List of The Real MacKay episodes
Encyclopedia
The following is a list of episodes for the STV Central online video blog, The Real MacKay.
List of episodes
| # | Title | Presenter | Upload date | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The First Ever | John MacKay | 4 June 2007 | The very first edition of STV Central's video blog, featuring a lookahead to the 6 pm programme from producer Linda Grimes Douglas. |
| 2 | Running Order | John MacKay | 5 June 2007 | Producer Gordon McDougall debuts on the blog with a preview of tonight's 6 pm show. *N.B. This was the first episode to use the show title The Real MacKay. |
| 3 | Debi's Green Shoes | John MacKay | 6 June 2007 | Debi Edward talks fashion with John, plus a look back at last night's main programme. |
| 4 | A Close Shave | John MacKay | 7 June 2007 | Political editor Bernard Ponsonby Bernard Ponsonby Bernard Ponsonby is a Scottish broadcast journalist working on regional news and current affairs programming for STV. He joined the station in 1990 and was appointed political editor in 2000.-Political career:... talks about the latest decisions of the Scottish Government and Gordon Chree has an insight into the dog-eat-dog world of the newsroom. |
| 5 | Nuts and Bolts | John MacKay | 8 June 2007 | John shows us the right way to put make-up on. Plus, a look behind the scenes at the 1110 bulletin (including an interview with Clair Stevens - the bulletin's producer) and the last gratuitous image of the blog's first week. |
| 6 | The Bulging Mailbag | John MacKay | 11 June 2007 | John checks through his mailbag, introduces the studio gallery team and talks to producer Linda Grimes Douglas. |
| 7 | Interview with the Editor | John MacKay | 12 June 2007 | STV Central's news editor, Howard Simpson, talks to John. |
| 8 | Meeting Your Idol | John MacKay | 13 June 2007 | John talks to Gordon McDougall, Linda Grimes Douglas, Alison MacGregor and an excited Vicky Lee (whose getting ready to meet Jason Donovan Jason Donovan Jason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989... ) about tonight's programme. |
| 9 | Not quite The Real MacKay | Stephen Jardine | 14 June 2007 | Stephen hosts his first blog with a viewers' picture, a chat with Gordon McDougall and a peek into the dressing rooms. |
| 10 | Not The Real MacKay - Friday | Stephen Jardine | 15 June 2007 | Stephen continues his investigations in the dressing rooms and talks to Raman Bhardwaj about tonight's sports round-up. |
| 11 | Is there too much sport, Raman? | John MacKay | 18 June 2007 | John asks Raman if he thinks there is too much sport on the programme, and gets a reply—eventually. Plus, more forum questions, a chance to listen in to a conversation from Linda Grimes-Douglas and Howard Simpson brings us a correction—to a correction! |
| 12 | Newsroom Philosophy | John Mackay | 19 June 2007 | Can John come up with a philosophy for the STV Central newsroom before the cameraman says 'Cut'? Whilst he's thinking, Jon Kean rundowns what to expect in the 6pm programme. |
| 13 | Presenters vs Reporters | John MacKay | 20 June 2007 | The day-to-day lives of presenters & reporters, through the eyes of reporter Sharon Frew. |
| 14 | Vicky's Wellies | John MacKay | 21 June 2007 | Gordon McDougall, Jon Kean and Bernard Ponsonby look ahead to tonight's 6pm edition, with particular focus on political coverage. And by request of the forums, Vicky Lee talks about the wellies worn by Sharon Frew in yesterday's blog. |
| 15 | Not quite The Real MacKay | Stephen Jardine | 22 June 2007 | Stephen investigates the appearance of a new sports presenter by the name of Gerry. |
| 16 | The Ties | John MacKay | 25 June 2007 | John talks ties and has a chat with David Millar & Jon Kean ahead of tonight's programme. |
| 17 | Behind the Presenter's Desk | John MacKay | 26 June 2007 | A peek behind the studio newsdesk with Kelly-Ann Bishop and a chat with Gordon McDougall about the 6pm show. |
| 18 | At the Airport | John MacKay | 27 June 2007 | John reports from Glasgow International Airport Glasgow International Airport Glasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire... ahead of a Scotland Today special as Gordon Brown Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007... becomes British Prime Minister. John is joined by political editor Bernard Ponsonby Bernard Ponsonby Bernard Ponsonby is a Scottish broadcast journalist working on regional news and current affairs programming for STV. He joined the station in 1990 and was appointed political editor in 2000.-Political career:... . |
| 19 | Reflections on a Difficult Programme | John MacKay | 28 June 2007 | The team look back at last night's special from Westminster, which technical wise, didn't go to plan. |
| 20 | Not The Real MacKay: Opening of Parliament | Stephen Jardine | 29 June 2007 | Stephen looks ahead to coverage of the opening of the Scottish Parliament. |
| 21 | Not The Real MacKay: Covering the big story | Stephen Jardine | 2 July 2007 | Gordon Chree and producer Linda Grimes Douglas talk about covering the attempted terrorist attacks at Glasgow International Airport Glasgow International Airport Glasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire... and the aftermath. |
| 22 | Not The Real MacKay: Glasgow terror attacks | Stephen Jardine | 3 July 2007 | Stephen and editor Howard Simpson reflect on STV's coverage of the attempted terrorist attacks at Glasgow International Airport Glasgow International Airport Glasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire... . |
| 23 | Not The Real MacKay: Good news and feeding the staff | Stephen Jardine | 4 July 2007 | Chief reporter David Cowan talks about the release of BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston Alan Johnston Alan Graham Johnston is a British journalist working for the BBC. He has been the BBC's correspondent in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and the Gaza Strip, and is currently the correspondent in Rome... and Stephen discovers the staff's eating habits along with a visit to the canteen. |
| 24 | Not The Real MacKay: The Canteen Story continues | Stephen Jardine | 5 July 2007 | Stephen introduces Alex Leigh, a satellite truck operator. Plus, continuing on from the canteen story yesterday, there's reports of bad blood between the canteen staff and Sharyn. |
| 25 | Not The Real MacKay: Long and Busy week | Stephen Jardine | 6 July 2007 | It's the end of a tough week for the Scotland Today team - minus John MacKay...and producer Lesley Colquhon Banks, who makes her blog debut to talk about the 6pm show. Also on the programme, the mystery of the dressing room shower is partially solved and the war of words between Sharyn and the canteen goes on. |
| 26 | Not The Real MacKay: Studio Talk | Stephen Jardine | 9 July 2007 | David Millar looks ahead to the 6pm programme and Stephen reveals what apparently happens after the programme goes off air. |
| 27 | Not The Real MacKay: End of Term? | Stephen Jardine | 10 July 2007 | Somehow, a 'end of term' feel is persisting in the newsroom. Jon Kean helps to explain why. |
| 28 | Not The Real MacKay: Canteen Controversy concluded | Stephen Jardine | 12 July 2007 | Lesley Colquhon Banks looks ahead to the 6pm edition and the recent war of words ends with Sharyn buying a baked potato and beans from the canteen...and a hug. |
| 29 | Not The Real MacKay: Uphill Struggle | Stephen Jardine | 13 July 2007 | It's an unlucky Friday the 13th for Debi Edward Debi Edward Debi Edward is a Scottish television broadcaster, currently working for ITN as Scotland Correspondent on ITV News and a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.... . She's been sent on an assault course for tonight's And Finally.... Stephen catches up with her before and after her course. |
| 30 | Not The Real MacKay: Fair Fortnight famine | Heather Simpson | 16 July 2007 | Heather presents her first blog with a look at Glasgow's fair fortnight...and how it's affecting the canteen. Plus, Gordon McDougall looks ahead to tonight's programme. |
| 31 | Not The Real MacKay: Wardrobe War | Heather Simpson | 17 July 2007 | A brief visit to the wardrobe, followed by a closer look into alleged corruption at Rangers with Raman Bhardwaj and David Millar previews tonight's main stories. |
| 32 | Not The Real MacKay: Ginger Day | Heather Simpson | 18 July 2007 | Heather declares today as Ginger Day. |
| 33 | Not The Real MacKay: Aussie Rules | Heather Simpson | 19 July 2007 | New recruit, Nick Porter (from Adelaide Adelaide Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million... , Australia) makes his blog debut and programme editor Jon Kean explains the business of embargo stories. |
| 34 | Not The Real MacKay: The Director's Cut | Heather Simpson | 20 July 2007 | A visit to the studio gallery and an interview with director John Mason. |
| 35 | Return of the Mack | John MacKay | 23 July 2007 | Three weeks holiday later and John MacKay is back. But does anyone care to notice? Well, at least Linda Grimes Douglas cares as she looks ahead to the 6pm programme. |
| 36 | The Bowels of the Building | John MacKay | 24 July 2007 | John visits the Transmission Control Centre - home to the Presentation Department. Also, a lookahead to the 6pm programme with producer Gordon McDougall. |
| 37 | The Face behind the Voice | John MacKay | 25 July 2007 | By request of the forums, STV's chief announcer Maggie Lavender Maggie Lavender Maggie Lavender is a Scottish continuity announcer, best known for her work on STV.She began her career at Glasgow International Airport, providing Flightwatch morning reports for the Independent Local Radio stations, Radio Clyde and Radio Forth.... makes an appearance. Plus, Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine is a Scottish journalist and presenter. He has worked for Scottish Television, GMTV and Radio Tay. He now runs Scotland's first dedicated food and drink communications consultancy, Taste Communications.-Early years:... talks about an upcoming two-part special on Malawi and producer Gordon McDougall discusses the quiet Summer months when not much news is going around. |
| 38 | Cutting it Fine | John MacKay | 26 July 2007 | John confronts Heather Simpson Heather Simpson Heather Simpson is a reporter, newsreader and producer for the West Central Scotland edition of STV News at Six.After studying English at university, Simpson worked for CSV Media, helping to produce a number of community programming. During her time at CSV, she joined Scottish Television on a work... about hijacking the blog with her own 'agenda' and Debi Edward Debi Edward Debi Edward is a Scottish television broadcaster, currently working for ITN as Scotland Correspondent on ITV News and a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.... reviews her coverage on a story from the previous night. |
| 39 | The other Real MacKay | Stephen Jardine | 27 July 2007 | On a rainy day, Stephen discovers there's another Real MacKay in town. Plus, a visit to Edit Suite 3 where Stephen is working on two editions of the current affairs series, Inside Scotland. |
| 40 | The Craft of the Craftsman | John MacKay | 30 July 2007 | John investigates some restructuring to the newsroom, with help from Sharyn. Also, John talks to newsroom graphic designer Richard Groundsell and producer Lesley Colquhon Banks. Plus, what is a box of muffins doing in the newsroom? |
| 41 | On the Forum | John MacKay | 31 July 2007 | Producer Gordon McDougall discusses tonight's programme whilst John talks about ties and signs up to the STV website's forums...eventually. |
| 42 | Split News | John MacKay | 1 August 2007 | Producers David Millar in Edinburgh Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area... and Gordon Chree in Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... discuss the local opt-outs. |
| 43 | A Voice of Calm | John MacKay | 2 August 2007 | John talks to Production Assistant Laura about her role in the Scotland Today studio gallery. |
| 44 | A Tour of the Building | John MacKay | 3 August 2007 | A much-requested tour of the STV headquarters. |
| 45 | The On-screen Debutant and what is really Scotland's most watched news programme | John MacKay | 6 August 2007 | Diana Milford makes her debut as a newsreader and John (along with Gordon McMillian) disputes the claim of a rival news programme that they are the most watched news programme in Scotland. |
| 46 | An Editing Masterclass | John MacKay | 7 August 2007 | The blog focuses on the desktop editing skills of Entertainment correspondent Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan is a Scottish entertainment journalist and film critic for STV in Scotland.He studied journalism and film & media at Stirling University. After graduating he work as a news reporter for Radio Clyde. In 1998, Lauchlan started working as an assistant producer for STV's digital channel S2... . |
| 47 | The Studio Tour | John MacKay | 8 August 2007 | A tour of the main studio used for Scotland Today Scotland Today Scotland Today was a Scottish regional news programme covering Central Scotland, produced by STV Central . Despite its name suggesting a national remit, the programme was actually limited to stories around STV's Central Belt franchise... and Scotsport Scotsport Scotsport was a Scottish sports television programme, broadcast on STV in northern and central Scotland, as well as on Border Television in southern Scotland. It was recognised as the world's longest-running sports television magazine.... . |
| 48 | The Green Shoes are replaced by Gold | John MacKay | 9 August 2007 | A look at the sport department's morning meeting. Plus, what is the footwear of the newsroom? |
| 49 | Not The Real MacKay: Into the Vaults | Heather Simpson | 10 August 2007 | Heather visits the archives and talks to archive manager John Rushton. |
| 50 | Traffic Controller | John MacKay | 13 August 2007 | Stuart, the man who receives pictures and feeds from outside sources, talks to John. |
| 51 | Cowcaddens Comes Down | John MacKay | 14 August 2007 | John makes one final visit to STV's former studios at Cowcaddens Cowcaddens Cowcaddens is an area of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is virtually in the city centre and is bordered by the areas of Garnethill to the south and Townhead to the east.... as the building is finally demolished. |
| 52 | Where's Julie? | John Mackay | 15 August 2007 | John visits the finance department to ask what the staff would do with £34 million. But the big question of the day is Where's Julie? |
| 53 | The Elvis Tribute | John MacKay | 16 August 2007 | It's 30 years to the day since the death of Elvis Presley Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".... and for the newsroom, the chance to pay tribute cannot be resisted. |
| 54 | The Future of Scottish Broadcasting | John MacKay | 17 August 2007 | Following the launch of an inquiry by the Scottish Government into the state of broadcasting in Scotland, John talks to STV managing director Bobby Hain. |
| 55 | The Spin Doctors | John MacKay | 20 August 2007 | After a week of political upheaval in Scotland, the power of the political Spin Doctors is discussed by STV Central's news editor, Howard Simpson. |
| 56 | In the Make-Up artist's Chair | John MacKay | 21 August 2007 | A visit to the make-up artist's chair where Morag is hard at work. |
| 57 | Inside the Sat Truck | John MacKay | 22 August 2007 | A look inside STV Central's satellite truck. |
| 58 | Vicky's Glasses | John MacKay | 23 August 2007 | The various glasses owned by Vicky Lee and the newsroom staff come to the attention of the blog. |
| 59 | Not The Real MacKay | Stephen Jardine | 24 August 2007 | Stephen announces the arrival of STV's first weather presenter in 10 years - Seán Batty. |
| 60 | An Old Friend | John MacKay | 28 August 2007 | Former presenter Shereen Nanjiani Shereen Nanjiani Shereen Nanjiani is a radio presenter with BBC Radio Scotland.Before launching her radio career in 2006, Nanjiani was the chief news anchor at STV Central, having presented the news programme, Scotland Today since 1987... makes a special appearance to celebrate STV's 50th birthday. |
| 61 | A trip down memory lane | John MacKay | 29 August 2007 | A look back at the title sequences from Scotland Today over the past 35 years and an interview with STV's longest-serving employee. |
| 62 | Moustaches, Ties and Corpsing | John MacKay | 30 August 2007 | Former presenter Angus Simpson Angus Simpson Angus Simpson is best known as an ex-presenter of STV's flagship news programme Scotland Today. Prior to joining the programme in 1986, he was a reporter and presenter for Border Television's news magazine programme, Lookaround... returns to STV as part of the station's 50th anniversary celebrations. |
| 63 | Not The Real MacKay: From the archive | Stephen Jardine | 31 August 2007 | An episode supposedly produced on the opening day of Scottish Television Scottish Television Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active... - 31 August 1957. |
| 64 | The Mothers' Interview | John MacKay | 3 September 2007 | A specially extended version of Bernard Ponsonby's interview with two mothers who had lost their children to drug abuse. |
| 65 | The Graphics Department | John MacKay | 4 September 2007 | John visits the main graphics department at STV to meet Craig Lamberton (head of graphics) and to preview the new titles for Taggart Taggart Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network... . |
| 66 | Politics - A historic day | John MacKay | 5 September 2007 | Having struggled to avoid talking about politics (with help from new recruit Tom Lowe and Alison MacGregor Alison MacGregor Alison MacGregor is a Scottish television journalist and producer, currently working for STV.MacGregor originally joined Scottish Television in 1997 as a features researcher and worked on a number of regional programmes including Trial By Night, Scottish Passport, Homelands and S2 Live... ), John relents and speaks to political correspondent Michael Crow about why today is a historic day. |
| 67 | The Origin of The Real MacKay | John MacKay | 6 September 2007 | The Real MacKay discovers the origin of the show's title and finds out what the staff are up to in the newsroom. |
| 68 | 'Not The Real MacKay: Dave Smith leaves the Building | Stephen Jardine | 7 September 2007 | After 25 years as a camera operator, Dave Smith retires from the station. |
| 69 | Meeting the Stars | John MacKay | 10 September 2007 | An insight into the celebrity interviews of Entertainment correspondent Grant Lauchlan. |
| 70 | The Collapse of the World's End murder trial | John MacKay | 11 September 2007 | Bernard Ponsonby discusses the collapse of the World's End murder trial in Glasgow. |
| 71 | The cameraman | John MacKay | 12 September 2007 | Cameraman Fraser Cleland takes the mic and John takes the camera to take a look at what a typical Scotland Today camera operator needs. |
| 72 | We are the Champions | John MacKay | 13 September 2007 | John is celebrating Scotland's 2-1 victory over France in the Euro 2008 qualifier...if only he can get the message through to the rest of the newsroom. Luckily, Raman is on hand with an account of last night's match and Sharyn is willing to share an appropriate ringtone with us. |
| 73 | Not The Real MacKay: Doors Open | Stephen Jardine | 14 September 2007 | A fast-paced tour around the Pacific Quay Pacific Quay Pacific Quay is an area south of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It is located at the former Plantation Quay and Princes' Dock Basin. The Princes' Dock Basin was the largest on the River Clyde when it was opened in 1900. It ceased to be used in the 1970s as the volume of Shipping using the... headquarters of STV ahead of Doors Open Day in Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... . Plus, a question of coat buttons. |
| 74 | A Blame for the Weekend Weather | John MacKay | 17 September 2007 | The weather improves after a miserable weekend. Is STV weatherman Seán Batty to blame? |
| 75 | Happy Birthday Scotsport | John MacKay | 18 September 2007 | A special edition of the blog to celebrate the 50th birthday of one of the longest-running sports programmes in the world, Scotsport Scotsport Scotsport was a Scottish sports television programme, broadcast on STV in northern and central Scotland, as well as on Border Television in southern Scotland. It was recognised as the world's longest-running sports television magazine.... - featuring classic goals and special guests including Arthur Montford Arthur Montford Arthur Montford is a former Scottish television sports journalist, best known for his 32 year tenure as the presenter of Scotsport. Although he was most associated with football, he covered a number of other sports for ITV, notably Golf.Montford was raised in Greenock... . |
| 76 | The Edinburgh Tour | John MacKay/Stephen Jardine | 19 September 2007 | John hands over control of the blog to Stephen for a tour of STV's Edinburgh Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area... studios. |
| 77 | The QE2 | Grant Lauchlan | 20 September 2007 | Grant visits the QE2 RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as the QE2, is an ocean liner that was operated by Cunard from 1969 to 2008. Following her retirement from cruising, she is now owned by Istithmar... on the Glasgow quayside. |
| 78 | Not The Real MacKay: Meet the Neighbours | Stephen Jardine | 21 September 2007 | Stephen visits the new BBC Scotland BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who... headquarters next door to STV...and asks them to keep the noise down. |
| 79 | A National Network | John MacKay | 25 September 2007 | Tom Lowe, a new recruit direct from ITN, discusses the differences between the London and Glasgow newsrooms. |
| 80 | Fascinating Facts | John MacKay | 26 September 2007 | A pot pourri of fascinating facts from the newsroom staff. |
| 81 | Watching you, Watching us | John MacKay | 27 September 2007 | A look at the webcam from the roof of STV's studios in Glasgow. |
| 82 | Not The Real MacKay: The Far East | Heather Simpson | 28 September 2007 | Heather visits the production gallery for the Edinburgh Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area... opt-out. |
| 83 | The new STV News programme | John MacKay | 1 October 2007 | John talks to Gordon Macmillan (Head of News) about the new 5:30pm news programme. |
| 84 | A Tad Vulgar | John MacKay | 2 October 2007 | According to a newspaper, comparing viewing figures is a tad vulgar. But what else can be classified as a tad vulgar? |
| 85 | That Time of Year | John MacKay | 3 October 2007 | Christmas comes early as John discovers that resources co-ordinator Sharyn has organised the staff's Christmas night out already. |
| 86 | A Tribute to Dida of AC Milan | John MacKay | 4 October 2007 | The STV Central news team pay tribute to the antics of AC Milan goalkeeper Dida. Plus, Raman Bhardwaj talks about the recent fortunes of Scottish football. |
| 87 | The Postal Strike | John MacKay | 8 October 2007 | John looks into how a postal strike is affecting STV. |
| 88 | The Newsroom Ornaments | John MacKay | 9 October 2007 | Following on from the 'tad vulgar' episode, news PA Caroline takes a look at the ornaments of the newsroom. |
| 89 | The Lunchtime Bulletin | John MacKay | 10 October 2007 | Producer Lesley Colquhon Banks discusses putting together the 1:55pm bulletin. |
| 90 | The Resources Co-Ordinator | John MacKay | 11 October 2007 | Resources co-ordinator and regular to the blog, Sharyn Fleming, talks about her role in the newsroom. |
| 91 | Not The Real MacKay: How to get ahead in TV | Stephen Jardine | 12 October 2007 | Stephen casts his critical eye over the BBC again and takes a look at careers in television. |
| 92 | Not The Real MacKay: Carbon Footprint | Stephen Jardine | 15 October 2007 | Carbon footprints are all the rage these days. Stephen and the team talk about the issue...and Nick lets out a swear word. |
| 93 | Not The Real MacKay: Age and Ageism | Stephen Jardine | 16 October 2007 | Stephen and the team discuss ageism following Menzies Campbell Menzies Campbell Sir Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, CBE, QC, MP is a British Liberal Democrat politician and advocate, and a retired sprinter. He is the Member of Parliament for North East Fife, and was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2 March 2006 until 15 October 2007.Campbell held the British record... 's resignation as leader of the Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the... . |
| 94 | Not The Real MacKay: Keeping our potty mouths clean | Stephen Jardine | 17 October 2007 | Following Nick's swearing on episode 92, Stephen and the news team talk about the swear words not allowed on Scotland Today. |
| 95 | Not The Real MacKay: Ratings Revenge | Stephen Jardine | 19 October 2007 | Stephen makes a comparison between press coverage about job cuts at BBC Scotland BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who... & a small drop in SMG plc SMG plc STV Group plc is a Scottish media company. It is a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index. Originally formed as Scottish Television, it changed its name to Scottish Media Group in 1996 when it acquired Caledonian Publishing, owners of Glasgow-based newspapers The Herald and Evening Times... 's share price. Plus, a check on the latest ratings reports. |
| 96 | Can't Be Bothered | John MacKay | 22 October 2007 | John returns to the show...but doesn't feel like presenting the blog. |
| 97 | Raman tackles Thierry Henry | John MacKay | 23 October 2007 | Sports correspondent Raman Bhardwaj and other STV reporters talk about their own embarrassing reportage moments. |
| 98 | The moments before On Air | John MacKay | 24 October 2007 | A closer look into what happens in the few moments before Scotland Today's lunchtime bulletin goes on air. |
| 99 | Sir Jackie Stewart | John MacKay | 25 October 2007 | An ten-minute version of John's interview with former world motorsport champion, Sir Jackie Stewart Jackie Stewart Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am... . *N.B. This interview was uploaded onto the stv.tv Stv.tv www.stv.tv is the URL of the website of the Scottish television channel, STV. The website currently offers the usual sections of News, Sport, Entertainment, Weather, Competitions, Forums and STV programme information, with TV listings... website before a shortened version was broadcast on Scotland Today that evening. |
| 100 | Not The Real MacKay: Pretty in Pink | Heather Simpson | 26 October 2007 | Heather reports on a Wear It Pink day in aid of Breast Cancer Research. |
| 101 | The Digital Revolution | John MacKay | 29 October 2007 | North Tonight's Andrea Brymer returns to Glasgow and talks to John. Plus, an interview with Digital UK Digital UK Digital UK is the body in charge of the digital switchover of television in the United Kingdom.Digital UK communicates switchover to the public, works with industry to build support for the switchover programme, and co-ordinates engineering work across the UK broadcast network... 's Paul Hughes ahead of the digital TV switchover. |
| 102 | The First 100 | John MacKay | 30 October 2007 | A lookback at some of the highlights from the first 100 editions of Scotland Todays video blogs. |
| 103 | Halloween! | John MacKay | 31 October 2007 | Reporter Karen Greenshields shares her thoughts on covering the obligatory Halloween Halloween Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day... piece for tonight's programme. |
| 104 | A Familiar Face Departs | John MacKay | 1 November 2007 | Reporter Steven Godden is leaving Scotland Today for pastures new. In this edition, he talks to John about his time with STV. |
| 105 | Off to Sri Lanka | John MacKay | 5 November 2007 | A lookahead to extensive STV coverage as Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... waits to find out if the city will host the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years.... . |
| 106 | Dawn the Stylist | John MacKay | 6 November 2007 | It's an exciting day for John and Raman as STV's resident stylist Dawn brings in some new suits for the presenters to wear. |
| 107 | Vicky meets Trinny & Susannah | Vicky Lee | 7 November 2007 | Reporter Vicky Lee meets style gurus Trinny Woodall Trinny Woodall Trinny Woodall is an English fashion advisor and designer, television presenter and author. She was raised in a wealthy family and was privately educated... and Susannah Constantine Susannah Constantine Susannah Caroline Constantine is an English fashion journalist, advisor, television presenter, author and designer. Her second book, entitled What Not to Wear, has won her a prestigious British Book Award and sold 670,000 copies.... at a book signing in Glasgow. |
| 108 | Auditions in the Wind | John MacKay | 8 November 2007 | On a very windy day in Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... , John finds out who can and who can't appear on camera in the gales. |
| 109 | Debi's blog from Sri Lanka | Debi Edward | 8 November 2007 | Ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years.... decision, Debi reports from Sri Lanka. |
| 110 | Commonwealth Games Decision | John MacKay | 9 November 2007 | The STV newsroom builds up to the announcement of the host city for the 2014 Commonwealth Games 2014 Commonwealth Games The 20th Commonwealth Games in 2014 will be held in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The winning city was announced by the Commonwealth Games Federation on 9 November 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Games will run over 11 days of competition from 24 July to 3 August 2014... and holds an office sweepstake. |
| 111 | Not The Real MacKay: Commonwealth Games Decision - Glasgow wins! | Stephen Jardine | 9 November 2007 | Glasgow has won the title of host city for the 2014 Commonwealth Games 2014 Commonwealth Games The 20th Commonwealth Games in 2014 will be held in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The winning city was announced by the Commonwealth Games Federation on 9 November 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Games will run over 11 days of competition from 24 July to 3 August 2014... and Stephen returns from presenting a live one-hour show to reflect on STV's coverage...and to hear about the BBC's effort. |
| 112 | The Commonwealth Aftermath | John MacKay | 12 November 2007 | A further review of STV's Commonwealth Games decision coverage including an issue regarding the office sweepstake and some cattiness between reporters Vicky Lee and Sharon Frew. |
| 113 | Subtitling | John MacKay | 13 November 2007 | Subtitler Bethan talks at length about the subtitling department of STV Central. |
| 114 | The Real MacKay truck | John MacKay | 14 November 2007 | A 'dramatic' reconstruction of a YouTube clip featuring a truck bearing the name "The Real McKay". |
| 115 | The Hello Mystery | John MacKay | 15 November 2007 | John investigates the rare sighting of Hello magazine Hello! Hello is a weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news and human-interest stories, published in the United Kingdom since 1988. Hello is sister magazine to ¡Hola!, the Spanish weekly magazine launched in Spain in 1944... in the newsroom. |
| 116 | Not The Real MacKay: We're not talking Italian | Heather Simpson | 16 November 2007 | Heather hears scoreline predictions from the newsroom ahead of tomorrow's Euro 2008 qualifier between Scotland and Italy. The only trouble is that she just can't resist including some sultry footage of Italian footballers. |
| 117 | Monday Moans | John MacKay | 19 November 2007 | Scotland lose to Italy in the Euro 2008 qualifier, Scotland Today win nothing at the BAFTA Scotland awards and a few staff make a mess at some of the desks - just some of the things John and the newsroom team are moaning about in this edition of TRM. |
| 118 | A Celebrity comes-a-calling | John MacKay | 20 November 2007 | John and showbiz reporter Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan is a Scottish entertainment journalist and film critic for STV in Scotland.He studied journalism and film & media at Stirling University. After graduating he work as a news reporter for Radio Clyde. In 1998, Lauchlan started working as an assistant producer for STV's digital channel S2... explain why it's embarrassing to bring celebrities into the studios. Features a special guest appearance from Shayne Ward Shayne Ward Shayne Thomas Ward is an English pop singer who rose to fame as the winner of second series of The X Factor. He has sold over 3 million records worldwide and has had number one albums and singles in 9 countries.During The X Factor competition, Ward was mentored by manager Louis Walsh... . |
| 119 | No Music Day | John MacKay | 21 November 2007 | Following on from an idea by a former musician, John declares that today is Non Music Day...but the editor of The Real MacKay has other ideas. |
| 120 | Watching us, Watching you | John MacKay | 22 November 2007 | As you can see, each edition of TRM is being listed on this page. But, who is behind it? And what about the identities of those on the STV forums? Debi Edward Debi Edward Debi Edward is a Scottish television broadcaster, currently working for ITN as Scotland Correspondent on ITV News and a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.... , Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan is a Scottish entertainment journalist and film critic for STV in Scotland.He studied journalism and film & media at Stirling University. After graduating he work as a news reporter for Radio Clyde. In 1998, Lauchlan started working as an assistant producer for STV's digital channel S2... , Raman Bhardwaj, Seán Batty and the man himself, John MacKay John MacKay (journalist) John MacKay is a Scottish broadcast journalist, television presenter and producer, who is currently the chief anchor for the West Central Scotland edition of STV News at Six and a presenter for current affairs programme Scotland Tonight.... speculate. |
| 121 | The Karen Greenshields Interview | John MacKay | 26 November 2007 | The first in a series of occasional in-depth interviews with STV journalists, beginning with reporter Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields is a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.Before joining STV as a researcher in 1995, Greenshields lived overseas for many years, including 12 months in Brazil, and had various stints as a researcher with independent production companies... . |
| 122 | How to do a Vox Pop | John MacKay | 27 November 2007 | A demonstration from John about the art of vox-pops. |
| 123 | Testing the new video phone | John MacKay | 28 November 2007 | A new video phone has arrived in the newsroom and John has been given responsibility of testing it. But will he succeed? |
| 124 | The Sharon Frew Interview | John MacKay | 29 November 2007 | Reporter Sharon Frew comes under the spotlight in the second of John's profile interviews. |
| 125 | The new 1730 team start | John MacKay | 3 December 2007 | There's a buzz going around the newsroom today as a new team starts work on the regionwide 1730 programme due to launch next month. Plus, a chance to meet some new staff working on the main 1800 edition of Scotland Today. |
| 126 | Not The Real MacKay: 5:30 Programme Decisions | Stephen Jardine | 4 December 2007 | It's day 2 of preparation work for the new 5:30pm show and whilst everyone else has disappeared, Stephen & Gerry consider a few decisions. |
| 127 | The Best Artist in the Newsroon | John MacKay | 6 December 2007 | Inspired by the Weather Advent Calendar, the blog holds a competition to find the best newsroom artist. The challenge - to draw a picture of Santa Claus. |
| 128 | The Ken Bryson Interview | John MacKay | 11 December 2007 | Another of John's profile interviews. This time round, senior journalist and forward planner Ken Bryson discusses his illustrious career, working on the Daily Express Daily Express The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers... , the BBC's Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland is BBC Scotland's national television news programme. The programme first aired on 1 April 1968, with three main presenters - the most famous being Mary Marquis... and the like. |
| 129 | Christmas cards, a new look to the newsroom and Debi as Judy | John MacKay | 12 December 2007 | John gets around to opening some Christmas Cards (including a celebrity one for Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan is a Scottish entertainment journalist and film critic for STV in Scotland.He studied journalism and film & media at Stirling University. After graduating he work as a news reporter for Radio Clyde. In 1998, Lauchlan started working as an assistant producer for STV's digital channel S2... ). Plus, a glance at the new look newsroom and Debi Edward Debi Edward Debi Edward is a Scottish television broadcaster, currently working for ITN as Scotland Correspondent on ITV News and a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.... is asked how she feels about being compared to Judy Finnigan Judy Finnigan Judith "Judy" Finnigan is a British television presenter and columnist. She has usually co-presented with her husband, Richard Madeley, and the two are collectively known, informally, as Richard and Judy... . |
| 130 | Alison's New Hairstyle | John MacKay | 13 December 2007 | Alison MacGregor has got a new haircut but is not sure what to make of it. To help her decide, John asks around the newsroom for some opinion. |
| 131 | Aussie Nick and the Cold | John MacKay | 17 December 2007 | It's a bitterly cold day in Glasgow and Nick (from Adelaide) is sent out to discover how an Aussie can deal with below freezing temperatures. Also on the show, editor Howard Simpson reveals the winners of this year's STV Newsroom Awards. |
| 132 | Last Minute Christmas Advice | John MacKay | 18 December 2007 | A guide to last minute Christmas shopping, courtesy of the newsroom staff. |
| 133 | The Favourite Christmas No1 | John MacKay | 19 December 2007 | With the prospect of X Factor The X Factor (UK) The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date... winner Leon Jackson Leon Jackson Leon Jackson is a Scottish singer-songwriter. He won the fourth series of British talent show The X Factor in 2007. Following his win, Jackson was the main star of his on-web series entitled Leon's Life, which ran from 2007 until 2008... becoming the first Scottish artist to have a Christmas No1, John goes round the offices to find out the staff's favourite festive chart topper. |
| 134 | How Many Takes? | John MacKay | 20 December 2007 | John signs off for Christmas with a check on how many takes Ranald Leask required to do a piece-to-camera on Hibernian F.C. Hibernian F.C. Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts... 's new, slippery, training hill. |
| 135 | Not The Real MacKay: Festive Plans | Stephen Jardine | 21 December 2007 | The final blog of the year (and Stephen's last blog as a presenter) features seasons greetings from the newsroom and a look at the staff's plans for Christmas. |
| 136 | A New Year and another New Face | John MacKay | 3 January 2008 | The first Real MacKay episode of 2008. In this episode, new reporter Nicol Nicolson Nicol Nicolson Nicol Nicolson is a Scottish broadcast journalist.He formerly worked at ITV Border and later STV Central. Prior to becoming a journalist, he was a Marketing Manager with VisitScotland, the national tourism agency.... makes his debut and John takes a look at the state of the newsroom post-Christmas. |
| 137 | Tight deadlines and Winter bites | John MacKay | 4 January 2008 | Reporter Laura Miller talks about her tough day in the newsroom and weatherman Seán Batty reports on the prospect of snow. |
| 138 | Kenny Richey's Release | John MacKay | 7 January 2008 | Today, the man known as the Death Row Scot, Kenny Richey Kenny Richey Kenneth "Kenny" Thomas Richey is a British-US dual citizen, born to a Scottish mother and American father, who was raised in Scotland but moved to Ohio, United States to join his father in late 1982.... , is expected to be released from jail. Programme producer Linda Grimes Douglas looks ahead to the extensive live coverage on the story for tonight's programme. |
| 139 | A Review of the Kenny Richey Release | John MacKay | 8 January 2008 | So, how did last night's Kenny Richey coverage go? According to producer Linda Grimes Douglas, not as originally hoped for... |
| 140 | A Strong Wind Blows | John MacKay | 9 January 2008 | It's been a very busy 24 hours for weatherman Seán Batty after overnight gales caused widespread disruption across Scotland. Here, he talks to John about the cause of the storms and how the River Clyde River Clyde The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire.... nearly burst its banks. |
| 141 | It's great when it works | John MacKay | 10 January 2008 | Producer Gordon McDougall talks about a successful programme from last night which featured live coverage of Kenny Richey's return to Scotland and dramatic pictures of the weather across the country. |
| 142 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 11 January 2008 | Louise White launches a new Friday edition of the Scotland Today video blog. The first programme concentrates on what would happen if STV had a fire and an exclusive umbrella competition. |
| 143 | Those special messages | John MacKay | 14 January 2008 | The week on the blog begins with a departure - Morag, the make-up artist is leaving and John is eager to send her a farewell card. But what's the best message to write? |
| 144 | The failure of the Squinty Bridge and the new News at Ten | John MacKay | 15 January 2008 | John reports on a news story that happened right on their doorstep - the failure of a connection cable on Glasgow's Clyde Arc Clyde Arc The Clyde Arc , is a road bridge spanning the River Clyde in Glasgow, in west central Scotland, connecting Finnieston, near the Clyde Auditorium and SECC with Pacific Quay and Glasgow Science Centre in Govan. A prominent feature of the bridge is its innovative curved design and the way that it... which has led to its closure. Also, reaction from the newsroom about the second revival of News at Ten News at Ten The ITV News at Ten is the flagship news programme on British television network ITV, produced by ITN and founded by news editor Geoffrey Cox in 1967. It was originally planned as a thirteen week project in July 1967 because senior figures at ITV refused to believe that a permanent 30-minute late... . |
| 145 | The Real MacKay goes Global! | John MacKay | 16 January 2008 | John starts an experiment to get as many international viewers as possible to watch the blog. Also, newsroom greetings to relatives from around the world and an update on Heather Simpson Heather Simpson Heather Simpson is a reporter, newsreader and producer for the West Central Scotland edition of STV News at Six.After studying English at university, Simpson worked for CSV Media, helping to produce a number of community programming. During her time at CSV, she joined Scottish Television on a work... 's pregnancy. |
| 146 | News on the new programme | John MacKay | 17 January 2008 | In another packed programme, the name of the new 5:30pm programme is finally announced, Seán Batty talks about the building of a new STV Weather Centre and an update on the Global experiment, along with more international greetings from the newsroom. |
| 147 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 18 January 2008 | The moment many a STV video blog fan has awaited finally arrives as Louise and Seán Batty announce the winner of last week's brolly competition. |
| 148 | The 5:30 is Unveiled! And more Pins for the map | John MacKay | 21 January 2008 | The new look for the new regional magazine programme, The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show was a short-lived Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday January 28, 2008... , is finally unveiled. John talks to Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine is a Scottish journalist and presenter. He has worked for Scottish Television, GMTV and Radio Tay. He now runs Scotland's first dedicated food and drink communications consultancy, Taste Communications.-Early years:... and Debi Edward Debi Edward Debi Edward is a Scottish television broadcaster, currently working for ITN as Scotland Correspondent on ITV News and a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.... with just a week to go until the launch. Plus, a further update on The Real MacKay Goes Global. |
| 149 | Viewers' Videos and meet Natasha from the 5:30 show | John MacKay | 22 January 2008 | John takes a look into the importance of viewers' videos in modern newsgathering. Also, the build up to The Five Thirty Show continues with new girl Natasha Stillwell's debut and an update on the Global experiment. |
| 150 | Prizes on Offer! | John MacKay | 23 January 2008 | Vicky Lee talks about The Five Thirty Show, John launches a competition as part of his Global experiment and producer Gordon McDougall looks ahead to the 6pm show. |
| 151 | The Director's Cut of The Five Thirty Show | John MacKay | 24 January 2008 | Four days to go until its launch and studio director John Mason talks about his role on The Five Thirty Show. Also on the blog, there's new territory to pinpoint as part of the The Real MacKay Goes Global. |
| 152 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 25 January 2008 | The Burns Night edition of the blog featuring a much requested clip involving Angus Simpson Angus Simpson Angus Simpson is best known as an ex-presenter of STV's flagship news programme Scotland Today. Prior to joining the programme in 1986, he was a reporter and presenter for Border Television's news magazine programme, Lookaround... and Kirsty Young Kirsty Young Kirsty Jackson Young is a Scottish television presenter and radio presenter. She is the main presenter of Crimewatch and Desert Island Discs. She is married to millionaire club owner Nick Jones.- Career :... and an insight into Scottish TV's presenter idents from 2003. |
| 153 | The Big Day for the Five Thirty Show | John MacKay | 28 January 2008 | Launch day for The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show was a short-lived Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday January 28, 2008... is finally here. Hayley Valentine and Lesley Colquhon Banks, two of the programme producers, talk about what to expect in the first programme. And in the Global update, two pins from the USA. |
| 154 | How did 'The Five Thirty Show' go? | John MacKay | 29 January 2008 | STV Central's news editor Howard Simpson talks about last night's first 5:30 show. Plus, details on a new shortcode number for sending photos and videos to the programme. |
| 155 | The Full Pomp of the Pinning Ceremony | John MacKay | 30 January 2008 | Continuing the Global experiment, John brings some pomp and gravitas to the pinning ceremony. Also, a ratings check-up. |
| 156 | The Mike Edwards Interview | John MacKay | 31 January 2008 | John returns to his series of in-depth profile interviews. Coming under the spotlight this time, senior news reporter Mike Edwards Mike Edwards (journalist) Mike Edwards is the senior news correspondent for STV News in Central Scotland.Born and bred in Inverness, Edwards has been a journalist for 25 years, beginning as a trainee reporter for the Inverness Courier in 1986... . |
| 157 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 1 February 2008 | On this week's Friday show, cameraman Fraser Cleland has an insight into the Squinty Bridge, web administrator John Kilbride talks about Scotland Yesterday and Louise brings you the chance to win an STV football. |
| 158 | Winter Bugs | John MacKay | 4 February 2008 | John talks to the staff affected by a week of winter illness in the newsroom. |
| 159 | A Newsroom Snapshot | John MacKay | 5 February 2008 | John gives a commentary on the scene in the newsroom at lunchtime. |
| 160 | An Eventful Day of Politics | John MacKay | 6 February 2008 | The Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon... has threatened to resign from his post unless the Parliament's budget is passed in a vote tonight. And the Electoral Commission looks set to report on the donations row involving Wendy Alexander Wendy Alexander Wendy Alexander is a Scottish politician and the former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Paisley North. She held various Scottish Government cabinet posts and was the leader of the Labour Party group in the Scottish Parliament from 2007-2008... , leader of the Scottish Labour Party. Producer Linda Grimes Douglas looks ahead to Scotland Today coverage on these and other stories. |
| 161 | The Real MacKay reaches South America! | John MacKay | 7 February 2008 | The Global experiment continues with correspondence from São Paulo São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among... , Brazil and Adelaide Adelaide Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million... , Australia. Plus, a chance to catch up with weatherman Seán Batty. |
| 162 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 8 February 2008 | In Louise's Friday blog tonight, a behind-the-scenes insight of Scotlandontv.tv and Raman Bhardwaj draws the winner of the STV football competition. |
| 163 | The Newsroom Netherworld | John MacKay | 11 February 2008 | A look at what lies beneath the desks in the newsroom, with a few surprising discoveries in store. |
| 164 | Career Profile of a Graphic Artist | John MacKay | 12 February 2008 | Continuing the occasional series of in-depth interviews, John talks to Richard Groundsell, a newsroom graphic artist. |
| 165 | Friends of The Real MacKay | John MacKay | 13 February 2008 | John Kilbride announces the launch of a new Facebook Facebook Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as... group and Blogspot for the show. Plus, the Global experiment hits French territory as Paris is added to the map. |
| 166 | Going On Air | John MacKay | 14 February 2008 | A look at the behind-the-scenes build up ahead of the lunchtime bulletin. |
| 167 | Fashion Week | John MacKay | 15 February 2008 | Vicky Lee is back from London Fashion Week London Fashion Week London Fashion Week is an apparel trade show held in London, England twice each year, in February and September. It is one of the "Big Four" fashion weeks, along with New York Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.-Organization:... , where she's been on assignment for The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show was a short-lived Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday January 28, 2008... . She tells John her informed opinion about the fashions in the newsroom. |
| 168 | The Real MacKay with guest presenter Aussie Nick | Nick Porter | 18 February 2008 | It's Aussie Nick's last week in the newsroom and to mark the occasion, John has relinquished presentation control of the blog. Today's talking point - holiday destinations. |
| 169 | Flying High to On-Air Time | John MacKay | 19 February 2008 | An exposure into the tension of the one hour before Scotland Today's main 6pm edition goes to air reveals what the newsroom staff consider important... |
| 170 | Why do we only speak English? | John MacKay | 20 February 2008 | As MSPs in the Scottish Parliament Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament... consider why the public are poor at speaking foreign languages, John hears what the newsroom staff make of the issue. |
| 171 | The Career of a Cameraman | John MacKay | 21 February 2008 | Another of John's in-depth profile interviews. This time, cameraman Steve Kydd talks about a 27-year career that has led him from Take The High Road, Now You See It and the like to Scotland Today, via filming Colonel Gaddafi Muammar al-Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a... . |
| 172 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 22 February 2008 | Louise returns with her Friday night edition of the blog. This week, Louise answers some of the forum's questions and looks back at coverage of the 1988 Lockerbie disaster (produced for STV by Border Television). Plus, a 2006 report from John MacKay John MacKay (journalist) John MacKay is a Scottish broadcast journalist, television presenter and producer, who is currently the chief anchor for the West Central Scotland edition of STV News at Six and a presenter for current affairs programme Scotland Tonight.... looking ahead to what STV's new headquarters had to offer. |
| 173 | A Breaking Story | John MacKay | 25 February 2008 | From the first wire reports to a live newsroom update from Raman Bhardwaj, John brings us an insight into covering a breaking news story. |
| 174 | Politician's Expenses | John MacKay | 26 February 2008 | Political editor Bernard Ponsonby discusses the wealth of stories concerning the expenses of politicians. |
| 175 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 27 February 2008 | An extra midweek edition of Louise's spin-off blog, which today focuses on the fashions of the newsroom following criticism of tracksuits and such clothing from MSP Christopher Harvie. |
| 176 | Working with other TV Companies | John MacKay | 28 February 2008 | Newsgathering editor Jon Kean talks about the importance of good working relationships with other television stations. |
| 177 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 29 February 2008 | A special programme providing an in-depth lookback at how STV Central covered the 2007 terrorist attack at Glasgow International Airport Glasgow International Airport Glasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire... . Louise is joined by reporter Gordon Chree. |
| 178 | It's the Future | John MacKay | 3 March 2008 | New technology is the theme today as News Operations Manager, Bob Rae, introduces the BGAN, a system allowing reporters to edit packages from location and send them back to base via broadband. |
| 179 | The New Jackets | John MacKay | 4 March 2008 | An update on Little John the snowman and a special launch parade of the new STV jackets as displayed by Mike Edwards, Seán Batty, Joanne Bonnar and Sharon Frew. News editor Howard Simpson voices his opinion on the new fashions. |
| 180 | Getting Started | John MacKay | 5 March 2008 | Following the morning meeting, John finds out which stories the reporters have been allocated. Plus, a further update on Little John. |
| 181 | Raman's Return | John MacKay | 6 March 2008 | Raman Bhardwaj is back from Barcelona to talk about the BGAN system and tacky presents, as well as adding a pin to The Real MacKay Goes Global map. Plus, news on Laura Miller, whose won an award for her student documentary on the 2004 Asian tsunami. |
| 182 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 7 March 2008 | In tonight's Friday edition, Tom Lowe talks about the new Citizen Reporter scheme and there's a chance to see a special long promo for Scotland Today from 1999. |
| 183 | Scotland is the Centre of the Universe | John MacKay | 10 March 2008 | John questions an accusation from a colleague that his global map is politically incorrect. |
| 184 | Differences of Opinion | John MacKay | 11 March 2008 | Yesterday saw much debate as to which of three stories would lead Scotland Today at 6pm. Tom Lowe, Jon Kean and Raman Bhardwaj state their cases. |
| 185 | The Real MacKay in India | John MacKay | 12 March 2008 | John devotes the blog to STV forumer, BBC World in Dubai, who, whilst on a trip to India, made great efforts to spread the word about The Real MacKay as part of the blog's Global experiment. |
| 186 | Busy and Brief | John MacKay | 13 March 2008 | A heavy workload and staff' sickness means a curtailed edition of TRM - but there's enough time to add a few pins to the Global map. |
| 187 | 'White Not MacKay: The Weather Centre | Louise White | 14 March 2008 | Louise takes a look behind the scenes at the STV Weather Centre and interviews Seán Batty who produces and presents the weather forecasts for STV. |
| 188 | The ITV News Awards | John MacKay | 17 March 2008 | Head of News, Gordon McMillan, reports back on success for the STV Central newsroom at the ITV News ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV. Since 1955, ITV's news bulletins have been produced by Independent Television News . The channel's news coverage has won awards from the Royal Television Society, Emmy Awards and BAFTAs. Between 2004 and 2008, the... Awards. And John puts some more additions onto the "Tat Shelf". |
| 189 | The Mystery of The Honking Sock | John MacKay | 18 March 2008 | A glorious Spring day at Pacific Quay is somewhat spoiled by the appearance of a sock on one of the chairs of the newsroom. John investigates, accompanied by Mike Edwards and Clair Stevens. |
| 190 | The investigation into the Mystery of the Honking Socks | John MacKay | 19 March 2008 | John gets tough as the socks' mystery continues with a few interrogations, during which a chief suspect is uncovered. |
| 191 | More International Connections | John MacKay | 20 March 2008 | In a packed pre-Easter Easter Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday... edition, there's more on the Honking Sock (including Nicol Nicolson's explanation as to why he wasn't interrogated), a pin for the Channel Islands Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey... on the Global map and a look into the connections between Scotland Today and CNN, via interviews with Tom Lowe and Gordon McDougall. |
| 192 | Karen sambas as The Real MacKay hits Brazil! | John MacKay | 25 March 2008 | Before the Honking Socks resurface, The Real MacKay returns with Robyn from Boston Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had... getting her pin added to the map. Plus, forum contributor BBC World extends his Global efforts to Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... . And to celebrate, Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields is a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.Before joining STV as a researcher in 1995, Greenshields lived overseas for many years, including 12 months in Brazil, and had various stints as a researcher with independent production companies... does a samba. |
| 193 | What's in a Name? | John MacKay | 26 March 2008 | Following on from Natasha Stillwell's Five Thirty Show feature on how lucky certain names are, John asks the newsroom how they feel about their own names. |
| 194 | Lessons in Life - Buttons | John MacKay | 27 March 2008 | Sharyn has a problem - she doesn't know what to do with the spare buttons in her coat. John aims to find the answer in the first (and only) episode of a new feature series for the blog about lessons in life. |
| 195 | White Not MacKay - Take 22 | Louise White | 28 March 2008 | Another Friday night edition of the blog, featuring some classic bloopers...well, at least once Louise gets the introduction out of the way. |
| 196 | Sarah's Back | John MacKay | 31 March 2008 | Two years after her departure, Sarah Heaney Sarah Heaney - Life and career :She began her TV career with Live TV as a news reporter, then went on to front S2 Live on the now defunct SMG digital channel S2. The BBC approached Sarah but STV Central offered Sarah presenting work on the news programme, Scotland Today.... returns to STV and talks to John about what she's been up to as well as looking back at her Scotland Today years. |
| 197 | The Fluorescent Kilt | John MacKay | 1 April 2008 | After much demand from the forums and weatherman Seán Batty, John bows to pressure and tries the fluorescent kilt worn by Seán on The Five Thirty Show last week. Luckily for him, it's April Fool's Day... |
| 198 | The Newsgathering Editor | John MacKay | 2 April 2008 | Another in-depth interview - this time, featuring Newsgathering editor Jon Kean. |
| 199 | The News Operations Manager | John MacKay | 3 April 2008 | The latest in John's in-depth profile interviews involves Bob Rae, News Operations Manager for STV Central. He talks about his times at Grampian Television Grampian Television Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife... and BBC Scotland BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who... as well as about what his job entails. |
| 200 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 4 April 2008 | On her birthday, Louise White treats White Not MacKay viewers to clips from an edition of Scotland Today Scotland Today Scotland Today was a Scottish regional news programme covering Central Scotland, produced by STV Central . Despite its name suggesting a national remit, the programme was actually limited to stories around STV's Central Belt franchise... produced for the long-defunct Sky Scottish Sky Scottish Sky Scottish was a short lived satellite television channel operating on the analogue Sky TV service for 18 months .... as well as a lookback at Scotsport Scotsport Scotsport was a Scottish sports television programme, broadcast on STV in northern and central Scotland, as well as on Border Television in southern Scotland. It was recognised as the world's longest-running sports television magazine.... 's 30th birthday celebrations from 1987. Plus, an appearance from archive librarian John McVie. |
| 201 | White Not MacKay: We're a Weird Bunch | Louise White | 9 April 2008 | A midweek special of White Not MacKay. Tonight, Louise talks superstitions with Seán Batty, Kelly-Ann Bishop, Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish is a freelance broadcast journalist and presenter, currently working for ITN in London presenting the ITV News at 5.30, London Tonight & Daybreak London bulletins and for STV in Glasgow, presenting STV News bulletins for the West of Scotland.McTavish was also a regular presenter on... and cameraman Fraser. |
| 202 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 10 April 2008 | Louise White and entertainment correspondent Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan is a Scottish entertainment journalist and film critic for STV in Scotland.He studied journalism and film & media at Stirling University. After graduating he work as a news reporter for Radio Clyde. In 1998, Lauchlan started working as an assistant producer for STV's digital channel S2... meet up outside the Pacific Quay studios to talk about celebrity interviews. |
| 203 | White Not MacKay - The Master | Louise White | 11 April 2008 | It's holes-in-one, uncontrollable laughter and double entendres abound as Louise holds her own golf tournament as a tribute to the US Masters in Augusta. STV Central news staff battle it out for the grand prize of six month-old cans of beer. |
| 204 | White Not MacKay - A Good Wife | Louise White | 16 April 2008 | A follow up to John's blog on buttons in which Louise and P.A. Caroline teach Sharyn on how to be a good housewife. |
| 205 | White Not MacKay - North meets South | Louise White | 17 April 2008 | After a successful venture into the Glasweigan enemy lines (as seen on Northern Exposure Northern Exposure (video blog) Northern Exposure was a supplementary video blog for the Northern Scotland edition of the regional news programme, STV News at Six. The first blog was produced on Tuesday June 19, 2007 and as of June 30, 2009, 180 episodes had been made available... a few weeks ago), Chris Harvey Chris Harvey Chris Harvey is a news presenter, journalist and producer for STV News at Six and STV Sports Centre in northern Scotland.Born in Inverurie, his mother and father were a speech therapist and a Northern College lecturer respectively. He attended Wormit Primary School & Madras College in St... returns to Pacific Quay for an appearance on The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show was a short-lived Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday January 28, 2008... ...and for an appearance on White Not MacKay, of course. |
| 206 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 21 April 2008 | Owing to earlier technical problems, STV Central presents a double bill of video blogs to start the week. First off, Louise White presents a delayed Friday edition with a venture into the sound booth of the Scotland Today/Five Thirty Show studio gallery. |
| 207 | Changes | John MacKay | 21 April 2008 | The Mack is back and so is the daily edition of the blog, which today features more pins for the Global map, a change in newsroom furniture and a new hairdo for Kirstin. |
| 208 | The Scotland Today adverts | John MacKay | 22 April 2008 | More administrative work for the Global experiment and Raman Bhardwaj and Seán Batty talk about the new press adverts for Scotland Today. Meanwhile, Debi Edward Debi Edward Debi Edward is a Scottish television broadcaster, currently working for ITN as Scotland Correspondent on ITV News and a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.... considers the link between the presenters and frogs...at risk of annoying Louise. |
| 209 | Strange Sightings in Scotland | John MacKay | 23 April 2008 | A day after the newspaper adverts, the billboards go up for Scotland Today. John is joined by weatherman Seán Batty. |
| 210 | No Nonsense in our Newsroom | John MacKay | 24 April 2008 | The blog continues to attract international viewers as John adds pins for viewers in Belgium and New Zealand. Also on the blog, proof (if proof were needed) that unlike Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland is BBC Scotland's national television news programme. The programme first aired on 1 April 1968, with three main presenters - the most famous being Mary Marquis... , there's no room for juvenile behaviour in the Scotland Today newsroom. |
| 211 | White Not MacKay - When Harry met Louise | Louise White | 25 April 2008 | Louise dedicates today's programme to a good friend of hers named Harry. Also, the virtues of autocue as demonstrated by satellite truck operator Alex Leigh. |
| 212 | Rachel's debut on The Five Thirty Show | John MacKay | 28 April 2008 | John meets freelance presenter Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish is a freelance broadcast journalist and presenter, currently working for ITN in London presenting the ITV News at 5.30, London Tonight & Daybreak London bulletins and for STV in Glasgow, presenting STV News bulletins for the West of Scotland.McTavish was also a regular presenter on... , who is making her debut on The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show was a short-lived Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday January 28, 2008... tonight alongside Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine is a Scottish journalist and presenter. He has worked for Scottish Television, GMTV and Radio Tay. He now runs Scotland's first dedicated food and drink communications consultancy, Taste Communications.-Early years:... . She also talks about her times at the now defunct ITV News Channel ITV News Channel The ITV News Channel was a 24-hour television news channel in the United Kingdom which broadcast from 1 August 2000 to 23 December 2005. It was available on Sky, NTL:Telewest, Freeview and analogue cable, presenting national and international news plus regular business, sport, entertainment and... . |
| 213 | Producing The Five Thirty Show | John MacKay | 29 April 2008 | John continues to keep track on the temporary change in personnel for The Five Thirty Show - involving Scotland Today producer Linda Grimes Douglas, whose moving over to TFTS for a stint and Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish is a freelance broadcast journalist and presenter, currently working for ITN in London presenting the ITV News at 5.30, London Tonight & Daybreak London bulletins and for STV in Glasgow, presenting STV News bulletins for the West of Scotland.McTavish was also a regular presenter on... , who considers how her first night went. |
| 214 | The Thunderstorms | John MacKay | 30 April 2008 | On a miserable morning at Pacific Quay, John intends to introduce pictures of a dramatic thunderstorm at the STV Central studios from the roof...but finds the weather off putting. Plus, word from Italy that TRM has reached Florence Florence Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.... . |
| 215 | The Newsroom Wish Fairy | John MacKay/Kirstin Anderson | 1 May 2008 | As inspired by Vicky Lee's goodwill on The Five Thirty Show last night, John hands over the blog to newsroom assistant Kirstin Anderson, who for today, has become the "Newsroom Wish Fairy" - fairy wings and all! |
| 216 | Wearing a hoody on a sunny day | John MacKay | 6 May 2008 | The glorious weather encourages the news team to wear appropriate attire...except for one - 'Traffic Controller' James is wearing a hoody. John finds out why. |
| 217 | To dye or not to dye | John MacKay/Karen Greenshields | 7 May 2008 | Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields is a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.Before joining STV as a researcher in 1995, Greenshields lived overseas for many years, including 12 months in Brazil, and had various stints as a researcher with independent production companies... is given responsibility of the blog by John for today. And once again, the topic of hair colour is on the agenda. |
| 218 | Football Night | John MacKay | 8 May 2008 | Thursday night is footy night for the lads in the newsroom and as we discover in tonight's TRM, Inverness Caley Thistle fan Mike Edwards Mike Edwards (journalist) Mike Edwards is the senior news correspondent for STV News in Central Scotland.Born and bred in Inverness, Edwards has been a journalist for 25 years, beginning as a trainee reporter for the Inverness Courier in 1986... is very keen on his boyhood heroes and vintage match shirts. |
| 219 | White Not MacKay - Move over boys! | Louise White | 9 May 2008 | As you may have seen on The Real MacKay last night, the lads in the newsroom are keen on their footy. But how do the opposite sex fare? Step forward Louise's seven-a-side girls team. |
| 220 | Doing your own make up | John MacKay | 12 May 2008 | As the Scottish Daily Mail Daily Mail The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982... alleges that Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland is BBC Scotland's national television news programme. The programme first aired on 1 April 1968, with three main presenters - the most famous being Mary Marquis... presenter David Robertson is bemoaning having to do his own make up, John goes around the newsroom for some make-up tips. |
| 221 | The Newsroom Exodus to Manchester | John MacKay | 13 May 2008 | At this moment, most of the Scotland Today team are making their way to Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... for tomorrow night's UEFA Cup UEFA Cup The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League... Final between Rangers Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses... and Zenit St Petersburg FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit is a Russian football club from the city of Saint-Petersburg. Founded in 1925 , the club plays in the Russian Premier League... . John reports from an increasingly deserted newsroom in Glasgow. |
| 222 | From Manchester | John MacKay | 14 May 2008 | John presents a UEFA Cup final special from a bustling Albert Square in the heart of Manchester City Centre. |
| 223 | No Rest for the Busy | John MacKay | 15 May 2008 | Rangers have lost out on the UEFA Cup with their fans causing trouble in Manchester and former Celtic player/manager Tommy Burns has died. John reflects on 24 hours to forget for football in Glasgow. |
| 224 | The Stampede for Snacks | John MacKay | 16 May 2008 | An extra Friday blog from John MacKay sees the canteen closed because of STV owners SMG plc's annual general meeting. Some snacks have been laid on for the staff elsewhere at the studios - but the big question is how long have they lasted? |
| 225 | Newsroom Heroes | John MacKay | 19 May 2008 | John and the team talk about the idols of the newsroom staff. |
| 226 | Tommy Burns's Funeral | John MacKay | 20 May 2008 | A solemn day in the newsroom as the funeral of Celtic legend Tommy Burns takes place. Newsgathering editor Tom Lowe outlines the joint operation undertaken by STV, BBC Scotland BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who... and Sky News Sky News Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New... to cover the funeral. |
| 227 | Bright Jacket Day | John MacKay | 21 May 2008 | John dons a fluorescent jacket (but not the matching kilt!) to celebrate Bright Jacket Day as a number of newsroom staff (or at least three of them) turn up with bright jackets. |
| 228 | A Video Blog Sensation | John MacKay | 22 May 2008 | The Real MacKay's YouTube channel has become the number 1 Guru channel in the UK (15th internationally and 11th most viewed out of all channels in the UK). John shares the glory with previous guest presenters Kirstin Anderson, Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields is a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.Before joining STV as a researcher in 1995, Greenshields lived overseas for many years, including 12 months in Brazil, and had various stints as a researcher with independent production companies... and Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan is a Scottish entertainment journalist and film critic for STV in Scotland.He studied journalism and film & media at Stirling University. After graduating he work as a news reporter for Radio Clyde. In 1998, Lauchlan started working as an assistant producer for STV's digital channel S2... . |
| 229 | White Not MacKay - Vote yes! | Louise White | 23 May 2008 | The latest weekend edition of WNM features a brief round-up of questions from the forums before Louise launches a big interactive debate on the subject of a scarf. Watch and find out why... |
| 230 | The end of the football season | John MacKay | 27 May 2008 | The Scottish football season is at an end, and for John and Raman Bhardwaj, the lack of Scottish matches over the summer is somewhat depressing. |
| 231 | The First Single You Bought | John MacKay | 28 May 2008 | It's a known fact - the first single that John MacKay ever bought was Metal Guru by T.Rex. But when asked the question What was the first single you bought?, will the Scotland Today team reply? |
| 232 | Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork | John MacKay | 29 May 2008 | A sign of eternal wisdom has appeared in the newsroom - Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork. But is it proving inspirational enough for the news team? |
| 233 | White Not MacKay - I tried | Louise White | 30 May 2008 | Louise takes a look back at the 1991 ITV franchise auction when Scottish Television retained their broadcast license unopposed with a bid of just £2,000. Plus, Vicky Lee and Linda Grimes Douglas are left on their own as the rest of the Five Thirty Show team head to Edinburgh for a special programme. |
| 234 | The Newsroom Balloon | John MacKay | 2 June 2008 | A special undercover investigation into the attraction between the Scotland Today team and a balloon in the newsroom. |
| 235 | Nervous Anticipation | John MacKay | 3 June 2008 | Tomorrow will be a year to the day since the first edition of The Real MacKay. As for tonight, John has some nervous anticipation about the forthcoming anniversary. |
| 236 | The First Anniversary | John MacKay | 4 June 2008 | The Scotland Today video blog celebrates its first year, complete with card, cake, highlights compilation...and fire extinguisher. |
| 237 | European Championship Stake | John MacKay | 5 June 2008 | Sharyn has organised a sweepstake in the newsroom ahead of the start of Euro 2008 this weekend. But just as there was with the 2014 Commonwealth Games 2014 Commonwealth Games The 20th Commonwealth Games in 2014 will be held in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The winning city was announced by the Commonwealth Games Federation on 9 November 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Games will run over 11 days of competition from 24 July to 3 August 2014... sweepstake, there's some fervour over the running of the sweep. John (Romania) investigates. |
| 238 | White Not MacKay - When Lulu met Tyka | Louise White | 6 June 2008 | The managing director of SMG Productions SMG Productions STV Productions is the television production arm of the STV Group plc, and incorporates Ginger Productions. Headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, and with an office in London, England, the company's output includes drama, factual, entertainment and children's programming for broadcast on television... , Elizabeth Partyka answers the questions of Louise and STV's online forumers for a special edition of the weekend blog. |
| 239 | Sophisticated Things Amuse Simple Minds | John MacKay | 9 June 2008 | Action girl Natasha Stillwell brings a Segway PT Segway PT The Segway PT is a two-wheeled, self-balancing transportation machine invented by Dean Kamen. It is produced by Segway Inc. of New Hampshire, USA. The name "Segway" is a homophone of "segue" while "PT" denotes personal transporter.... into the Scotland Today newsroom. So, when the team get to hear about it...well, you'll get the idea. |
| 240 | More on The Real MacKay Global Map | John MacKay | 10 June 2008 | John brings us an update on what new international viewers have got in touch since the TRM Global Map was last featured. |
| 241 | White Not MacKay: The Tufty Club | Louise White | 11 June 2008 | A midweek special of White Not MacKay - tonight, the question of Seán Batty and Nicol Nicolson Nicol Nicolson Nicol Nicolson is a Scottish broadcast journalist.He formerly worked at ITV Border and later STV Central. Prior to becoming a journalist, he was a Marketing Manager with VisitScotland, the national tourism agency.... 's haircuts. Louise lets the viewers decide, along with some help from Kirstin Anderson. |
| 242 | Not The Real MacKay: Childhood Ambitions | Gordon Chree | 12 June 2008 | Not The Real MacKay returns with Gordon Chree at the helm. The topic - what did the Scotland Today staff want to do whilst they were growing up? |
| 243 | White Not MacKay: Where there's a Will, there's a way | Louise White | 13 June 2008 | The weekend edition of the blog focuses on Philadelphia-born Will Springer, STV News' new online producer. |
| 244 | Euro 2008 and a new bulletin | John MacKay | 16 June 2008 | Senior reporter Mike Edwards Mike Edwards (journalist) Mike Edwards is the senior news correspondent for STV News in Central Scotland.Born and bred in Inverness, Edwards has been a journalist for 25 years, beginning as a trainee reporter for the Inverness Courier in 1986... looks back on his time in Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... during Euro 2008 and John announces a new 90-second update on weekdays at 3pm. |
| 245 | Euro 2008 Update | John MacKay | 17 June 2008 | TRM's Euro 2008 coverage continues with a sweepstake update ahead of tonight's final round of Group C matches. |
| 246 | The fly away satellite | John MacKay | 18 June 2008 | Always keen to let TRM viewers know about new technical advances in the newsroom, John introduces the fly away satellite - a new piece of equipment which allows Scotland Today to produce more live outside broadcasts. What John isn't so keen on is talking about Romania's exit in Euro 2008... |
| 247 | Meeting Keira and Sienna on The Red Carpet | John MacKay | 19 June 2008 | It was a big night for Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan is a Scottish entertainment journalist and film critic for STV in Scotland.He studied journalism and film & media at Stirling University. After graduating he work as a news reporter for Radio Clyde. In 1998, Lauchlan started working as an assistant producer for STV's digital channel S2... last night as he interviewed Keira Knightley Keira Knightley Keira Christina Knightley born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham... (and her mum) and Sienna Miller Sienna Miller Sienna Rose Diana Miller is a British-American actress, model, and fashion designer, best known for her roles in Layer Cake, Alfie, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2007, the London Film Criticsnamed her British Actress of the Year for Interview... at the Edinburgh International Film Festival Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival... . Today, the newsroom staff want to know what Knightley and Miller were like - amongst them is John MacKay. |
| 248 | White Not MacKay: Sean discusses sheep | Louise White | 20 June 2008 | In an earlier than normal Friday edition, birthday girl Vicky Lee talks cakes and Seán Batty talks sheep shearing. |
| 249 | New Members of the News Team | John MacKay | 23 June 2008 | A new week on the blog and two new staff camera operators join the Scotland Today team. Ross Leary and Jennifer Wilson talk to John. |
| 250 | The Five Thirty Show reaches 100 editions | John MacKay | 24 June 2008 | The Five Thirty Show reaches its 100th programme tonight. John joins in the celebrations with Stephen Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine is a Scottish journalist and presenter. He has worked for Scottish Television, GMTV and Radio Tay. He now runs Scotland's first dedicated food and drink communications consultancy, Taste Communications.-Early years:... , Caroline, Lesley, Vicky, Gerry Gerry McCulloch Gerry McCulloch is a Scottish television presenter and football commentator.- Broadcastng career :McCulloch is a former BBC Scotland journalist, and currently works for broadcasting rival STV, on the Central Scotland edition of STV News at Six, and in March 2010, became a presenter for the sports... and Seán. |
| 251 | The Green Room | John MacKay | 25 June 2008 | TRM takes viewers into the green room of The Five Thirty Show where Vicky, Lesley and Seán are considering how the room could be improved. |
| 252 | Preparations for the Party | John MacKay | 26 June 2008 | Not much is known about the monthly parties at the STV Group (formerly SMG) headquarters for which each department takes in turn to organise and prepare. This month, a Summer Soiree is being held by the newsroom, with Seán Batty and Kirstin Anderson in charge. |
| 253 | An Outsider's View | 30 June 2008 | Scott, a work experience student at STV, presents an outsider's commentary on life in the Scotland Today newsroom. | |
| 254 | Catch Up | John MacKay | 1 July 2008 | John brings viewers some news from the newsroom - find out who backed the champions (Spain) in the Euro 2008 sweep, hear how the Summer Soiree turned out and meet new production journalist Cara Berkley. |
| 255 | If You Go Down To The Mailroom Today You're In For a Big Surprise | John MacKay | 2 July 2008 | A brief visit to the postroom reveals something very unusual has arrived at the STV studios. John, postman Bryan and cameraman Fraser get to the heart of the matter. |
| 256 | The Real MacKay Rises On Another Part of the Global Map | John MacKay | 3 July 2008 | More from the International experiment and as it transpires, the blog has reached Japan. |
| 257 | Interesting Times | John MacKay | 4 July 2008 | It's the end of a momentous week in Scottish politics - Wendy Alexander Wendy Alexander Wendy Alexander is a Scottish politician and the former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Paisley North. She held various Scottish Government cabinet posts and was the leader of the Labour Party group in the Scottish Parliament from 2007-2008... resigned as leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Nicol Stephen Nicol Stephen Nicol Ross Stephen, Baron Stephen of Lower Deeside in the City of Aberdeen is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeen South, and was leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2005 to 2008... stepped down from his post as Scottish Liberal Democrats leader and the resignation of Glasgow East Glasgow East (UK Parliament constituency) Glasgow East is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It elects one Member of Parliament at least once every five years using the First-past-the-post system of voting.... MP David Marshall has triggered a by-election - one that some commentators say has the potential to force the Prime Minister out of office. Political editor Bernard Ponsonby Bernard Ponsonby Bernard Ponsonby is a Scottish broadcast journalist working on regional news and current affairs programming for STV. He joined the station in 1990 and was appointed political editor in 2000.-Political career:... comments on the past week with John. |
| 258 | An insight into how the blog works | John MacKay | 7 July 2008 | John roams the newsroom to show us how to produce a blog of four and a half minutes length with minimum effort. |
| 259 | Technical Difficulties | John Mackay | 8 July 2008 | John talks about last night's fire alarm at BBC Scotland BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who... 's studios next door which kept Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland is BBC Scotland's national television news programme. The programme first aired on 1 April 1968, with three main presenters - the most famous being Mary Marquis... off air for 20 minutes - only for the blog to be interrupted by... |
| 260 | Be Prepared | John MacKay | 9 July 2008 | A lesson in the importance of preparation - as demonstrated by Sharon Frew's shoe collection. |
| 261 | For Foodies | John MacKay | 10 July 2008 | Gallery PA Laura Trimble has been producing, directing and editing a unique Recipe of the Week series for The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show was a short-lived Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday January 28, 2008... . In this edition of TRM, she talks at length about the thinking and the production behind the series. |
| 262 | I went to school with him | John MacKay | 11 July 2008 | It's been revealed that Charlotte in the newsroom went to school with one of Benny Andersson Benny Andersson Göran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!... 's sons. Can anyone else better that? And just who is holding the mic for John? |
| 263 | Normal service resumes | John MacKay | 28 July 2008 | 17 days after the last episode and a quiet forum leaves John to try and kickstart regular service on TRM with a forum message, an aborted pinning ceremony and a lookahead to future editions of TRM. |
| 264 | Ring Tones | John MacKay | 29 July 2008 | What links Skins Skins (TV series) Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death... with The Muppet Show The Muppet Show The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes... ? They're just two of the ringtones amongst the Scotland Today staff. John tours the newsroom to hear some mobile tunes and ring-rings. |
| 265 | Digital Future | John MacKay | 30 July 2008 | The chief executive of STV Group plc, Rob Woodward, outlines the company's plans to establish a new digital channel delivering new and exclusive output, archive material and possible local opt-out services. |
| 266 | Back to the Grind | John MacKay | 31 July 2008 | Raman returns to his usual trade of sports journalism as the new football season opens with a 0-0 draw between Rangers and Kaunas in a UEFA Champions League qualifier. And before John talks to him about getting back into business, a pinning ceremony is also in order. |
| 267 | White Not MacKay: It's been a while | Louise White | 1 August 2008 | John MacKay's 17-day long absence from The Real MacKay may have been lengthy but it doesn't quite compare to Louise White's 41 days without presenting White Not MacKay. And now she's back to talk Americanisms with Will Springer. |
| 268 | The Sun Shone on Seán | John MacKay | 4 August 2008 | A clear day at Pacific Quay encourages John to bring out the shades and find out what the forecast for the rest of the summer holds from Seán Batty. |
| 269 | Exam Results | John MacKay | 5 August 2008 | On the day thousands of Scottish school pupils receive exam results, the Scotland Today team present their takes on the nerves and emotions that surround the opening of the envelope. |
| 270 | Sport or News? | John MacKay | 6 August 2008 | Rangers have crashed out of the UEFA Champions League and European football after a second round qualifying upset to the hands of FBK Kaunas FBK Kaunas Kauno futbolo beisbolo klubas is a Lithuanian football club from the city of Kaunas, that currently plays in the A Lyga, the top level of Lithuanian football.- History :... . This leaves the Scotland Today newsroom with a problem - should it be covered as a sports story or does it warrant a place within the main regional news? |
| 271 | Filming a promo for the new STV video player | John MacKay | 7 August 2008 | As the team behind stv.tv Stv.tv www.stv.tv is the URL of the website of the Scottish television channel, STV. The website currently offers the usual sections of News, Sport, Entertainment, Weather, Competitions, Forums and STV programme information, with TV listings... prepares to push its new video player into full service, John films a promo for the website. But why is John repeating the same line again and again? All shall be revealed. |
| 272 | White Not MacKay: Here's looking at you, kid | Louise White | 15 August 2008 | How does Scotland Today cameraman Ross Leary go about his day job? More to the point, can Louise White hack it as a camerawoman? |
| 273 | How much? | John MacKay | 18 August 2008 | John MacKay returns from a week's holiday with news of two American pins for the Global map and a disturbing find on eBay EBay eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide... , made even more disturbing by how much the item went for. |
| 274 | The Newsroom Schism | John MacKay | 19 August 2008 | John finds himself reporting on a private group of newsroom staff known as The Baked Potato Club, which is causing more than enough trouble within the Scotland Today team. |
| 275 | Sharing the Misery | John MacKay | 20 August 2008 | A look at the reality of the miserable August weather in Pacific Quay and in spite of the crowded space on the map, pins for the Isle of Man and the Western Isles. |
| 276 | The National Anthem debate | John MacKay | 21 August 2008 | Whilst the Tartan Army booed the playing of God Save The Queen God Save the Queen "God Save the Queen" is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms and British Crown Dependencies. The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns... at last night's Scotland v Northern Ireland friendly at Hampden, the national anthem was well observed when Olympic champion Chris Hoy received his gold medals in Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... recently. All of which has led to a newsroom debate on the issue - involving amongst others, Joanne Bonnar Joanne Bonnar Joanne Bonnar is a reporter, presenter and producer for STV News in Central Scotland.Bonnar works as a news and sports reporter and is a producer of lunchtime bulletins. She also produces the Central edition of STV News Review, STV's weekly news review for the deaf and hard of hearing.-External... , Raman Bhardwaj and UTV Live UTV Live UTV Live is the name of the regional news service broadcast on UTV, the ITV region in Northern Ireland. The first edition of the programme was transmitted on Monday 4 January 1993.-Weekday bulletins:*13:55... s Neil Brittain Neil Brittain Neil Brittain is a Northern Irish television presenter and journalist. He is currently a sports presenter and reporter for UTV Live.-Early career:... . |
| 277 | Newsroom chat | John MacKay | 22 August 2008 | Another disappearing act from Louise White means an extra TRM episode for Friday, which today features what passes for a typical chat in the Scotland Today newsroom. |
| 278 | The new video player at stv.tv/video | John MacKay | 26 August 2008 | As the official launch of STV's new video website approaches, online producer Will Springer demonstrates its pieste resistance - the video player. |
| 279 | The Newsroom Schism II: Response of the Kirstin | John MacKay | 27 August 2008 | The story of The Baked Potato Club continues - will Seán and Kirstin bring themselves to explain their actions? |
| 280 | Not The Real MacKay: The Newsroom Schism III - The Baked Potato Ballot | Seán Batty | 28 August 2008 | In an attempt to provide a balanced presentation on the issue of The Baked Potato Club, Seán Batty presents a Not The Real MacKay special with coverage of a secret ballot to see who will be allowed to join the controversial society. |
| 281 | White Not MacKay: Frocks, fireworks and flutes | Louise White | 29 August 2008 | This weekend, STV will produce OB coverage of the Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert 2008 - the finale of this year's Edinburgh International Festival. Louise White presents the programme on Sunday night with Henry Eagles in charge as executive producer. Here, he and production manager Katie outline how the station will cover the event. |
| 282 | A Long Day for Raman | John MacKay | 1 September 2008 | With the football transfer window closing at midnight tonight, Raman Bhardwaj anticipates one of the busiest days of the year in sports journalism. |
| 283 | Kelly-Ann goes Network | John MacKay | 2 September 2008 | On yesterday's ITV Lunchtime News, Kelly-Ann Bishop made her network debut to cover the vaccination of Scottish school girls against cervical cancer. Here, she talks to John about making the leap from regional to national news. |
| 284 | Mystery Messenger | John MacKay | 3 September 2008 | Following his appearance on Postcode Challenge Postcode Challenge Postcode Challenge is a Scottish television game show presented originally by Carol Smillie and currently by Angus Purden, produced by STV Productions for broadcast on STV.-Format:... , Gerry McCullouch has been receiving some odd messages from a mysterious messenger. Another Real MacKay investigation is in order. |
| 285 | New online coverage @ stv.tv | John MacKay | 4 September 2008 | A new session in the Scottish Parliament has begun with STV's video website now carrying live coverage of First Minister's Questions on Thursday lunchtime. Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish is a freelance broadcast journalist and presenter, currently working for ITN in London presenting the ITV News at 5.30, London Tonight & Daybreak London bulletins and for STV in Glasgow, presenting STV News bulletins for the West of Scotland.McTavish was also a regular presenter on... assesses how today's first webcast turned out. |
| 286 | White Not MacKay: The new video player | Louise White | 8 September 2008 | In a delayed edition of WNM, web editor Robert Dawson Scott discusses further the launch of stv.tv/video. |
| 287 | An Andy Murray Exclusive! | John MacKay | 8 September 2008 | Ahead of the US Open men's final between Andy Murray and Roger Federer Roger Federer Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles... in New York City tonight, John makes a somewhat questionable attempt to find the most tedious link possible between Murray and production journalist Jennifer Harrild. |
| 288 | The proposal for a new Scottish digital channel | John MacKay | 9 September 2008 | Comment from the managing director of STV, Bobby Hain, regarding the Scottish Broadcasting Commission Scottish Broadcasting Commission The Scottish Broadcasting Commission was established by the Scottish Government in August 2007. Its purpose is to conduct an independent investigation into television production and broadcasting in Scotland, and to define a strategic way forward for the industry... 's recommendation of setting up a non-profit Scottish digital channel. |
| 289 | Nougat or nougat? | John MacKay | 10 September 2008 | John oversees a debate on how to pronounce the word nougat Nougat Nougat is a variety of similar traditional confectioneries made with sugar and/or honey, roasted nuts , and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The consistency of nougat can range from soft and chewy to hard and crunchy depending on its composition, and it is used in a variety of candy bars and... . |
| 290 | The Nougat or Nougat debate continues | John MacKay | 11 September 2008 | Clair Stevens, Kelly-Ann Bishop, Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields is a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.Before joining STV as a researcher in 1995, Greenshields lived overseas for many years, including 12 months in Brazil, and had various stints as a researcher with independent production companies... and a Francophone Mike Edwards continue the nougat debate. |
| 291 | White Not MacKay: Weather Watching | Louise White | 12 September 2008 | Louise and Seán head to the roof of the Pacific Quay studios on the lookout for the lesser spotted sun, along with a little weather chat. |
| 292 | Ginger Byrd is over the moon | John MacKay | 15 September 2008 | The Scotland Today League of predicting SPL scorelines has begun with resources co-ordinator and confessed non-footy fanatic Sharyn (Gingerbyrd) Fleming outclassing everyone in the newsroom and in fact, over 8,000 people taking part. John, Raman and Sharyn discuss further. |
| 293 | The East/West split explained | John MacKay | 16 September 2008 | Some viewers in the East of the region have been receiving the West sub-regional opt within Scotland Today at six. John offers an explanation as to why. |
| 294 | STV's Champions League coverage | John MacKay | 17 September 2008 | With the UEFA Champions League UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It... campaign underway, commissioning editor Howard Simpson looks ahead to STV's coverage, beginning tonight with highlights of the match between Celtic and Aalborg. |
| 295 | Not The Real MacKay: Focus on Edinburgh | Nicol Nicolson | 18 September 2008 | A special edition from the Edinburgh newsroom where Nicol Nicolson Nicol Nicolson Nicol Nicolson is a Scottish broadcast journalist.He formerly worked at ITV Border and later STV Central. Prior to becoming a journalist, he was a Marketing Manager with VisitScotland, the national tourism agency.... oversees how Scotland Today staff are covering the day's main stories - namely the takeover of HBOS HBOS HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group having been taken over in January 2009... by Lloyds TSB Lloyds TSB Lloyds TSB Bank Plc is a retail bank in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1995 by the merger of Lloyds Bank, established in Birmingham, England in 1765 and traditionally considered one of the Big Four clearing banks, with the TSB Group which traces its origins to 1810... , First Minister's Questions at Holyrood and the appointment of Norfolkline Norfolkline Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English channel and Irish Sea; and logistics services across Europe... as the new operator for the Rosyth Rosyth Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790.... -Zeebrugge Zeebrugge Zeebrugge is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with hotels, cafés, a marina and a beach.-Location:... ferry. Well, at least they should be working... |
| 296 | White Not MacKay: Money and travel | Louise White | 19 September 2008 | Louise wraps up the week on the blog with her own take on the global financial crisis as well as the chaos on the M8 this morning. |
| 297 | Monday Chat | John MacKay | 22 September 2008 | A sample of Monday morning talk from the newsroom, where the agenda consists of David Robertson's sudden departure from Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland is BBC Scotland's national television news programme. The programme first aired on 1 April 1968, with three main presenters - the most famous being Mary Marquis... & its switch to single-handed presentation, PA Caroline's holiday in New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... , the green nail varnish of Kelly-Ann Bishop and how the latest SPL scoreline predictions of unlikely expert Sharyn Fleming have gone against her. |
| 298 | Prime Minister's Speech | John MacKay | 23 September 2008 | Recorded just after Prime Minister Gordon Brown Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007... concluded his speech at the Labour Party conference in Manchester, political editor Bernard Ponsonby offers some post-speech analysis. |
| 299 | Babes or Doll? | John MacKay | 24 September 2008 | Another day and another debate - this time, whether its better to say babes or doll. John is surrounded by the females of the newsroom for their views and asks for viewers' opinions. |
| 300 | The Latest from the Tatty Shelf | John MacKay | 25 September 2008 | By request of the forums, keeper PA Caroline, and curator Gordon McDougall provide an update on what's been added to the Tatty Shelf since its foundation. |
| 301 | White Not MacKay: Tied Up in Knots | Louise White | 26 September 2008 | In the midsts of the dressing room where Gerry McCullouch is doing his own ironing, Baked Potato partners in crime Seán and Kirstin have been arguing over which tie Sean should wear. Louise offers to help by throwing open the issue to blog fans....and kissing Seán. |
| 302 | Sensational Results in the Nougat/Nougat Poll | John MacKay | 30 September 2008 | The nougat debate concludes with the online poll results - but what kept Karen Greenshields and Clair Stevens from voting? |
| 303 | The Camping Trip | John MacKay | 1 October 2008 | Last night's Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show was a short-lived Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday January 28, 2008... featured part one of what happened when Stephen Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine is a Scottish journalist and presenter. He has worked for Scottish Television, GMTV and Radio Tay. He now runs Scotland's first dedicated food and drink communications consultancy, Taste Communications.-Early years:... , Rachel Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish is a freelance broadcast journalist and presenter, currently working for ITN in London presenting the ITV News at 5.30, London Tonight & Daybreak London bulletins and for STV in Glasgow, presenting STV News bulletins for the West of Scotland.McTavish was also a regular presenter on... , Seán, Vicky and Gerry Gerry McCulloch Gerry McCulloch is a Scottish television presenter and football commentator.- Broadcastng career :McCulloch is a former BBC Scotland journalist, and currently works for broadcasting rival STV, on the Central Scotland edition of STV News at Six, and in March 2010, became a presenter for the sports... went camping at a new five-star site in East Lothian. Messrs Jardine and Batty talk to John about what was left out at the final edit. |
| 304 | The Real MacKay's Global Reach Spreads | John MacKay | 2 October 2008 | A few greetings from the newsroom as the ongoing Global experiment hears from two viewers logging on to the show in the United States and the Middle East. |
| 305 | White Not MacKay: Search for the oldest TV | Louise White | 3 October 2008 | On the weekend blog tonight and by way of tribute to John Logie Baird John Logie Baird John Logie Baird FRSE was a Scottish engineer and inventor of the world's first practical, publicly demonstrated television system, and also the world's first fully electronic colour television tube... , The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show was a short-lived Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday January 28, 2008... s Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish is a freelance broadcast journalist and presenter, currently working for ITN in London presenting the ITV News at 5.30, London Tonight & Daybreak London bulletins and for STV in Glasgow, presenting STV News bulletins for the West of Scotland.McTavish was also a regular presenter on... talks about Digital UK Digital UK Digital UK is the body in charge of the digital switchover of television in the United Kingdom.Digital UK communicates switchover to the public, works with industry to build support for the switchover programme, and co-ordinates engineering work across the UK broadcast network... 's search for the oldest television in Britain. |
| 306 | Stevie Wonder in the Blog | John MacKay | 6 October 2008 | Joanne Bonnar Joanne Bonnar Joanne Bonnar is a reporter, presenter and producer for STV News in Central Scotland.Bonnar works as a news and sports reporter and is a producer of lunchtime bulletins. She also produces the Central edition of STV News Review, STV's weekly news review for the deaf and hard of hearing.-External... looks back at Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist... 's concert in Birmingham over the weekend - part of his first European concert tour in ten years. Also, Laura Miller chases up the story about Bob Dylan Bob Dylan Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly... owing everything in his career to Robbie Burns. |
| 307 | What Does It All Mean For Us? | John MacKay | 7 October 2008 | The global financial crisis leads to further significant share falls in the Royal Bank of Scotland Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the... whilst the Scottish rail system is about to be paralysed by the first of two planned 24-hour strikes. On this busiest of news days, how will Scotland Today cover it all? Chief editor Howard Simpson steps into the producer's role with Tom Lowe on newsgathering duties. |
| 308 | Not The Real MacKay: Performing under pressure | Gordon Chree | 8 October 2008 | John takes a day off from blogging, leaving Gordon Chree, Kelly-Ann Bishop, Laura Trimble and cameraman Colin Mathieson to provide a New York fan of the show with a guide to the skills and pitfalls of reporting live. |
| 309 | Heather's Back! | John MacKay | 9 October 2008 | Heather Simpson Heather Simpson Heather Simpson is a reporter, newsreader and producer for the West Central Scotland edition of STV News at Six.After studying English at university, Simpson worked for CSV Media, helping to produce a number of community programming. During her time at CSV, she joined Scottish Television on a work... returns to the newsroom from maternity leave. John helps her out with a little bit of re-familiarisation. |
| 310 | White Not MacKay: Finance and out-takes | Louise White | 10 October 2008 | Tonight's packed Friday edition celebrates Linda Grimes Douglas's birthday, examines some floral displays, provides a financial tip and includes more classic outtakes. |
| 311 | Not The Real MacKay: Bafta nomination | Heather Simpson | 16 October 2008 | Heather Simpson steps up to the blog cameras again as Seán Batty announces his BAFTA Scotland award nomination for Favourite Scottish TV Personality. |
| 312 | Holiday from Hell | John MacKay | 20 October 2008 | John has returned from a week's holiday, as has cameraman Michael Hunter, who would rather prefer to forget his break. |
| 313 | The Tasteless Turtle from the Tatty Shelf | John MacKay | 21 October 2008 | A visit to the Tatty Shelf from where forum member Stuart Bs addition (from Zakynthos Zakynthos Zakynthos , also Zante, the other form often used in English and in Italian , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It covers an area of ... ) is unveiled. Plus, Caroline provides a quick check up on other additions. |
| 314 | Stoicism and Results | John MacKay | 22 October 2008 | How the Scotland Today team managed to stay on air during a fire alarm and the final result of the Babes/Doll online poll is revealed. |
| 315 | Hero or Zero? | John MacKay | 23 October 2008 | As one poll closes, another begins. This time, it's the question of whether East opt-out director Michael Hunter can be considered as a hero or a zero following Tuesday's fire alarm stoicism. |
| 316 | White Not MacKay: A special guest | Louise White | 24 October 2008 | Will Springer introduces a very special guest to the blog - the prospective next vice president of the United States...or at least, that's the description. |
| 317 | The secrets of live broadcasting | John MacKay | 27 October 2008 | A further insight into the world of live reporting, according to senior reporter (and part-time footballer) Mike Edwards. |
| 318 | Air Kissing at the Style Awards | John MacKay | 28 October 2008 | Back from last night's Style Awards, Vicky Lee and Seán Batty introduce John to what is involved in 'air kissing'. |
| 319 | Cameramen Out in the Cold | John MacKay | 29 October 2008 | John gets behind the camera whilst cameramen Fraser Cleland and Ross Leary get in front of it to talk about dealing with working in the cold. |
| 320 | Recognition of a TV Legend | John MacKay | 30 October 2008 | Whilst John tries to work out who has been messing around with the Global map, Cara Berkley is given a recognition test. Can she identify a former Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland Reporting Scotland is BBC Scotland's national television news programme. The programme first aired on 1 April 1968, with three main presenters - the most famous being Mary Marquis... reporter turned Scotland Today forward planning editor? |
| 321 | White Not MacKay: Pink Not MacKay | Louise White | 31 October 2008 | On tonight's show, Louise, back from her temporary metamorphosis as Sarah Palin Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was... , marks a double celebration with Wear It Pink Day in the Finance department and Halloween Halloween Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day... on The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show was a short-lived Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday January 28, 2008... . Featuring Gomez Batty-Alonso Addams and his matriarch wife, Morticia A. McTavish Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish is a freelance broadcast journalist and presenter, currently working for ITN in London presenting the ITV News at 5.30, London Tonight & Daybreak London bulletins and for STV in Glasgow, presenting STV News bulletins for the West of Scotland.McTavish was also a regular presenter on... Frump-Addams. |
| 322 | Not The Real MacKay: Video Killed The Radio Star | Gordon Chree | 3 November 2008 | The Scotland Today team reflect on all their wireless yesterdays as they talk about working on radio news. |
| 323 | Are You Staying Up? | John MacKay | 4 November 2008 | After an intensive 22 months of campaigning and the occasional impersonation of running mates by Scottish newsreaders, the day of the US presidential election is finally here with John asking the newsroom Who's staying up? |
| 324 | A Sense of History? | John MacKay | 5 November 2008 | And so, it's all over. Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in... is to become the 44th President of the United States. Can the newsroom sense some history in the air? Will Springer, Kirstin Anderson, Debi Edward and Bernard Ponsonby get their views across. Karen Greenshields, on the other hand... |
| 325 | The Real Election | John MacKay | 6 November 2008 | Election week on the blog continues as Politics Now Politics Now Politics Now was a Scottish political programme produced and broadcast by STV in northern and central Scotland. The half-hour programme, running for 40 weeks of the year, was broadcast on late Thursday evenings.... producer Stephen Townsend looks ahead to tonight's coverage of the Glenrothes by-election. |
| 326 | White Not MacKay: There's Been A Murder | Louise White | 7 November 2008 | Louise White...sorry, Chief Deputy Superintendent Louise White of PQ Division visits the wardbrobe of Taggart Taggart Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network... . |
| 327 | The Scottish Baftas | John MacKay | 10 November 2008 | A later than normal edition featuring the lowdown on what did happen and who won nothing at the BAFTA Scotland BAFTA Scotland BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1997, the branch holds an annual awards ceremony, the British Academy Scotland Awards , to recognise achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, television and video games... awards, by courtesy of Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish Rachel McTavish is a freelance broadcast journalist and presenter, currently working for ITN in London presenting the ITV News at 5.30, London Tonight & Daybreak London bulletins and for STV in Glasgow, presenting STV News bulletins for the West of Scotland.McTavish was also a regular presenter on... and Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine is a Scottish journalist and presenter. He has worked for Scottish Television, GMTV and Radio Tay. He now runs Scotland's first dedicated food and drink communications consultancy, Taste Communications.-Early years:... . |
| 328 | The Barlinnie Special | John MacKay | 11 November 2008 | Tomorrow night at 6pm, Scotland Today presents a special programme live from inside Barlinnie Prison as the country's jails come under scrutiny. Tom Lowe and Debi Edward look ahead. |
| 329 | Inside Barlinnie Prison | John MacKay | 12 November 2008 | More build-up ahead of tonight's Scotland Today Barlinnie Prison special from senior reporters David Cowan and Mike Edwards. |
| 330 | On the Outside | John MacKay | 14 November 2008 | In the midst of what turned out to be a major power surge at Pacific Quay yesterday, editor Howard Simpson responds to criticism about Wednesday night's Scotland Today Barlinnie special. |
| 331 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 14 November 2008 | It's not been the best of weeks at STV - one misfortune being Seán Batty's defeat at the BAFTA Scotland awards on Sunday night. Here, he faces the cameras for the first time after his loss. |
| 332 | The X Factor | John MacKay | 17 November 2008 | John finds himself in the midst of a lively debate about that most important of topics, The X Factor The X Factor (UK) The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date... . Laura Trimble, Gordon Chree, Sharyn Fleming, Joanne Bonnar Joanne Bonnar Joanne Bonnar is a reporter, presenter and producer for STV News in Central Scotland.Bonnar works as a news and sports reporter and is a producer of lunchtime bulletins. She also produces the Central edition of STV News Review, STV's weekly news review for the deaf and hard of hearing.-External... , Kelly Ann Bishop, Raman Bhardwaj and Laura Miller take part in the first of a new Monday series on the blog. |
| 333 | The Radio Cam | John MacKay | 18 November 2008 | The recent Glenrothes by-election coverage saw the debut of a new gagdet for STV News's technical crew - the radio cam. John, sat truck operator Iain Soutar and reporter Gordon Chree explore the possibilities of the kit. |
| 334 | Was It Over The Line? | John MacKay | 19 November 2008 | Whilst in Glasgow for tonight's Scotland v Argentina friendly, Maradona Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting... refuted to allegations about the Hand of God by claiming that England's third goal in the 1966 World Cup Final didn't cross the line. Cue the opinions of the newsroom... |
| 335 | Is Seán the Most Trusted Man in Scotland? | John MacKay | 20 November 2008 | A psychologist is quoted to have said that Seán Batty is the most trusted man in Scotland. But can that claim be taken seriously? A theory test follows. |
| 336 | The X Factor Latest | John MacKay | 24 November 2008 | A second round of X Factor talk from the newsroom with panelists Laura Miller, Kelly Ann Bishop, Laura Trimble, Sharyn Fleming, Joanne Bonnar and Tom Lowe. |
| 337 | Graphs, diagrams and good news | John MacKay | 25 November 2008 | Head of news Gordon Macmillan examines some graphic evidence of Scotland Todays rising popularity whilst John takes another opportunity to kick a publicly funded concern while its down. |
| 338 | Office Irritations | John MacKay | 26 November 2008 | A look at what cheeses off the news team, according to John MacKay. |
| 339 | Political Thursday | John MacKay | 27 November 2008 | Political correspondent Michael Crow Michael Crow (journalist) Michael Crow is a former Scottish political journalist who worked as Director of Strategy and Communications at the Scottish Conservative Party from 2009 until 2010... talks about the busiest day in the Scottish political week - Thursday. |
| 340 | White Not MacKay: Special Visitors | Louise White | 28 November 2008 | A group of primary school children visit the STV Central studios with the blog cameraman, Louise and Seán in tow. |
| 341 | X Factor Monday | John MacKay/Nicol Nicolson | 1 December 2008 | John MacKay in Glasgow and Nicol Nicolson Nicol Nicolson Nicol Nicolson is a Scottish broadcast journalist.He formerly worked at ITV Border and later STV Central. Prior to becoming a journalist, he was a Marketing Manager with VisitScotland, the national tourism agency.... in Edinburgh introduce the third of the Scotland Today team's weekly X Factor debates with a guest appearance from none other than Diana Vickers Diana Vickers Diana Vickers is an English singer-songwriter, stage actress and fashion designer who initially came to public attention as a semi-finalist on the fifth series of British talent show The X Factor in 2008... herself...well, a lookalike anyway. |
| 342 | The Director's Cut | John MacKay | 2 December 2008 | John Mason talks about progressing from working as an outside broadcast vision mixer to the role of studio director in another of Mr. MacKay's interviews. |
| 343 | The Peter Tobin Trial | John MacKay | 3 December 2008 | Chief reporter David Cowan David Cowan (journalist) David Cowan is the chief reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.Cowan began his journalism career at the age of 16, as a junior reporter for The Courier in Dundee... provides a personal view on covering the trial of Peter Tobin Peter Tobin Peter Britton Tobin is a convicted Scottish serial killer and sex offender now serving a sentence of life imprisonment for the murders of three young women.... , who was yesterday sentenced to life for the murder of Redding schoolgirl Vicky Hamilton. |
| 344 | Christmas Decorations Debate | John MacKay | 4 December 2008 | Another day and another debate in the newsroom - this time surrounding Seán's decision to put up a Christmas tree. Is this the right time to put up decorations? |
| 345 | White Not MacKay: What were you doing? | Louise White | 5 December 2008 | What were you doing on Friday 5 December 2008 at 12:05 GMT Greenwich Mean Time Greenwich Mean Time is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is arguably the same as Coordinated Universal Time and when this is viewed as a time zone the name Greenwich Mean Time is especially used by bodies connected with the United... ? In the Scotland Today newsroom, Louise was hosting her regular weekend blog and asking her colleagues the same question. |
| 346 | Not The Real MacKay: X Factor Monday | Raman Bhardwaj | 8 December 2008 | The Claw is gone and as Raman steps into John's shoes to front another edition of X Factor Monday, the enthusiasm seems to be waning a little amongst the two Lauras, Tom, Sharyn, Andy and even Mr. MacKay himself. |
| 347 | The Sound Man | John MacKay | 9 December 2008 | Scott Camlin, a freelance sound engineer for Scotland Today and The Five Thirty Show, becomes the latest guest on John's series of in-depth interviews. |
| 348 | The Missus | John MacKay | 10 December 2008 | After referring to his wife as the missus, sports reporter Andy Chambers finds himself challenged as to the acceptability of his reference by John...and Kirstin, Clair, Caroline, Alison, Karen and Sharon. |
| 349 | The New Web Page | John MacKay | 11 December 2008 | Will Springer and the rest of the STV online team are busy relaunching the website at the moment with new beta versions of sites for news and programmes already launched. Here, Will takes time out to guide John through the new look website. |
| 350 | White Not MacKay: The Office Swally | Louise White | 12 December 2008 | It's thirteen days to the 25th and with the post room staff and director John Mason in a spot of bother over parcels and swallys, Christmas preparations are anything but festive in the Scotland Today newsroom. |
| 351 | X Factor Monday: The Final | John MacKay | 15 December 2008 | John hits the launch plunge on his new desktop stress rocket to start the last X Factor Monday edition of the blog as the panel share their thoughts on winner Alexandra Burke Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke is a British R&B and pop recording artist who rose to fame after winning the fifth series of British television series The X Factor in 2008... and other such concerns. |
| 352 | Christmas Comes Early | John MacKay | 16 December 2008 | Nine days before Christmas, the team on The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show was a short-lived Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday January 28, 2008... find themselves surrounded by toys in their corner of the newsroom. Natasha Stillwell explains. |
| 353 | Michael's a Hero - Official! | John MacKay | 17 December 2008 | Michael Hunter finds out whether viewers have decided he is a hero or a zero and forum member Hugh Pugh manages to confuse the keeper and curator of the Tatty Shelf by sending in a wooden frog and a stick. |
| 354 | There's Been A Murder! | John MacKay | 18 December 2008 | Taggart Taggart Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network... comes under the blog's spotlight again - this time, John finds out that the newly engaged Joanne Bonnar Joanne Bonnar Joanne Bonnar is a reporter, presenter and producer for STV News in Central Scotland.Bonnar works as a news and sports reporter and is a producer of lunchtime bulletins. She also produces the Central edition of STV News Review, STV's weekly news review for the deaf and hard of hearing.-External... made her screen debut in the series. |
| 355 | White Not MacKay: The Christmas Special | Louise White | 19 December 2008 | White Not MacKay for 2008 draws to a close with a round of Newsroom Secret Santa. |
| 356 | The Ideal Christmas Party | John MacKay | 22 December 2008 | It's the Monday morning after the Friday night Christmas parties in Glasgow and Edinburgh. John provides a debriefing on the night's shenanigans and asks his colleagues what would be the ideal Christmas party. |
| 357 | The Christmas Blood Donor Appeal | John MacKay | 23 December 2008 | The final Scotland Today video blog of 2008 looks ahead to STV's on-air support campaign for the Scottish Blood Transfusion Service. John is joined by the station's promotions manager, Ellie Caddell. |
| 358 | Welcome to 2009 | John MacKay | 6 January 2009 | John opens up a new year of blogs with news of Michael Crow Michael Crow (journalist) Michael Crow is a former Scottish political journalist who worked as Director of Strategy and Communications at the Scottish Conservative Party from 2009 until 2010... 's departure and a voice of concern about the North Tonight North Tonight North Tonight was a Scottish nightly regional news programme covering the North of Scotland, produced by STV North .-History:North Tonight began on 7 January 1980 with presenters John Duncanson and Selina Scott... area of the STV forums. |
| 359 | A Production Debut | John MacKay | 7 January 2009 | How is Clair Stevens (reporter, occasional newsreader, bulletin producer, Five Thirty Show producer, newsgathering editor) getting on in her new role as a producer for Scotland Today at six? John has a chat with her. |
| 360 | New Year's Resolutions | John MacKay | 8 January 2009 | No inspiration expected as John finds out the newsroom's hopeful and hopeless resolutions for 2009. |
| 361 | White Not MacKay | Louise White | 9 January 2009 | Louise White restarts White Not MacKay by welcoming some special guests from the University of the West of Scotland in Ayr Ayr Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205... . |
| 362 | The Amy Zone | John MacKay | 12 January 2009 | John discovers that certain episodes of The Real MacKay can linger long in the mind and meets two work experience students by the name of Amy. |
| 363 | Hidden Talents Part 1 | John MacKay | 13 January 2009 | The first of a two-part special exposing the Scotland Today newsroom's lesser well-known talents. |
| 364 | Hidden Talents Part 2 | John MacKay | 14 January 2009 | The second part of John's special look at the previously undisclosed talents of the newsroom staff. |
| 365 | The Scotland Today Trombone Trio | John MacKay | 15 January 2009 | A follow-up to the Hidden Talents special concentrates on Jennifer, Debi and Laura's careers as trombonists. |
| 366 | White Not MacKay: New Year, New Leaf, New Book | Louise White | 16 January 2009 | Friday night means Louise White on the blog and this week sees her talking literature with the Scotland Today team. |
| 367 | The Debutant | John MacKay | 19 January 2009 | Laura Miller spent last week as presenter for the 1115 edition of Scotland Today. She reflects on her first week in a newsreading role with John. |
| 368 | The Map Readers | John MacKay | 20 January 2009 | They make a living out of expertly filming news footage but who can the camera operators rely on for directions on a job? |
| 369 | The David Cowan Interview | John MacKay | 21 January 2009 | An interview with Scotland Today's chief reporter about a journalism career spanning over 20 years from local papers in Dundee to leading STV coverage of the biggest news stories. |
| 370 | Big Brother | John MacKay/Raman Bhardwaj | 22 January 2009 | Raman holds fort for John and devotes the blog to what's going on with Celebrity Big Brother Celebrity Big Brother 2009 (UK) Celebrity Big Brother 2009 was the sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother. It began on 2 January 2009 and ran for 22 days until 23 January 2009. It was broadcast on Channel 4. The launch show was watched by approximately 6.4 million people... , ahead of tomorrow night's final. Viewers are advised to expect some sound drop-out during this episode. |
| 371 | White Not MacKay: American Politics | Louise White | 23 January 2009 | Tonight, at the end of a momentous week in the history of American politics, Will Springer provides commentary on the inauguration of Barack Obama. |
| 372 | Hear the Beat of Dancin' Feet | John MacKay | 26 January 2009 | Seán Batty is tested on his skills of identifying who is walking past his desk with only the sound of their feet to help him. |
| 373 | Trying to get a word with Tom | John MacKay | 27 January 2009 | Can John get a word in edgeways with news-gathering editor Tom Lowe about what to expect on Scotland Today at six? |
| 374 | Frost/Nixon | John MacKay | 28 January 2009 | Who needs Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan is a Scottish entertainment journalist and film critic for STV in Scotland.He studied journalism and film & media at Stirling University. After graduating he work as a news reporter for Radio Clyde. In 1998, Lauchlan started working as an assistant producer for STV's digital channel S2... 's Film Club when TRM has the Scotland Today Film Club? Here, they review Frost/Nixon Frost/Nixon (film) Frost/Nixon is a 2008 historical drama film based on the 2006 play by Peter Morgan which dramatizes the Frost/Nixon interviews of 1977. The film was directed by Ron Howard and produced for Universal Pictures by Howard, Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working... , the Oscar nominated dramatisation of the events surrounding Sir David Frost's televised interviews with former US president Richard M. Nixon. |
| 375 | Budget Drama | John MacKay | 29 January 2009 | The ruling government in the Scottish Parliament suffered a dramatic setback last night as their annual budget was rejected. Political editor Bernard Ponsonby explains what it all means. |
| 376 | White Not MacKay: Artiste at Work | Louise White | 30 January 2009 | Senior make-up girl Helen is the subject of tonight's programme as Louise presents an in-depth interview on the art of small screen make-up. |
| 377 | Happy In His Work | John MacKay | 2 February 2009 | The snowy conditions and the tradition of the first Monday in February being a 'sickie day' is getting everyone down at Scotland Today...except for one lone employee. |
| 378 | Where Did The Snow Go? | John MacKay | 3 February 2009 | It was only last night that the Scotland Today team were warning viewers of advancing heavy snow...but most of it failed to materialise. Where did it all go wrong for Seán? |
| 379 | A Rumour Exposed | John MacKay | 4 February 2009 | John aims to put a rumour of great matter to rest. |
| 380 | Beckham-mania | John MacKay | 5 February 2009 | An opportunity to see Kelly-Ann Bishop putting together a VT on David Beckham's Scottish visit—or should that be an opportunity to see the Scotland Today girls swooning over David Beckham? |
| 381 | Primadonna Mania? | Louise White | 6 February 2009 | What happens when Louise attempts to get an interview with Kelly-Ann Bishop about her encounter with David Beckham this week? A short blog follows. |
| 382 | The Raman Bhardwaj Interview | John MacKay | 11 February 2009 | John returns to talk with Raman about his reporting career covering sport and political issues for STV. |
| 383 | Blog Wars | John MacKay | 12 February 2009 | John discovers that a short weather blog by Seán Batty has received a record viewership for STV video blogs. As far as Mr. MacKay and Mr. Batty are concerned, the fight is on. |
| 384 | White Not MacKay: Friday the 13th | Louise White | 13 February 2009 | Tonight, a little inspiration for Valentine's Day from Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier.... and where the Scotland Today team would rather be on this day of days. |
| 385 | New Neighbours | John MacKay | 16 February 2009 | There's some upheaval in Pacific Quay at the moment as various departments move around the STV headquarters - which gives John the chance to meet his new neighbours. |
| 386 | Vicky's Burlesque | John MacKay | 17 February 2009 | John, always looking for something to talk about, asks Vicky Lee about her burlesque performance as seen on The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show The Five Thirty Show was a short-lived Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday January 28, 2008... last night and again on this episode of TRM. |
| 387 | Where did the Five Thirty Show team go? | John MacKay | 18 February 2009 | A second look at the moving around PQ as John tours the Five Thirty team's new office spaces. |
| 388 | More New Neighbours | John MacKay | 19 February 2009 | John's take on the moving stories at Pacific Quay enter a third episode as he meets more of his new neighbours and hears of more changes to the STV website. |
| 389 | The Naughty Word Checker | John MacKay | 23 February 2009 | Comments are being left on the video site with an option soon to be added for the news site - but what to do with the occasional naughty words from web visitors? |
| 390 | Flat as a Chocolate Cake | John MacKay | 24 February 2009 | On Shrove Tuesday, John tries to woo stood-up ladies with a 5-minute recipe for a chocolate mug cake - only to ruin everything with a simple ad-lib comment. |
| 391 | Making Amends | John MacKay | 25 February 2009 | Following yesterday's incident, John tries to sort out any hurt amongst the newsroom women by diverting the topic of conversation but will it have the desired effect? |
| 392 | On the Road Again | John MacKay | 26 February 2009 | John gets back to his reporting roots and goes on the road to record interviews with a group of social workers. |
| 393 | White Not MacKay: Move Over Winslet! | Louise White | 27 February 2009 | Louise launches into an impersonation of Kate Winslet for this early Friday edition...but thankfully, within reason. |
| 394 | Court Reporting | John MacKay | 2 March 2009 | Amidst all the jovialty on recent blogs, Scotland Today has been covering the trial of Heather Boyd and Robert Cunningham for the death of Monifieth baby son Brandon Muir. Senior news correspondent Mike Edwards reflects on covering such stories. |
| 395 | Cut to size | John MacKay | 3 March 2009 | Last week saw John hit the road to film interviews with a group of social workers. In all, 7 minutes 45 seconds was recorded. Now, it's up to John to edit it all down to two minutes. |
| 396 | Gran Torino | John MacKay | 4 March 2009 | The Scotland Today Film Club returns to try and persuade Will that Clint Eastwood's latest drama Gran Torino is worth the admission price. |
| 397 | A Late One | John MacKay | 5 March 2009 | As the title suggests, it's a late edition - which gives John the chance to talk about the trails recorded ahead of Scotland Today at six. |
| 398 | White Not MacKay: Future presenters? | Louise White | 6 March 2009 | Another week draws to a close with some more of Louise's guests - this time from The Prince's Trust, complete with presentation masterclass. |
| 399 | A Gordon of All Trades | John MacKay | 9 March 2009 | John explores multi-skilling in the newsroom with help from Gordon Chree. |
| 400 | Nike or Nike? | John MacKay | 10 March 2009 | First, there was nougat or nougat. Now, John oversees the debate on how to pronounce a certain sportswear firm. |
| 401 | The Psychology of the Presenter's Chair | John MacKay | 11 March 2009 | How do you sit at a desk? How high or low do you adjust your chair? John, Kelly Ann, Clair and Joanne adapt these questions to investigate the preferences of sitting at the Scotland Today studio desk. |
| 402 | Not The Real MacKay: The Robert Dawson Scott interview | Karen Greenshields | 12 March 2009 | Online editor Robert Dawson Scott talks about the world of Scottish arts as Karen gets a second guest host stint. |
| 403 | White Not MacKay: Sweeties | Louise White | 13 March 2009 | Heather Simpson Heather Simpson Heather Simpson is a reporter, newsreader and producer for the West Central Scotland edition of STV News at Six.After studying English at university, Simpson worked for CSV Media, helping to produce a number of community programming. During her time at CSV, she joined Scottish Television on a work... , Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan Grant Lauchlan is a Scottish entertainment journalist and film critic for STV in Scotland.He studied journalism and film & media at Stirling University. After graduating he work as a news reporter for Radio Clyde. In 1998, Lauchlan started working as an assistant producer for STV's digital channel S2... and Caroline Muir join Louise in the meeting room for a sweeties conference. No further explanation necessary. |
| 404 | Not The Real MacKay: The Two Rannies | Ranald Leask | 16 March 2009 | Ranald Leask Ranald Leask Ranald Leask is the Public Relations and Media Manager for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. He was appointed to this position in May 2009.... in Edinburgh holds fort for John and meets...erm, Ranald Leask in the latest profile interview. |
| 405 | A Rummage Through Raman's Drawers | John MacKay | 17 March 2009 | The tale surrounding a pair of tickets to the CIS Cup Final, a bottle of Gordon's Gin and how Jennifer & Kelly-Ann managed to take a rummage through Raman's drawers...not in the way you're thinking. |
| 406 | Baby Face | John MacKay | 18 March 2009 | John is challenged by the sales team to what's known in polite society as a Babyface test... |
| 407 | The Relaunch | John MacKay | 19 March 2009 | This Sunday, after 37 years, Scotland Today will air for the final time. Starting Monday, the nightly regional news will be relaunched with a new look and a new name - STV News at Six STV News at Six STV News at Six is a Scottish regional news programme, covering the two STV franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland, produced by STV Central in the Central region and STV North in the Northern region.The programmes were launched on Monday 23 March 2009, replacing Scotland Today in... . John is joined by Howard Simpson to explain the changes. |
| 408 | White Not MacKay: Climbing | Louise White | 20 March 2009 | Louise swaps her footwear, ditches the cameraman and heads for the mountains - or to be precise, the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park is a national park in Scotland centred on Loch Lomond, and includes several ranges of hills, the Trossachs being the most famous... , from where she presents a special video diary. |
| 409 | Countdown to New Look | John MacKay | 23 March 2009 | Scotland Today is gone and STV News at Six is almost here. But ahead of the first new look bulletin at 1:55pm, how much glance will John allow of the new set? |
| 410 | The New Set | John MacKay | 24 March 2009 | With the new look STV News at Six now fully unveiled, studio director John Mason gives an analysis of the set. |
| 411 | Rise to the Challenge | John MacKay | 25 March 2009 | John is challenged to better Louise's recently displayed climbing skills...in the only way he knows how. |
| 412 | The Pronunciation Debate Rages | John MacKay | 26 March 2009 | For every pronunciation debate that spawns a blog, there are many others that don't quite warrant an episode of their own as John finds out. |
| 413 | White Not MacKay: She just couldn't help herself | Louise White | 27 March 2009 | Day five of STV News at Six and Louise feels as if the new set for the West opt-out may need an extra few touches. What will director John Mason say? |
| 414 | Confrontation | John MacKay | 30 March 2009 | Even with eleven camera crews covering the region, John finds it difficult to get an operator to film the blog. Tom Lowe faces a little interrogation. |
| 415 | Our Rock Star | John MacKay | 31 March 2009 | Once a Scottish Television employee and now a singer & guitarist with Attic Lights Attic Lights Attic Lights are an indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland, formed in 2005 by Kevin Sherry , Colin McArdle and Jamie Houston , later joined by Tim Davidson and Noel O'Donnell... - Kevin Sherry joins John for an interview. |
| 416 | The Creative Process | John MacKay | 1 April 2009 | Richard Groundsell gets to work on creating new opening titles for the blog - which already involves a 3-D John. |
| 417 | The North Sea Tragedy | John MacKay | 2 April 2009 | Eight people have died and another eight are still missing in the aftermath of a helicopter crash off the Aberdeenshire coast. Tonight, John will be joining Andrea Brymer in Aberdeen for a special pan-regional edition of STV News at Six on the disaster. |
| 418 | White Not MacKay: Drama at Rangers | Louise White | 3 April 2009 | Louise's attention turns to football tonight as Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson MBE is a Scottish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Blackpool.Ferguson has made 82 appearances in European competitions, all for Rangers, which makes him the record European appearance holder at the club. He was also inducted into the Rangers F.C. Hall of Fame... loses his captaincy of Rangers and the Scottish national team. Freelance correspondent David McKinney provides reaction. |
| 419 | White Not MacKay: Gordon vs the local wildlife | Louise White | 10 April 2009 | A Good Friday edition from a slightly quieter than usual newsroom recalls Gordon Chree's infamous meeting with what one notable colleague described as 'local wildlife'. |
| 420 | The Politics of Making Tea | John MacKay | 14 April 2009 | As John returns to the blog, the newsroom goes about the business of making tea - which can't be too much of a matter to the staff...can't it? |
| 421 | What A Game! | John MacKay | 15 April 2009 | As seen on STV last night, Liverpool and Chelsea drew 4-4 in a memorable UEFA Champions League quarter final second leg that saw the Blues progress 7-5 on aggregate. So, what are they talking about in the newsroom this morning? |
| 422 | Crossing the Equator | John MacKay | 16 April 2009 | The experienced traveller, Mike Edwards, talks about the time he reached the equator line...or at least, he thought he had. |
| 423 | White Not MacKay: We are easily impressed | Louise White | 17 April 2009 | A bumper edition sees Louise and the Friday news team concentrate on meeting really famous people. |
| 424 | Sunny Dispositions | John MacKay | 20 April 2009 | It may be a glorious Monday following a glorious weekend but even the sunny weather has its downside on a few people in the newsroom. |
| 425 | Photography Day | John MacKay | 21 April 2009 | John and the rest of the STV News at Six team line themselves up for their mugshots on the new set. |
| 426 | The Return of The Real MacKay Global Map | John MacKay | 22 April 2009 | John manages to find more international viewers to keep the global map up to date. |
| 427 | The Sweetie Shop | John MacKay | 23 April 2009 | An object lesson in how to clear the STV newsroom - open a sweet shop downstairs. |
| 428 | White Not MacKay: Farewell to a fashion icon | Louise White | 24 April 2009 | It's goodbye from Kirstin Anderson - she's leaving STV News to join the BBC's Newsround Newsround Newsround is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972, and was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically at children... . Louise bids her a fond farewell. |
| 429 | Going Digital and Terrestrial | John MacKay | 27 April 2009 | John manages to secure some on-air promotion time for The Real MacKay during STV News at Six. Roll the trail. |
| 430 | Oh Dear! | John MacKay | 28 April 2009 | As announced yesterday, The Real MacKay went out to hundreds of thousands more viewers last night during STV News at Six. But unfortunately for some of the news team, not everyone heard about the blog's TV debut. |
| 431 | Botox | John MacKay | 29 April 2009 | John has a simple question to ask the news staff - would you consider botox? Answers range from the completely reasonable to the potentially libel. |
| 432 | Maps of Scotland | John MacKay | 30 April 2009 | The new BBC Scotland BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who... logo has managed to attract John's ire. Could the newsroom do any better on a budget of nothing? |
| 433 | White Not MacKay: The font of knowledge? | Louise White | 1 May 2009 | The Met Office's long range forecast calls for a 'odds-on barbecue summer'. Seán Batty tells Louise what he makes of his colleagues' predictions in the last episode of White Not MacKay. |
| 434 | Green Fields of France | John MacKay | 5 May 2009 | Mike Edwards talks about the Scottish involvement in the excavation of unidentified human remains, originally buried in a mass French grave during the First World War. |
| 435 | Cup Competition | John MacKay | 6 May 2009 | John takes a look at the collection of mugs in the STV newsroom. |
| 436 | What Makes You Mad? | John MacKay | 7 May 2009 | Viewers watching Barcelona's victory over Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final last night would have been left with no doubt about the Blues' outrage. So, what about the outrage of the news team? |
| 437 | Guys Allowed | John MacKay | 11 May 2009 | As John discovers, it's understandable to see that Caroline went along to see Girls Aloud in Glasgow...but what about Raman Bhardwaj? |
| 438 | The New STV News fashion accessory | John MacKay | 12 May 2009 | There's been the mugs, the brolly and the jackets. Now, say hello to the STV-branded security lanyard. |
| 439 | Expenses | John MacKay | 13 May 2009 | As the Daily Telegraph adds more fuel to the scandal of MPs' expenses, STV Central's senior journalists get their two cents in on expenditure in their profession. And John has news on the future of the blog. |
| 440 | The Hour and some big sports news | John MacKay | 26 May 2009 | John returns with a brief lookahead to STV's new magazine programme The Hour and news on who triumphed in the Scotland Today Premiership. |
| 441 | Lettuce for Lunch | John MacKay | 1 June 2009 | A balmy Monday lunchtime beside the Clyde encourages most of the news team to head outdoors. |
| 442 | The Glass Ceiling | John MacKay/Karen Greenshields | 2 June 2009 | Karen puts forward a few opinions to John about women and the cliched glass ceiling. |
| 443 | Twitter Tutorial | John MacKay | 3 June 2009 | John decides to follow the trends and start up a Twitter account, with help from Caroline. |
| 444 | Recreation Kyle Coetzer's Catch | John MacKay | 8 June 2009 | John can't understand why Howard, Gerry and Joanne are so interested in Kyle Coetzer Kyle Coetzer Kyle Coetzer is a Scottish cricketer who has represented his country at all levels, captaining at Under-15, U-17 and U-19 levels including skippering in the 2004 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh... 's sensational catch in Scotland's recent World Twenty20 Cup match with South Africa. Nonetheless, he decides to pull out all the stops with a lavish recreation. |
| 445 | Michelle McManus | John MacKay | 9 June 2009 | Michelle McManus Michelle McManus Michelle McManus is a Scottish singer-songwriter, actress, radio DJ and television presenter, who rose to fame after winning the second series of the UK talent show Pop Idol.... is guest presenting The Hour this week - an opportunity for John to get her on the blog. |
| 446 | Favourite Words | John MacKay | 10 June 2009 | An online firm reports that the one millionth word in the English language has been officially established - Word 2.0 - leading John to literally ask his colleagues for a few well-chosen words. |
| 447 | The First Swine Flu Death | John MacKay | 15 June 2009 | A 38 year-old Scottish woman has become the first person outside the Americas to die from swine flu. John has analysis from senior correspondent Mike Edwards. |
| 448 | Digital Britain and The Agreement with the BBC | John MacKay | 16 June 2009 | It's an important day in the debate over STV's future. The company has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with the BBC to share more resources. Later, Lord Carter's Digital Britain report is due to suggest the funding of regional news services. Comment from director of broadcasting Bobby Hain. |
| 449 | Twittering Twosome | John MacKay | 17 June 2009 | A fortnight after signing up to Twitter, John appears to be struggling with the whole idea of it. Gordon Chree offers him a bit of help. |
| 450 | The Blog provides Public Information | John MacKay | 22 June 2009 | Promotions manager Ellie Caddell explains STV's part in a new public safety campaign on seat belts, airing for the first time today during commercial breaks. |
| 451 | A New Face for a Sunny Day | John MacKay | 23 June 2009 | John makes an appropriate introduction for STV's new relief weather presenter - Jean Johansson. |
| 452 | You're Phat, Let's Bounce | John MacKay | 24 June 2009 | John learns a bit of new vocabulary from the new media team to use while he's tweeting. |
| 453 | Let Down | John MacKay | 6 July 2009 | News Organiser Tom Lowe had been planning major coverage of Andy Murray's historic Wimbledon championship win. Except Murray went out in the semi-final to Andy Roddick just ten minutes after last Friday's News at Six went off air. John hears about his misguided plans. |
| 454 | Do you pronounce the 'J' or not? | John MacKay | 7 July 2009 | A late edition sees John pose yet another question about pronouncation - this time to debutant weather presenter Jean Johansson. |
| 455 | Memories of Michael Jackson | John MacKay | 8 July 2009 | 13 days on and the STV Central news team get around to remembering Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records... ...and moonwalking in his honour. |
| 456 | T-in-the-Park-Tastic | John MacKay | 9 July 2009 | John catches up with the online team heading to Balado Balado Balado is a park and former airfield within the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland. It is now the venue of the annual T in the Park music festival.Poultry sheds of Balado Poultry Farm now occupy the old concrete runways of the airfield... for tomorrow's start of the 2009 T in the Park T in the Park T in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire... festival. |
| 457 | Farewell Will | John MacKay | 13 July 2009 | Thirteen months on since being introduced by Louise, John says goodbye to STV News online producer Will Springer. |
| 458 | Skinny Dipping | John MacKay | 14 July 2009 | The summer holidays are approaching which leads John to a little question - yes or no to skinny dipping? |
| 459 | Perspectives on the Moon Landings | John MacKay | 16 July 2009 | It is forty years to the day since Apollo 11 blasted off to the Moon. But are the STV news team still interested? |
| 460 | Public Holiday | John MacKay | 20 July 2009 | For the most part, the STV headquarters are a quiet place because it's a public holiday in Scotland. But still - the STV News at Six team are hard at work. |
| 461 | The Blue Tie Myth | John MacKay | 21 July 2009 | John's response to an accusation that he only wears blue ties on air. |
| 462 | The New Intern | John MacKay | 22 July 2009 | John introduces Louise, the first of STV's new styled newsroom interns. But what about Alison's missing melon? |
| 463 | The Perfect Cuppa | John MacKay | 27 July 2009 | On a late edition of TRM tonight, John finds out why the newsroom is not exactly the best place to discover secrets in making a perfect cup of coffee. |
| 464 | Bagel Blether | John MacKay | 28 July 2009 | John turns attention from coffee to bagels - in particular, the homemade bagels of Gordon Chree. |
| 465 | Ageism | John MacKay | 29 July 2009 | John responds to a complaint of ageism from cameraman Neil McLaren - by asking the newsroom to consider when was the best era to have lived. |
| 466 | Inspiration is hard to come by | John MacKay | 10 August 2009 | John is feeling ready to return from a week's break and to resume the blogs. If only he didn't ask his colleagues how they were feeling... |
| 467 | Administrative Tasks and Yarns | John MacKay | 11 August 2009 | After a dull return yesterday, John works his way around another pin for the map and shares a tale about an encounter in a Glasweigan restaurant. |
| 468 | You'll Never Guess Who I Saw... | John MacKay | 12 August 2009 | Following on from yesterday's tale, the newsroom tells more stories of celebrity encounters in the first of a two-part special. |
| 469 | As we were saying... | John MacKay | 14 August 2009 | The delayed concluding part of the news team's celebrity encounters. |
| 470 | Did I Miss Anything? | John MacKay | 24 August 2009 | John manages to miss the biggest Scottish story of the year - the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds - by going on holiday. But it doesn't stop him and producer Linda Grimes Douglas from reviewing last Thursday's STV News at Six special from Lockerbie. |
| 471 | Culinary Tips | John MacKay | 25 August 2009 | A bit of lunchtime advice from the newsroom. |
| 472 | Those Lazy Hazy Days of Late Summer | John MacKay | 26 August 2009 | John revels in what passes for a late summer in Central Scotland. |
| 473 | The Online Reporters | John MacKay | 1 September 2009 | Four regional online journalists begin work today on improving STV's news website. John meets Jennifer and Euan to discuss the changes. |
| 474 | The Greatest Scot | John MacKay | 14 September 2009 | John asks the big question of who is the greatest Scot of them all as part of a STV viewers' poll - and talks about a little incident while filming the series. |
| 475 | R.I.P. Patrick Swayze | John MacKay | 15 September 2009 | A tribute to Patrick Swayze Patrick Swayze Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest... , STV style. |
| 476 | The Inspector of Prisons | John MacKay | 17 September 2009 | A special interview from HMP Barlinnie with the new chief inspector of Scottish prisons, Brigadier Hugh Munro, as he voices his concerns over the country's prison system. |
| 477 | The X Factor Monday Club | John MacKay | 28 September 2009 | John and the news team return to dissect a topic close to their hearts - X Factor Monday is back. |
| 478 | How Clean Is Your Dressing Room? | John MacKay | 29 September 2009 | How Clean is Your House? How Clean is Your House? How Clean Is Your House? was a British entertainment/lifestyle television programme in which expert cleaners Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie visited extremely filthy homes and then cleaned them to perfection... presenter and this week's guest host on The Hour, Aggie MacKenzie Aggie MacKenzie Agnes MacKenzie , is a Scottish television presenter. She is most prominently known for co-presenting the Channel 4 series How Clean Is Your House? with Kim Woodburn.-Biography:... joins John to inspect the presenters' dressing room. |
| 479 | Meeting a Mega-Mega-Mega Star, or so you'd think… | John MacKay | 30 September 2009 | Sharon Frew on getting to grips with meeting Peter Andre Peter André Peter James Andrea , better known by the stage name as Peter Andre, is an English-born Australian musician, singer-songwriter, television personality and businessman. As a recording artist, he has achieving four top 10 UK albums and ten top 10 singles.-Early life:Andre was born at Northwick Park... ...or trying to, anyway. |
| 480 | The Future for STV News | John MacKay | 1 October 2009 | The managing director of STV's broadcasting services and regulatory affairs, Bobby Hain, responds to questions about the proposals for an overhaul of the company's regional and sub-regional news services. |
| 481 | Way Out West | John MacKay | 5 October 2009 | An Edinburgh take on the Glasgow newsroom, courtesy of STV's political correspondent Jamie Livingstone. |
| 482 | The X Factor Club | John MacKay | 6 October 2009 | One day later than usual, the thoughts of the 'X Factor' newsroom panel as the final twelve contestants are chosen. |
| 483 | A Visitors' Eye View | John MacKay | 7 October 2009 | John accompanies two auction winners, Rose and Angela, on a visit to studio 1 at STV Central. |
| 484 | So, about Hibs… | John MacKay | 9 October 2009 | Two more auction winners, Graeme & Harry, turn up at HQ in PQ - and take the opportunity to put Gerry McCulloch on the spot about a lack of Hibernian coverage on News at Six. |
| 485 | The STV Strategy and Autumn Schedule | 19 October 2009 | Extended coverage of a news conference held at STV's Pacific Quay headquarters earlier today - chief executive Rob Woodward unveils the stations' network and regional programming line-up for this autumn and explains its opt-out policy and broadcast strategy. | |
| 486 | The News Vision | 20 October 2009 | Part two of Rob Woodward's press conference on the STV strategy concentrates on the proposals for a 60-minute News at Six incorporating Scottish, UK national and international news. | |
| 487 | Marty's Moment | John MacKay | 21 October 2009 | One of the regulars to the STV forums, Marty C, visits the Pacific Quay studios on work experience. |
| 488 | The X Factor Preview | John MacKay | 23 October 2009 | A bonus Friday edition featuring the newsroom panel's predictions for The X Factor this weekend. |
| 489 | The X Factor Club | John MacKay | 26 October 2009 | The team review the latest installment of The X Factor once again. |
| 490 | The Braveheart Connection | John MacKay | 27 October 2009 | Self-proclaimed Comfort and Joy extra Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields Karen Greenshields is a reporter for STV News in Central Scotland.Before joining STV as a researcher in 1995, Greenshields lived overseas for many years, including 12 months in Brazil, and had various stints as a researcher with independent production companies... is asked to guess which of the STV news team appeared as an extra in Braveheart Braveheart Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace... . |
| 491 | The Write Factor | John MacKay | 29 October 2009 | John unveils a new competition offering the chance to win a six-month £5,000 contract as an online contributor for STV. |
| 492 | The Monday X-Factor Club | John MacKay | 2 November 2009 | John meets up with a very unhappy X Factor panel, including guest panelist Michelle McManus. |
| 493 | Textspeak | John MacKay | 3 November 2009 | John and intern Louise face a challenge on the meanings of textspeak. |
| 494 | Textspeak Part 2 | John MacKay | 4 November 2009 | After John and Louise's test yesterday, the rest of the news team face the textspeak quiz. |
| 495 | The Future of Regional News - The Culture Secretary | John MacKay | 5 November 2009 | Tonight, the future of regional news in the STV regions, according to the Secretary of State for Culture, Ben Bradshaw Ben Bradshaw Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Exeter since 1997, and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.... . |
| 496 | The X Factor Monday Club | John MacKay | 9 November 2009 | John finds himself talking not only to an unhappy newsroom panel, but a livid one. |
| 497 | A Familiar Sound | John MacKay | 10 November 2009 | John and Gordon discover the STV News theme tune has made its way to Romania. Plus, a clarification statement regarding yesterday's programme from the producer... |
| 498 | The National Anthem Debate | John MacKay | 11 November 2009 | The 2010 Commonwealth Games committee is deciding upon which tune should be played as a National Anthem for Scotland, which leads online producer John Kilbride to put the debate to an online vote. |
| 499 | The X Factor/I'm A Celebrity Club | John MacKay | 16 November 2009 | The usual X Factor debate, combined with thoughts on the new series of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here is a reality television game show series in which 8 to 15 celebrities live together in a jungle environment for a few weeks. They have no luxuries, and compete to win a cash prize... . |
| 500 | The Glorious 500th | John MacKay | 17 November 2009 | The Real MacKay reaches its 500th installment - an anniversary marked with memories from the newsroom. |
| 501 | Romanian Weather Forecasts | John MacKay | 18 November 2009 | Sean is left unimpressed by how 24-hour news channels in Romania choose to present their weather forecasts... |
| 502 | The X Factor Club | John MacKay | 23 November 2009 | The latest remarks from a revitalised newsroom panel after Jedward's departure from The X Factor and Katie Price's exit from I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! |
| 503 | When Clair met Robert Pattinson | John MacKay | 24 November 2009 | Total recall of what happened when producer Clair Stevens met Twilight star Robert Pattinson Robert Pattinson Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson is an English actor, model, musician, and producer. Born and raised in London, Pattinson started out his career by playing the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire... while helping out Grant Lauchlan with a movie special. |
| 504 | What's With All This Rain? | John MacKay | 25 November 2009 | Sean faces a perennial question about the recent severe weather across the region. |
| 505 | The X Factor Posse | John MacKay | 30 November 2009 | Not for the first time, John finds newsroom interest in The X Factor fading fast. Instead, all talk is revolving around Jedward's Scottish visit. |
| 506 | Our Budding Stars | John MacKay | 1 December 2009 | Following an earlier disclosure, Karen Greenshields discusses playing the bit part of a secretary in Comfort and Joy. |
| 507 | The Great T-Shirt Folding Debate | John MacKay | 2 December 2009 | John discovers the prim and proper way to fold a T-shirt...but Caroline and intern Louise reckon they know better. |
| 508 | The X-Factor Posse | John MacKay | 7 December 2009 | Fatigue sets in again on the X Factor panel (aside an upbeat John Mason) as the series approaches its finale. |
| 509 | The STV News Guide to Christmas Tree Decor | John MacKay | 9 December 2009 | Sean Batty describes how he decorated the three newsroom Christmas trees for this year. |
| 510 | The X Factor Posse | John MacKay | 14 December 2009 | It's all over at last - John and a rejuvenated panel conclude another series of X Factor debates. |
| 511 | The Christmas Night Out | John MacKay | 17 December 2009 | It's that time of year again - and this time, Karen is taking responsibility for the STV Central Newsroom Christmas Night Out. |
| 512 | All the Best for 2010 | John MacKay | 6 January 2010 | John toasts the New Year - with a flurry of belated Christmas goodies. |
| 513 | Brrr... | John MacKay | 7 January 2010 | John's attention turns to how Mike Edwards and Joanne Bonnar are dealing with the Arctic weather conditions. |
| 514 | Tatty Shelf Update | John MacKay | 13 January 2010 | By continued demand, another visit to the Tatty Shelf. |
| 515 | The Digital News Editor | John MacKay | 19 January 2010 | Former group deputy editor at the Herald and Times, Matt Roper, is introduced as the new Digital News Editor at STV. |
| 516 | Pronunciation Problems and Ogling | John MacKay | 20 January 2010 | John finds out how the word 'Tocilizumab' should be pronounced and investigates why some of the newsroom ladies went to the cinema last night. |
| 517 | Harry from Westminster | John MacKay | 25 January 2010 | An early lookahead to the General Election from Westminster Correspondent, Harry Smith. |
| 518 | The Real Blackeye | John MacKay | 27 January 2010 | John has been kept off air over the past few nights with a swollen black eye. Will make-up artist Helen ensure he returns to outseat Louise at 6pm tonight? |
| 519 | Sir Alex Ferguson in Govan | John MacKay | 1 February 2010 | A first chance to see John's interview with Sir Alex Ferguson Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986... on a visit to the Preshal Trust Centre in Govan. |
| 520 | Sir Anthony Hopkins | John MacKay | 2 February 2010 | Sir Anthony Hopkins joins John via satellite to talk about his upcoming Edinburgh art exhibition. |
| 521 | Overcoming Hurdles | John MacKay | 3 February 2010 | It's back to the newsroom for today's edition, which profiles wannabe journalist Scott Breslin, a man who faces more challenges in his life than most. |
| 522 | Idiots in the Mist | John MacKay | 8 February 2010 | John tries to help Gordon Chree find out which story he's been assigned to for the day - which is more than can be said for cameraman Fraser. |
| 523 | The TV Remotes | John MacKay | 9 February 2010 | In the STV newsroom, the remote control is vital...so, where is it? |
| 524 | Sean's Love Club | John Mackay | 16 February 2010 | John tries to search out the reason why it's taken three days for Sean to open all of his Valentine's Day cards. Could the weather have kept him busy? |
| 525 | Debi's Split Personality | John MacKay | 17 February 2010 | How does Debi Edward juggle working as a Central Scotland reporter for STV News at Six and as a Scotland-wide correspondent for ITN's ITV News ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV. Since 1955, ITV's news bulletins have been produced by Independent Television News . The channel's news coverage has won awards from the Royal Television Society, Emmy Awards and BAFTAs. Between 2004 and 2008, the... ? |
| 526 | New dimension to sport | John MacKay | 24 February 2010 | A week on Friday, STV will launch its new weekend sports magazine show STV Sports Centre. John meets the programme's production team. |
| 527 | The New Canteen | John MacKay | 1 March 2010 | Fever pitch-level debate in the STV newsroom over...the new staff canteen. |
| 528 | The New Sports Reporter | John MacKay | 3 March 2010 | New Central sports correspondent Keith Downie talks about starting out on STV News at Six and STV Sports Centre which begins on Friday night. |
| 529 | The Jingle That Makes Your Day | John MacKay | 9 March 2010 | Joanne Bonnar's cheery hum inspires a blog full of vocal ditties from the news team. |
| 530 | It's Two Thirty | John MacKay | 10 March 2010 | John takes a look at what exactly was going on in the newsroom at 2:30pm on Wednesday 10 March 2010. |
| 531 | Jennifer Aniston Exclusive | John MacKay | 16 March 2010 | John provides a bit of tittle-tattle concerning Grant Lauchlan's interview with Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,... . Could the body language prove conclusive? |
| 532 | It's not a handbag, it's a Mulberry | John MacKay | 17 March 2010 | John presents an exclusive, in-depth probe into...women's handbags, assisted by Louise and Heather. |
| 533 | Hello Heather | John MacKay | 18 March 2010 | After yesterday's exploits into women's handbags, Heather Simpson Heather Simpson Heather Simpson is a reporter, newsreader and producer for the West Central Scotland edition of STV News at Six.After studying English at university, Simpson worked for CSV Media, helping to produce a number of community programming. During her time at CSV, she joined Scottish Television on a work... gets a bit of star treatment from the blog. |
| 534 | The Real MacKaren | Karen Greenshields | 23 March 2010 | Karen returns to provide an international take on life at STV News with her guest, new media producer Judit from Catalonia. |
| 535 | Election-tastic! | John MacKay | 14 April 2010 | John returns with a first-hand look at how STV is covering the general election with help from Northern colleague Claire Stewart Claire Stewart Claire Stewart is a Scottish broadcast journalist, covering politics for STV News in Central Scotland.Stewart joined STV North in 2004 as an Aberdeen-based reporter and bulletin presenter.... . |
| 536 | What STV has on offer online for election | John MacKay | 19 April 2010 | Online editor Matt Roper explains the general election coverage on offer via the STV news website. |
| 537 | The Leadership Debate | John MacKay | 20 April 2010 | John previews tonight's Scotland Debates special on STV and ITV Border Border Television Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria... . |
| 538 | The STV App | John MacKay | 4 May 2010 | John and Matt unveil the all new STV News app for iPhone. |
| 539 | As The Dust Settles | John MacKay | 13 May 2010 | John reflects on a historic yet turbulent time in British politics...and its effect on the STV newsroom. |
| 540 | Grantzi | John MacKay | 18 May 2010 | John discovers an urban guerrilla sports journalist within the news team. |
| 541 | Kevin Bridges - Funny Man | John MacKay | 2 June 2010 | A double-bill of blogs - first off, John discovers how one member of the newsteam, Mandy, saw the potential of Glasweigan comedian Kevin Bridges Kevin Bridges Kevin Bridges is a Scottish stand-up comedian.-Stand-up:Bridges began performing on the small stage when he left school shortly after his 17th birthday, doing stand-up comedy gigs at The Stand Comedy Club in Glasgow and then throughout the UK. At 18 he reached the final of Channel 5's So you think... right from the start. |
| 542 | Alan Has An iPad | John MacKay | 2 June 2010 | In a second Wednesday blog, new media man Alan Watson shows off his new iPad IPad The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and... . |
| 543 | Virtual Nostalgia | John MacKay | 3 June 2010 | With the clock ticking to 6pm, John looks into a matter of great importance for the team preparing tonight's main programme...an online World Cup sticker game. |
| 544 | Underway or under way | John MacKay | 4 June 2010 | John rounds off the week with a look into some of the news team's pet hates. |
| 545 | STV HD | John MacKay | 9 June 2010 | Gary, STV's director of operations, answers a few questions about the launch of STV HD. |
| 546 | Englishmen Abroad | John MacKay | 16 June 2010 | A double bill of World Cup episodes starting with an appearance from the STV news staffers supporting the Auld Enemy. |
| 547 | The Vuvuzela | John MacKay | 16 June 2010 | John's take on the most contentious issue to have come out of this year's FIFA World Cup—the dreaded vuvuzela. |
| 548 | STV on Youtube | Gordon Chree | 16 June 2010 | STV Broadcasting MD Bobby Hain and Google's UK head of operations Matt Brittin talk about a new deal to put STV programming onto YouTube. |
| 549 | RealMacKayBlog@Twitter | John MacKay | 12 July 2010 | As the summer wears on, John gets more and more involved with his Twitter account. |
| 550 | What are we gonna do? | John MacKay | 12 July 2010 | And so it's over - with Spain taking home the World Cup and still a month to go until the new Scottish football season, disappointed Dutch fan John wonders how everyone's going to cope. |
| 551 | Is shorthand a dying skill in journalism? | John MacKay | 15 July 2010 | John discusses the art of shorthand writing with two of the newsroom's young Edinburgh Napier graduates. |
| 552 | The Lockerbie Bomber Row | John MacKay | 21 July 2010 | John and political editor Bernard Ponsonby explain the fallout and the confusion over Scottish Justice Minister Kenny McAskill's decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. |
| 553 | The Lottery Dilemma | John MacKay | 28 July 2010 | A lottery syndicate has been set up among the news team. Unforunately, according to Karen and Donald, a few disagreements over what to do with the money are emerging. |
| 554 | The X Factor Club | John MacKay | 23 August 2010 | Back with a vengeance, Sean Batty and Laura Boyd join John for the first of this year's X Factor post-mortems. |
| 555 | New Year New You | John MacKay | 7 January 2011 | The Mack returns to chat to STV controller Elizabeth Partyka and weatherman Sean Batty about the station's New Year campaign. |
| 556 | Lemon & Water | John MacKay | 7 January 2011 | John continues his look at the New Year, New You. Jennifer Harrild gets involved by quitting tea while online producer Laura Boyd offers a tour of the campaign website. |
| 557 | The Hurted Finger | John MacKay | 7 January 2011 | The third of Friday's blogs returns to newsroom matters as Sharon Frew discusses an unfortunate incident involving a car door. |
| 558 | The Uggs Debate | John MacKay | 12 January 2011 | A Twitter argument spirals into a full blown debate for the blog. The question - do Uggs boota make women's backsides look bigger? Heather Simpson leads the naysayers. |
| 558 | A Bum Note? | John MacKay | 13 January 2011 | The Uggs row continues - this time round, the debate surrounds the use of the word 'bum'. |
| 559 | Spin, Zumba and Spandex | John MacKay | 14 January 2011 | An update on the New Year, New You campaign - Sean talks about getting to grips with his fitness challenge while John gets some surprise news from marketing manager Gill Petrie. |
| 560 | Big in Ukraine | John MacKay | 17 January 2011 | Sharon Frew discovers she and the satellite truck have made their mark in Ukraine. Well, on a Ukrainian website, anyway. |
| 561 | The New STV News | Gordon Chree | 18 January 2011 | STV managing director Bobby Hain explains a pilot scheme to introduce fully separate editions of STV News at Six for the East and West of Central Scotland. |
| 561 | The Zumba Vest Blog | John MacKay | 21 January 2011 | By overwhelming demand, Messrs MacKay and Batty don the Zumba vests and matching bangles while Laura models the designer bag to promote the climax to STV's New Year, New Drive campaign. Meanwhile, Kirsten encourages the newsroom staff to take up eating fruit. |
| 562 | The Dressing Room | John MacKay | 24 January 2011 | John and Raman probe the state of the presenters' wardrobe. |
| 563 | Waistcoats - yes or no? | John MacKay | 25 January 2011 | John has taken to occasionally wearing waistcoats while presenting some bulletins. Does the newsroom approve? |
| 564 | STV Jobs | John MacKay | 28 January 2011 | As part of New Year New You, a guide to STV's job vacancies site. |
| 565 | The End of New Year New You | John MacKay | 28 January 2011 | Laura and Sean, fresh from last night's Zumba event, join John to bring New Year New You to a close. |
| 566 | Musical Chairs | John MacKay | 31 January 2011 | Deadline day in the transfer market is here and at the sports desk, online reporter Grant Russell is following the day's events and speculation live. The TV team are clearly not happy... |
| 567 | Sean's a Cult! | John MacKay | 1 February 2011 | Sean shows off his new humble abode in studio 2 at PQ. |
| 568 | Top of the League...Kind of | John MacKay | 15 February 2011 | John discovers some of the news team, especially a technician known as 'The Mint', have been making an impression on the SPL Score Selector...but not Raman. |
| 569 | Not Anyone Can Do It | John MacKay | 18 February 2011 | The life of an anchorman in the words of John MacKay...the ventriloquist dummy. |
| 570 | The 20 Campaign | John MacKay | 21 February 2011 | Is it two-thousand-and-eleven or twenty-eleven? John starts a campaign to get everyone behind the latter name. |
| 570 | The Big Story | John MacKay | 22 February 2011 | Someone in the STV newsroom has struck a body blow for litter by having some of the newsroom bins removed as part of a recycling drive. Mr MacKay suspects director John Mason is behind it. |
| 571 | The VJs | John MacKay | 23 February 2011 | In one of the most extravagant installments of the blog ever produced, John takes a look at how some of the newsteam are being trained up as video journalists. |
| 572 | Top Gear | John MacKay | 24 February 2011 | A homage to a well known motoring entertainment show, concentrating on a vintage Nissan model. |
| 573 | Doll-phobia | John MacKay | 25 February 2011 | Some of the female news staff raised concern about a ventriliquist dummy with the likeness of a regional news anchorman featured in an earlier blog. |
| 574 | Jane's Back! | John MacKay | 28 February 2011 | Five years after her departure from what was Scotland Today Scotland Today Scotland Today was a Scottish regional news programme covering Central Scotland, produced by STV Central . Despite its name suggesting a national remit, the programme was actually limited to stories around STV's Central Belt franchise... from Cowcaddens, sports correspondent Jane Lewis returns to the new-fangled STV News at Six from Pacific Quay as a freelancer. |
| 575 | Vicky's Back | John MacKay | 7 March 2011 | Yet another old face from the Scotland Today years is back. Vicky Lee returns to the STV newsroom after a stint working in radio journalism. |
| 576 | STV Local | John MacKay | 8 March 2011 | John gets a progress report on the STV Local websites from some of the team working in the Central region. |
| 577 | Easter Injuries | John MacKay | 26 April 2011 | The two Johns, Adam, Heather and Gordon return from a haphazard Easter weekend of cooking and do-it-yourself mishaps. |
| 578 | The Interns | John MacKay | 27 April 2011 | Jo Wilson and Kirsty Malcolm, the latest STV interns, arrive in the newsroom to help out during the election campaign. |
| 579 | The Wild Folk from the North | John MacKay | 27 April 2011 | Newsgathering editor Jill Mowat and reporters David Marsland & Shiona McCallum pop down from Aberdeen for a stint in the Central belt. |
| 580 | Mr Autocue | John MacKay | 28 April 2011 | John pays tribute to the late Hubert 'Hub' Schlafly, inventor of the autocue and Norio Ohga, inventor of the CD. |
| 581 | The Royal Wedding | John MacKay | 28 April 2011 | The news team discuss plans or otherwise for tomorrow's impending marriage of William and Catherine. |
| 582 | The French Connection | John MacKay | 3 May 2011 | John receives a visit from the producers of the Arte Arte Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts... documentary series Toutes les télés du monde, making its very last programme in Scotland. |
| 583 | The Election Masterminds | John MacKay | 4 May 2011 | A three-part episode focusing on preparations for tomorrow's all-night election results coverage on STV and ITV Border - beginning with a chat with broadcast editor Howard Simpson and online editor Matt Roper. |
| 584 | The Hot Seat | John MacKay | 4 May 2011 | Political editor Bernard Ponsonby will be co-anchoring tomorrow's Scotland Decides marathon alongside new recruit Juliet Dunlop Juliet Dunlop Juliet Dunlop is a British television journalist and newsreader working for STV in East Central Scotland. She previously appeared as a presenter for the BBC, appearing on the BBC News channel, BBC World News and BBC One daytime updates.-Career:... . Here, he discusses the election campaign just gone. |
| 585 | At the Count | John MacKay | 4 May 2011 | Gordon Chree, who will be based in Dumfries for tomorrow's results coverage, dissects what takes place at an election count. |
| 586 | Sneezing Styles | John MacKay | 18 May 2011 | With the pollen season in full swing, John tries something a little different for the blog...getting the news staff to talk about their sneezes. |
| 587 | The New Set | John MacKay | 25 May 2011 | With the new STV News programmes for the Central region into their third day, West director John Mason explains the thinking behind the new studio set. |
| 588 | Students' Special: HR | John MacKay | 26 May 2011 | A three-part edition in which John puts questions from the City of Glasgow College to some of STV's staff. First off, the human resources department. |
| 589 | Students' Special: Tech/VJ/Graphics | John MacKay | 26 May 2011 | Part two concentrates on the production side of the newsroom - in particular, technical operaions, videojournalism and graphics. |
| 590 | Students' Special: Programme Production | John MacKay | 26 May 2011 | Finally, questions on programme production with STV Productions' head of documentary output Mick McAvoy. |
| 591 | Serendipity | John MacKay | 26 May 2011 | Inspired by the musings of director Laura Trimble, John and the team discover the ingenious pulling power of a golf club and Donald's bag of necessities. |
| 592 | The Big Issue | John MacKay | 1 June 2011 | John joins Sean, the two Lauras and Alison to discuss a matter of concern to everyone - Cheryl Cole's alleged departure from the US version of The X Factor. |
| 593 | Dopplegangers | John MacKay | 16 June 2011 | Being as he is, John MacKay is rarely, if ever, mistaken for anyone else. But for some of the other news staff in Glasgow, that isn't the case. |