Notable exceptions

Regardless of which political side of the fence a news media sits on, it should still be able to report news in a balanced and unbiased manner.

In Britain this is becoming increasingly rare, but there are at least four notable exceptions – the BBC is not one of them – this website, The Shetland Times, The Sunday Herald and The National.

Whilst The Shetland Times supported the NO vote and continued rule by Westminster, Shetland News supported YES and independence for Scotland, as did The National and Sunday Herald.

What sets these four apart from most others is their continued high standards of balance and fairness in publishing articles of accuracy which allows the readers to decide for themselves on where to place their vote, for example, in the General Election.

A small minority of readers will unfortunately see support for one side as bias. It need not be.

Articles like Neil Riddell’s (http://www.thenational.scot/politics/general-election-2015-exploring-orkney-and-shetland-the-last-stand-in-liberalism.1254?) don’t do the party I am supporting any favours, and rightly so, a journalist’s job is to report the information as found. It makes excellent reading.

Readers and advertisers will decide which media to support, and as long as they set a high standard as Shetland News does, deserve to be supported. Regardless of their own views.

Douglas Young
Sumburgh