As part of the dissertation writing process, I created a slideshow to explain my research topic: Why should the UK and Scottish Governments continue to support Scots Gaelic media?

1. A'bhiast as mutha ag ithe na beiste
as lugha.
By
Ross Brannigan

2. My interest in the
subject
• Language is the very medium
through which we transmit
information, and construct
power relations
• Who controls language controls
the debate
• Language teaches us about the
history of our societies, and the
societies in which they belong
“For those of us engaged in minority language
media studies, the increasing dominance of
English means that the experience of
marginalisation and exclusion that was imposed
on minority language speakers by national
language groups is now being experienced by
national language groups themselves”
(Hourigan, 2007: 256)

3. Language as culture
• Mountains
• Ben Lomond – Beacon Mountain
• Carn Mor Dearg – Great Red Peak
• Buachaille Etive Mor – Great Herdsman of
Etive
• Meall a' Bhùiridh – Hill of the Bellowing
• Gaelic term of endearment
• M’eudail…
• Many words for brown to
distinguish between cattle
My cattle

4. Scots Gaelic lingo bingo
What are some of the common words used in relation to
Scots Gaelic?
“Truth is, large parts of this country have never spoken
Gaelic or have long forsaken it and it has fallen prey to the
natural process of competition that is history.” 09.17am
“Nah. What I want to see is the nats throwing the kitchen
sink at their daft attempts to recreate gaeldom in the
central belt and the borders.” 7.43pm
“Gaelic isnt dying as a community language its already
dead.” 11.18pm

5. The state of Scots Gaelic media
• BBC Alba
• Reach 2015/16
• Amongst Gaelic-speaking community: 73.6% (+1%)
• Amongst aged 16+ across Scotland: 15% (-1.2%)
• Funding
• Broadcasting Act 1990 created the Gaelic Broadcasting Fund worth £8.5m
• Budget not increased to reflect inflation, so is now 30% less than in the 90s
• Osborne axed £1m investment in 2015
• Programming
• 4.2 hours a week, seeking to make it 10 hours
• BBC Radio nan Gaidheal
• Programming
• 70hrs a week vs 155hrs a week for BBC Radio Scotland – grown, but still not fully
standalone
• Reach
• 72.4% in 2010/11 or 67,583 of Gaelic speaking community
• Budget
• Still remains an issue, and will continue to as English increases its dominance over
minority languages
“BBC Alba is not simply showcasing the
Gaelic language – it is at the centre of a
quiet cultural reseeding of an area that
Lowland Scotland has long ignored. Now is
the time to let BBC Alba spread its wings a
little further.” (McKenna, 2016)

6. This begs the question…
Why should the UK and Scottish governments continue to
support Scots Gaelic media?
In light of new developments in the field of minority language
media, new policies and attitudes, and changes in the Gaelic
population.
Cormack’s four reasons for minority language media
1) The symbolic role for language communities
2) The boost in local economies, and providing sustainable
employment
3) Media creates a public sphere within the community
4) The role of representation for small minority language
and wider external community

7. Where
does my
research
fit in?
• “although relevance of media to minority
languages is generally accepted, ‘the actual
effects of specific media is still under-
researched’ and ‘the specific cultural role of
the different media…is…not thoroughly known’
(Grin & Moring, 2003: 17)” (Cormack, 2007: 52)
• Cormack wrote, in 2004, advocating greater research
and development in the field of minority language media
studies.
• Since then, very little has developed in the field, and
many case studies focus on Catalonia, Basque, Welsh
and Irish Gaelic

8. Key Authors
• Cormack, M.
• Former Stirling University
lecturer
• Now co-ordinates BA Gaelic and
Media Studies at UHI
• Anderson, B.
• Imagined Communities
• Fishman, J.
• Reversing Language Shift
• McLeod, W.
• Professor of Gaelic at Edinburgh
University

9. Methods
• Textual Analysis
• Secondary texts
• Policy documents
• Interviews
• Policy stakeholders
• Campaigners
• Scholars

10. Cormack, 2007
• “[The media] must encourage
people to not give up the minority
language and, further than that,
actively encourage them to go out
and speak the language. This is a
new task for the media and its
difficulty should not be under-
estimated.” (p.63).

11. References
• Bunting, M. (2016) Love of Country: A Hebridean Journey. Granta Books: London.
• BBC (2016) BBC Scotland Annual Review 2015/16. Available at:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/scotland/aboutus/management_review_2015_2016.pdf
• BBC (2014) Annual Report 2013/14: Expenditure. Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/2014/executive/finances/procurement.html
• Cormack, M. (2007). The Media and Language Maintenance. In: M. Cormack & N. Hourigan (eds.) Minority Language Media: Concepts
Critiques and Case Studies. Multilingual Matters Ltd.: Celevedon. Pp.52-68.
• Cormack, M. (2004) Developing minority language media studies. Mercrator Media Forum 7. pp. 3-12
• Guyot, J. (2007) Minority Language Media and the Public Sphere. In: M. Cormack & N. Hourigan (eds.) Minority Language Media: Concepts
Critiques and Case Studies. Multilingual Matters Ltd.: Celevedon. Pp.34-51
• Hourigan, N. (2007) Minority Language Media Studies: Key Themes for Future Scholarship. In: M. Cormack & N. Hourigan (eds.) Minority
Language Media: Concepts Critiques and Case Studies. Multilingual Matters Ltd.: Celevedon. Pp.248-265
• McKenna, K. (2016) BBC Alba must not be allowed to wither for lack of cash. The Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/11/bbc-alba-not-allowed-to-wither-lack-of-funds
• McLeod, W. (2016) Gaelic: hostility, continuity and recognition. Available at: http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2016/10/27/gaelic-hostility-
continuity-and-recognition/
• McLeod, W. (2006) Gaelic in Contemporary Scotland: Contradictions, Challenges and Strategies. Available at:
http://www.arts.ed.ac.uk/celtic/poileasaidh/MCLEODCATALAN2.pdf
• O’Connell, E. (2007) Translation and Minority Language Media: Potential and Problems: An Irish Perspective. In: M. Cormack & N. Hourigan
(eds.) Minority Language Media: Concepts Critiques and Case Studies. Multilingual Matters Ltd.: Celevedon. Pp.212-228
• Stewart, A. (2009) Tradition and Modernity in Scottish Gaelic Language Media. Final Reports of EFS student participants. Paper 3.
http://scholarworks.umass.edu/efsp_field_rpts/3