Open Scotland? Lobbyists, Journalists and Spin Doctors

Philip Schlesinger, David Miller, William Dinan

Paperback 256 pages (April 2001)
Publisher: Polygon at Edinburgh
ISBN: 1-902930-28-2

Scottish devolution brought high hopes for an open political culture. But how far have these been fulfilled? Open Scotland? argues that in the field of political communication the old, established ways of the British state still remain firmly in place. Westminster and Whitehall continue to cast long shadows over Edinburgh.

This book offers the first full-scale analysis of how media, politicians and lobbyists interact in the new Scotland. Based on their exceptional first-hand access to the key players, Philip Schlesinger, David Miller and William Dinan have written an inside account of the struggles to establish the rules of the game for covering politics and regulating lobbyists.

They have talked to the journalists of Scotland's political media pack who are at the heart of the new political system and who have a decisive impact on the image of the Scottish Parliament and government. They have observed and interviewed the professional lobbyists and reveal their strategies for achieving a respectable image in Scottish public life. And they have talked to spin doctors and press officers and analyses some of the key rows and the failures of news management inside Scotland's government.

Open Scotland? offers an insight to the world of journalists, spin doctors and lobbyists revealing the motivations behind the news stories in Scottish politics today.

"Excellent. This is one of those rare books that have a firm intellectual framework, but where the authors have also done hard journalistic work"

New Statesman

"A brilliant new study"

Peter Preston, The Guardian

"A detailed and meticulous account"

The Herald

"A damning critique of political communications in Scotland"

John Crace, The Guardian

"An important contribution"

Dennis Kavanagh, Media, Culture and Society