Sputnik Responds to Exclusion From Holyrood Discussion

Sputnik has filed a letter of complaint with the Scottish Parliament authorities following a decision by the Cross-Party Group on Russia to exclude Sputnik from a discussion in which it was one of the topics.

EDINBURGH, May 9, 2017, Sputnik Press Office — The event, entitled "Loaded Words: A Discussion of Contemporary Russian Propaganda," described Sputnik as "propaganda" without offering the organization the opportunity to respond.

Sputnik staff, including journalists, management, and representatives of the press office made multiple attempts to engage with the group and repeatedly offered to send a speaker to the panel, which is populated by figures known to be hostile to Sputnik. However, each attempt to get involved in the discussion was met with either no response or direct denial. As a result, the international media organization has submitted a letter to the Scottish Parliament Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee as well as to the convener of the group.

An excerpt from the letter read: "We as an organization believe this accusation to be unfair, without merit or justification, and certainly not befitting of such a prestigious organization as a Cross-Party Group of the Scottish Parliament. The international media and political scene is fractured enough, without groups such as this throwing around baseless accusations."

Commenting, Sputnik UK Editor Nikolai Gorshkov said: "The Scottish Parliament was founded on ideas of openness and debate. This is even reflected in the design of the building. Denying any media access to parliamentary business would contravene these principles, and to deny Sputnik's request to participate in this event, which specifically mentions us, is even more scandalous and is highly hypocritical. Such actions make the organizer's, and by extension the Parliament's, commitment to freedom of the press highly suspect."

Sputnik UK (www.sputniknews.com) is a media agency and broadcast organization with offices in Edinburgh and London. In accordance with the Sputnik International mission statement of 'telling the untold,' Sputnik UK covers the stories that the mainstream media does not, and provides a platform for voices that are usually ignored. Sputnik UK produces high-quality professional programs such as its daily current affairs news show World in Focus, debate programs such as Hard Facts and Level Talk, and the philosophical show Brave New World, as well as compelling online news coverage on its website.

Notes to Editors:

A Sputnik editorial on this topic has been published here: https://sputniknews.com/europe/201705091053410675-scotland-holyrood-russian-propaganda/.

For further inquiries, please contact the Sputnik UK Press Office.