The results of a survey published early in 1992 showed a marked level of dissatisfaction with the overall programming of TV among the black population of England. The quality and variety at peak times came in for criticism, but the key questions posed by those conducting the survey concerned the immediate relevance of general programmes for the black audience. Analysis of the final results highlighted two crucial areas of concern. First, there were not enough programmes featuring black presenters, actors or commentators in normal life situations. Second, when black actors were included there was a tendency towards stereotyping. For black people in England this is another area where there will have to be more work done, but a quick response from media spokespersons would seem to indicate that this reasonable and constructive criticism will be taken on board in strategic programme planning.

For Scots living in Scotland there was a certain irony in these findings. Ostensibly Scottish series like "The Advocates", "Take the High Road", "Taggart", etc., are increasingly staffed with inane and talentless English actors and actresses of most pallid Anglo-Saxon attitudes and excruciatingly English accents so that they are no longer a representation of everyday Scottish life, except that they chillingly reflect the English takeover which is thus unconsciously highlighted. And note how often these English intruders are cast as bosses, estate owners, decision makers, chief constables, etc.

Further, when Scots are depicted in mainstream British TV (that is to say, English TV), they are invariably the drunks, shoplifters or junkies which are the shared common stereotypes of our black contemporaries.

If there is a message in the findings of the survey taken among English blacks, and if that is to be addressed by the powers that be in England, how much more do we have a case for a fresh approach to the employment of Scots in TV in Scotland? That is to say that while it is manifestly unjust to treat the black as second class in terms of representation on TV, the black community resident in England has taken a certain calculated risk in moving to a distant part of the world to live.

Scots have taken no such risk. We are in a position in this sphere - as in so many others - of being second class citizens in our own homeland. For the vast majority of our population there is a very tangible negative result from this situation. Being consistently shown as unworthy and disreputable in TV settings and having English people portrayed as our masters - those who are more articulate, powerful, clever, wise and just than ourselves - has been an essential ingredient in the psychological grinding down of the Scottish people, and has played its part in the process of "inferiorisation" to which our people have been subjected. This "inferiorisation" has its most profound and lasting impact in that it implies an acceptance by the Scottish people that they have become worthless in their own self-perception.

For Siol nan Gaidheal this challenge on the airwaves offers another legitimate arena in which we can, and must, face the Enemy. Every aspect of Scottish life is similarly being eroded by the forces of the English take-over. The process has been exposed recently on television and in the press by several aware journalists as "THE ENGLISHING OF SCOTLAND".

Now that there has been recognition of the existence of this process, those of us concerned with the survival of Scottish cultural integrity may name it without fear, and where its overt and covert forms are identified, we must campaign tirelessly to reverse and defeat it. The educational and opinion-leading agenda of our organisation also calls upon Siol nan Gaidheal members to perceive English-dominated TV output from a further quite specific angle. While there can be no positive value (to the general population) in the sickeningly English output of all the current channels, there may be an obtuse benefit which we might glean from even the most introverted and crickety of English TV shows.

In the old U.S.S.R., the government had a department of linguistic specialists whose function was to watch American TV and to look for points of stress in the American Cultural Package presented. They were able to gain a unique insight into the American psyche by watching their TV shows. Bear in mind that there has always been, since the beginnings of popular television, a conscious attempt to present an idealised version of everyday life. So the Russians could learn to kow their enemy by looking in on his everyday life - humour, fears, preferences, prejudices, strengths and weaknesses. The Russians were aware of the psychological advantage which this would render them in any dealings with the Americans. Russian commentators during recent troubles in that country all spoke English with markedly American accents for that reason. The Americans have several security agencies where specialists watch Russian TV, listen to Russian radio shows and read and analyse Russian newspapers, magazines and books. They also know of the psychological benefits of knowing your enemy from inside his own mind.

It remains our grief that our own language has declined to such an extent. However, we Scots tend, as a result, to a reasonable facility in English. Add to this the regrettable deluge of English TV which we allow to intrude on us day-by-day - TV programmes made in England by the English for the English - pervaded with state metaphors about cricket and boarding schools, firm-but-fair nannies, thatched cottages, vicars, mayors, Oxford and Cambridge. Think of Coronation Street and Emmerdale, What's My Line, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Some Mothers Do 'ave Em, Lovejoy, Morecombe and Wise, Sorry, Carry On Up The ...... Think of the cheerless dreary 'sit-coms' which have left generations of Scots stone-faced and of their unspeakably tedious coffee adverts where the supposedly understated humour depends on body language so alien to our own as to render it, at best, a recurring irritation.

Now consider again that we have probably never made a TV programme in our history which was not tortuously self-conscious, like a child encouraged to sing for the visitors. Our programmes are almost invariably contrived to fit comfortably within the parameters of the English pre-conceived notions of us and our everyday lives. How The English see us - now we see ourselves. A TV show made in Scotland is only pronounced a 'success' if "They" like it. This is essentially a kiss of death to any realistic possibility of our television reflecting our real lives.

Now consider that we know them from inside their own stodgy minds - and they have no such facility to learn about us. We can watch their dull, plodding everyday lives beamed right into our living rooms in glowing colour - to the limited extent that their lives contain any colour.

All this might present a great opportunity for Scottish patriots concerned to acquire the necessary psychological tools with which to combat effectively the English Ethos manifest in our country. The intrusion of an English way of thinking and living, into Scottish homes, will never be a good thing as long as television influences everyday life as well as simply reflecting it. However, English TV offers us a relatively easy means of access towards gaining a unique insight into the very soul of these cold and enigmatic, yet, for us, crucially significant creatures.

© Siol nan Gaidheal 1992