I reacted with more than a little surprise to the new commercial hook up between Scottish Television (STV) and Rangers.
http://www.rangers.co.uk/articles/20111227/gers-in-stv-agreement_2254024_2559000
For me this immediately flagged up some ethical issues that will have to be faced by members of the National Union of Journalists at STV, especially on the news desk.
These problems are succinctly nailed by Roy Greenslade in his Guardian Blog today.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/dec/28/stv-group-rangers
There is an on-going problem with the ownership of media organisations impacting on editorial autonomy.
However this new relationship between STV and Rangers is on another level.
Rangers and their tax problems is a major news story in Scotland.
Will the STV news journalist, employed by a media company now commercially conjoined with Rangers, be able to continue to cover that story adequately?
The NUJ members employed by STV are blameless in this situation.
The forensic examination of the new owner Craig Whyte’s business past by Mark Daly of the BBC showed what can be done.
There are fine news journalists at STV and I hope that this new business relationship with Rangers does not hamper their freedom to dig in the appropriate places.
