SNP MSP calls Reporting Scotland '˜fake news'

An SNP MSP has dismissed BBC Scotland's flagship current affairs programme as 'fake news', prompting criticism from fellow Nationalists.
Gordon Macdonald is MSP for Edinburgh Pentland. Picture: Ian Georgeson/JPGordon Macdonald is MSP for Edinburgh Pentland. Picture: Ian Georgeson/JP
Gordon Macdonald is MSP for Edinburgh Pentland. Picture: Ian Georgeson/JP

Gordon Macdonald, who represents Edinburgh Pentlands at Holyrood, was commenting on a BBC article on social media which explained plans to help students identify real news and filter out fake or false information.

The MSP commented “for this to be effective we need a logo to identify ‘fake news’” alongside a brand image of the long-running news programme Reporting Scotland.

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The term “fake news” entered the political lexicon during the heated 2016 US presidential election campaign and has since been used by politicians of all parties to dismiss reports viewed as inconvenient or unflattering.

President Donald Trump has regularly used the term to attack major newspapers and broadcast networks.

Responding to Mr Macdonald’s tweet, one SNP supporter said: “I’m not sure I’m happy with an MSP playing Trump’s game. We (Scotland and the SNP) should be better than this even if we are disappointed by how the BBC cover some stories.”

But other Twitter users defended the MSP. One claimed: “BBC getting worried that the subtle propaganda they’ve been pushing for decades is now becoming more obvious.”

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A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “Gordon Macdonald is the latest in a long line of SNP politicians to humiliate themselves on this front.

“It seems the paranoid, extreme elements of the nationalist ranks are now infiltrating their MSP group too.”

The Scotsman has approached the SNP and Mr Macdonald for comment.