I don't know about you but I find this quite frightening pic.twitter.com/VFgKlkvzXt

— charlie whelan (@charliewhelan) September 14, 2014

A lot of journalists are getting very prissy about the above banner which was paraded on Sunday as Yes supporters staged a march towards the BBC’s Scottish headquarters in Glasgow. Many have taken to Twitter muttering support for Nick Robinson and that this bodes badly for freedom of speech if the SNP win the referendum. Given the SNP have been in government for years with no noticeable damage done to a free press, this is a bit of hyperbole. That Charlie Whelan, formerly Gordon Brown’s bruiser spin doctor, could tweet that he was frightened is laughable. New Labour’s tough operators Mandelson, Campbell and Whelan himself were not above bullying the media and calling for firings of journalists on a regular basis. That is one of the many ways they pressurised editors – particularly at the BBC.  

The suspicion of an imperial BBC amongst Yes supporters is pretty much universal and has become focused on Robbo after he asked a tricky question of Alex Salmond based on a briefing from the Treasury. Fair to say Salmond didn’t like it one little bit…

The personalistion aside, the feeling is that the BBC is a partial propagandist is inevitable given the British Broadcasting Corporation is seen as institutionally biased in favour of the British status quo. The clue is in the name…

Journalists are remarkably thin-skinned when it comes to being on the receiving end of what they dish out – that is why they invariably hate unfiltered comments below their articles and the feedback of the mob on Twitter and the streets. Tough, freedom of speech is for everyone, not just journalists…