satire following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.

“Je Suis Comedia: What Are You Laughing At?’ forms part of the Glasgow International Comedy Festival and will be chaired by our head of news, Neil Mackay.”

Read more, here.

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BEGINS an announcement by the recent former business editor of The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday, Terry Murden, and his new website, Daily Business: “Daily Business has announced a four-figure Budget sponsorship deal with Big Four accountancy and business advisory group, PwC.

“The move will help secure writing and editing services at the news website.

“PwC experts will contribute comment and analysis, and will be joined by Colin Borland, head of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland, who has been added to the writing team.

“Editor, Terry Murden, has already secured the services of personal finance writer, Jeff Salway, and former Scotsman business correspondent, Peter Ranscombe, to provide exclusive live news and opinion on Budget Day.”

Read more, here.

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BEGINS an op ed on The Guardian website: “An If … cartoon strip by Steve Bell prompted more than 300 complaints to the Guardian and nearly 1,000 comments below the line, most of which were critical. The strip [noted, here, on allmediascotland.com], published on 9 March, features caricatures of Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, and Alex Salmond.”

Read more, by Chris Elliott, here. The heading to his article reads: ‘I may not always agree with cartoonist, Steve Bell, but I defend his right to draw’.

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FORMER First Minister, Alex Salmond, has a book coming out later this week.

And suggests today’s Scotsman (here), there’s likely to be plenty on his views about The Treasury and its alleged role in journalists being alerted (just a few days before last year’s referendum on Scots independence) to a story about the bank, RBS, possibly relocating to England in the event of a Yes vote.

Yesterday, both The Scottish Sun on Sunday and the Sunday Herald (here) extensively reported revelations about the alerting.

And The Telegraph’s Auslan Cramb writes (here) of Salmond’s claims – in yesterday’s Sun – of ‘imperial bias’ by the BBC.

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BEGINS The Herald, here: “Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said ‘sexist’ portrayals of female politicians in the media – such as a mock-up of her in a tartan bikini – could deter women from entering politics.

“Ms Sturgeon said it remains harder for women to succeed in politics than men, but said the elevation of several women to top positions in Holyrood represents ‘big progress’.”

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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.