Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Scot Goes Pop Fundraiser 2019

Click here to go straight to the fundraiser page.

It's that time of the year again when I ask for your help as I continue to write about Scottish politics. If the fundraiser succeeds, the likelihood is that I'll continue to write on this blog, although I always try to keep open a bit of flexibility just in case I end up writing on another website, or perhaps even following the lead of other bloggers by self-publishing a book. (But if my circumstances change completely and I'm unable to continue writing about politics at all, at that stage I would pass the remaining funds on to other pro-indy causes.)

So what is Scot Goes Pop? It's one of the most-read and also one of the oldest pro-independence websites in Scotland. It began way back in 2008, but gained in popularity in 2013 when I launched the Scot Goes Pop Poll of Polls for voting intentions in the independence referendum. I had become quite cynical about the way anti-independence newspapers repeatedly seized on individual No-friendly polls as 'proof' that the campaign was supposedly over before it had even started. The intention was clearly to sap the morale of Yes campaigners. The Poll of Polls was a useful corrective, helping to put unfavourable polls in their proper context by comparing them to the average numbers across all polling firms, and emphasising the high degree of uncertainty about the true state of public opinion.

In the run-up to the 2015 general election, Scot Goes Pop picked up on the extraordinary SNP surge several weeks earlier than the mainstream media, mostly because I wasn't dogmatic enough to ignore the consistent and unambiguous message being sent by the Scottish subsamples of Britain-wide polls. And then as the 2016 Holyrood election approached, I warned that the SNP were in danger of losing their overall majority at a time when other voices were insisting that a majority was a foregone conclusion, and that the SNP didn't need any list votes at all.

With yet another Westminster general election potentially in the offing now, and as preparations continue for a possible second independence referendum, I hope to continue with the blog's unique coverage of the polling situation from a pro-indy perspective. To get a better idea of what Scot Goes Pop is all about, please watch this short promo film that I made with Phantom Power last year.



The latest figures from the Traffic Estimate site suggest that Scot Goes Pop has received 62,200 unique visitors over the last 30 days (as of 31st May 2019), making it the fourth most popular alternative media site in Scotland. Not bad for a one-person operation!

There's often a misconception that the purpose of a fundraiser such as this is to cover "running costs". In fact, there are no running costs for Scot Goes Pop, because it uses a free blogging platform. There are, however, a few miscellaneous (and usually small) expenses that crop up as an indirect result of the blog. To give a couple of examples: last year I was asked to speak at the Hands Off Our Parliament rally at Holyrood, which obviously meant paying a train fare to Edinburgh, and in 2016 I was asked to invest in a decent microphone to improve the sound quality of an Independence Live debate I participated in with Tommy Sheridan. The fundraiser can help cover expenses of that type, but the main purpose is simply to help me keep body and soul together while I'm writing.

I should stress for the benefit of any passing trolls that the fundraisers are not my sole source of income, and I'm relieved to say that I even do some work that has nothing to do with either politics or writing. But long-term readers will know that I post frequently and at length during particularly busy periods, such as general election and referendum campaigns. During those brief spells, the level of commitment required almost approaches that of a full-time job. At other times it can be like a very time-consuming part-time job. I'm also sometimes asked to write articles for other publications - for example, until a year or two back I was a pro-independence columnist for both the International Business Times and the Talk Radio website. Those articles were often requested at extremely short notice and I ended up writing them in a variety of weird and wonderful settings and circumstances. It simply wouldn't be possible to do that if I was also trying to hold down a 9-5 job. The fundraisers give me the flexibility to drop everything and write as and when required (most obviously when an opinion poll is published).

As you may know, there have been other spin-offs from the blog's success. I currently have a monthly column in iScot magazine, and I've also written for publications such as The National, the Sunday National, Fair Observer, National Collective, and even the Eurovision Times! Many of the IBTimes articles were syndicated on Yahoo, sometimes reaching huge audiences. I've been interviewed on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live, CTV News (Canada), the Bauer radio network, Radio Sputnik, and numerous alternative media podcasts, films and live-streams.

As always, please don't feel under any pressure to make a donation. Scot Goes Pop isn't a newspaper or a magazine - it's a blog, and there's absolutely no charge for reading it. The option to donate is there if you want to, but it's only an option. And, of course, if you have a spare minute or two you can always pass on the word to others - every tweet or Facebook share helps enormously!

Click here if you'd like to donate.


25 comments:

  1. Can I donate by direct bank transfer as I do with other sites.

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    1. If you email me, I could send you my PayPal details, if that's any good?

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  2. Replies
    1. Many thanks, Willie, I really appreciate it.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. By the way, later I will be throwing a feew quid in the pot. The blog is well worth some support.

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  4. What I meant to ask (but messed up so deleted was the comment), James, do you know anything about that telephone poll of 8,000 people that is headlined in the Dundee Weekend Telegraph? It looks like it might be significant but I haven't been able to find any info beyond the headline.

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    1. I don't know anything about it beyond the headline, but I'd be very, very surprised if it's a proper poll. 8000 is a suspiciously high number. It's probably a voodoo poll of some description.

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    2. It is an usually large number, I agree. But they specifically say it is a telephone poll and voodoo polls usually are online polls. I will be very interested in seeing exactly what it is.

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    3. May 30: "Available on the Tele website, the poll has already soared past 6,000 votes...Please vote in the short survey below."
      https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/survey-how-would-you-vote-if-there-was-another-scottish-independence-referendum/

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    4. If that is what they're talking about, it is not a telephone poll as claimed. Certainly seems likely. Never believe headlines is a sad truth.

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    5. I interpreted 'tele poll' as telephone poll. I need & interpret more carefully. Yep voodoo poll.

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    6. "Tele" means Telegraph in this case.

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  5. Vodoo poll, one of those click at the end of an article ones

    Available on the Tele website, the poll has already soared past 6,000 votes as we look to gauge the appetite for Scotland to break away from the United Kingdom – or remain part of the union.

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  6. AfD now ahead in England.

    Britain Elects
    @britainelects
    18m18 minutes ago
    More
    Westminster voting intention:

    BREX: 26% (+1)
    LAB: 22% (-4)
    CON: 17% (-5)
    LDEM: 16% (+4)
    GRN: 11% (+7)
    CHUK: 1% (-1)
    UKIP: 1% (-1)

    via @OpiniumResearch, 28 - 30 May
    Chgs. w/ 20 May

    I've chipped in James of course, as always. Kindae huv tae wi all the posts I write :-)

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    1. You should personally fund this site Skier as you are no doubt on the higher rate of benefits from the British State.

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    2. If it's living of British state benefits that's yer thing, then you'll be a No voter. Obviously.

      By the way, have you asked England's permission for your post? You are supposed to mind.

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    3. And you need to chip in GWC. It's that or your a scrounger from the 'Nat sis'.

      But mind and ask England first if that's ok of course.

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    4. I chipped in before you boasted about yours. Stick your black puddin up yer erse sideways.

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    5. Estralita McMurtrieJune 3, 2019 at 9:22 AM

      Cordelia truly is once, twice, three times a lady.

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    6. Good to hear GWC! I'll leave you alone on that then.

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  7. Delighted to contribute James, you provide a perspective nobody else does. Here's to 'interesting' times!

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  8. Scottish Skier provides most of the contributions on this forum, which must be even more time consuming shouldn't donations go to him.

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    Replies
    1. Most of fun more like. Funding a lobotomy could help him.

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  9. Labor wins Peterborough by election despite media declaring Farage winner for weeks. Could still get 4 to 1 on labor 20 minutes before results announced.

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