We Are Under Attack

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The attack on Wings Over Scotland should come as a warning. This is the new game plan of the establishment media, and we have been given a sneak preview before the next independence referendum. Let’s start planning.

Early this morning Stuart Campbell, the man behind Wings Over Scotland, tweeted from his personal account that Twitter had suspended Wings from its platform. Even in the independence movement Campbell has made more than his fair share of enemies (he has a few supporters too). He doesn’t appear to be the easiest man in the world with whom to get along. Often he can be rash and hot headed, but – love him or hate him (the marmite of Scottish media) – his right to do what he is doing is sacred. If Twitter can, on the insistence of one British journalist – silence him, then we should all take note that we can all be gagged. Fighting for Wings’ freedom of speech was fighting for the right of everyone in Scotland to speak truth to power.

Frenzied Wings Mob (me) gathered this morning outside the Express London office to protest @WingsScotland suspension https://t.co/Ig2H1mciYs

—
Jack Deeth (@JackDeeth) September 12, 2016

By the looks of things Siobhan McFadyen was the excuse the British media and establishment had been looking for to have Wings shut down. She lied about events in Scotland during the independence referendum, suggesting that Scotland had descended into some sort of savage civil war with widespread outbreaks of violence. This was a load of shite. Nothing of the sort ever happened, and Campbell was right to describe her as “an utter disgrace.” She is an utter disgrace. However, it was a trap. She accused him of harassment and the trap was sprung.

We have to take this as a warning. You see, in Scotland we are not really allowed to have pro-independence media. Granted, we have the National – but that, as good as it is, is the daughter paper of a fairly unionist, well-established paper that is owned by a very British media corporation in London. The independent media in Scotland is limited, other than iScot Magazine, to the blogs; Wings Over Scotland, Bella Caledonia, Wee Ginger Dug, and the Butterfly Rebellion. It is great that we have these, but the situation is far from perfect. Not content with its near complete domination of the print and television media here in Scotland, the establishment has shown its hand that it will take any opportunity it gets to hit the only media we have.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of Campbell in the movement – good or bad – thank goodness we have him. Wings was caught in the snare, and now it’s out again – thanks to the general uproar in Scotland. Now we need to learn from this and start to think more seriously about protecting ourselves and strengthening the media that we do have. May is doing an atrocious job of managing Brexit, and in all likelihood the negotiations are going to explode in London’s face. This will lead to another referendum in Scotland. Of this I am sure. We need to make sure that we are up and ready for this. It is going to be a dirty, scrappy fight (without the widespread outbreaks of violence) and we are going to have to dominate the media war or prepare to lose again.

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