A Tale of Two Bridges

Today's newspaper headlines are dominated by gleeful gloating about the fact the the Queensferry Crossing had to close yesterday because of ice falling from the structure onto the carriageway.

Quite apart from the raging hypocrisy of the MSM who would have gone equally crazy if the bridge hadn't been closed and an accident had occurred because of falling ice the behaviour of our media leaves a great deal to be desired.

Can anyone think of anywhere else in the world where the MSM talk down their country and its achievements as much as they do in Scotland?

We have a lot to be proud of in Scotland but the BritNat MSM seem to be on a crusade to denigrate every achievement for fear that we might just realise how capable we actually are.

At roughly the same time, of course, Boris' bridge over the Irish Sea get loads of favourable coverage.

Well, the BBC are at least not guilty of it as have just read the report and it is entirely without gloating and very informative and highlights the fact that the great new bridge in fact should not need to be closed due to high winds as it has been fitted with special baffle structures. The 'not needing to be closed due to wind' was the claim made for it by the designers so if some newspapers got it wrong then more fool them. The BBC report highlights the set of circumstances that prevailed which caused the ice problem (and that it has happened before) and that it is a problem with bridges in many other countries.The old bridge often had to be closed due to high winds and this one doesn't and it looks fantastic as well.

Have look at this page on the BBC's website - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-38598155

That is not an unbiased headline. The story behind the headline is fair, I grant you but the headline is not.

Was this title given to the bridge by the media when it opened? Was it hailed as 'the bridge that should never close'? I don't know- can't remember- but if it was then that might explain it being used now?

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Originally Posted by Fulmar

Was this title given to the bridge by the media when it opened? Was it hailed as 'the bridge that should never close'? I don't know- can't remember- but if it was then that might explain it being used now?

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I don't remember it ever being called that so I can't throw any light on the matter. Being the cynical, BritNatophobe that I am I wouldn't be surprised to learn that if it ever was called that, the original sentence may have read, 'the bridge that should never close due to high winds'. Remove the last 4 words and you have a headline.

Moral is one should do more than just read the headlines! I have found out more about that bridge than I ever knew before anyway.

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Originally Posted by Fulmar

Moral is one should do more than just read the headlines! I have found out more about that bridge than I ever knew before anyway.

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I completely agree. The problem is that the headline is the attention grabber and often the only thing people can recall. That is why it is important, for the BBC in particular, to ensure its headlines do not convey a less than impartial message.

To illustrate things further look at the way the Herald has reported the issue.

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The Herald continually claims to be impartial. Difficult to believe when you see these headlines. They are utterly ridiculous.

But, my main point is why the constant need to spin everything negatively? The QC has remained open during all weathers, except the exceptionally bad weather of the early part of this week. It has remained open during periods of inclement weather that would have closed the FRB. Travellers have experienced far less disruption as a result. Instead of celebrating that fact the MSM chose to invent a "crisis" where none exists and concentrate on a closure caused by extremely severe weather.

It would be nice to hear/see the MSM talking Scotland up for a change.

I completely agree but don't you think that is the newspapers? They do that and worse such as pick on individuals in abominable ways. It's not called the gutter press for nothing, is it? Although I suppose the Herald would not place itself in that category. But in general, the idea seems to be to pander to the worst in human beings and publish bad salacious stuff or present news in the worst possible light or engender a sense of grievance where none should exist as all that 'sells'.

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Originally Posted by Fulmar

I completely agree but don't you think that is the newspapers? They do that and worse such as pick on individuals in abominable ways. It's not called the gutter press for nothing, is it? Although I suppose the Herald would not place itself in that category. But in general, the idea seems to be to pander to the worst in human beings and publish bad salacious stuff or present news in the worst possible light or engender a sense of grievance where none should exist as all that 'sells'.

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There is a lot of truth in what you say, BUT does it sell. Look at the Heralds sales graph below.

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I really don't see how continually trying to make a population feel bad about itself and its country makes any business sense particularly when that population makes up your customer base.

I agree! But here's some good news from BBC Scotland page. Both the Ben Nevis walkers and the stranded motorists have thanked the respective mountain rescue teams for their rescue. Those guys are heroes among many other folk who act for the good of others so very nice to be able to celebrate that.

Heroes indeed. They did a great job in both incidents.

Hypocrisy taken to new levels here by Jackson Carlaw.

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The Northern Ireland bridge pales into insignificance if this monster dam is ever built.. Hope they put a road on the top so we can drive to Norway. https://www.independent.co.uk/enviro...box=1581605267


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I see the Dartford Crossing Bridge has had to be closed due to high winds.

Quite frankly this is a scandal; indeed, a national disgrace and embarrassment. This vital piece of infrastructure is crucial to the UK economy yet it has had to close because of wind. It really is high time Nicola Sturgeon took some responsibility for once and resigned.

Stay tuned for 3 days of in-depth analysis, across the MSM, of the "Crisis Crossing". Why Nicola must go now. What else could the money have been spent on? What will be the impact upon commerce? Alex Cole Hamilton Tweets his thoughts and the entire MSM regurgitates them.

Good job there is a tunnel to use when the bridge closes, so no long diversions I believe that it always closes when wind speeds hit 60mph. So I doubt there will be much damage to the economy. It would even mean the LNG for the new gas ferries could make it all the way from Kent to Whereever in Scotland it's going to be needed, eight tankers a week? Very green idea!