As ever, shooting was in the media spotlight last weekend, with the 'Glorious Twelfth' taking place on Saturday, August 12. The Countryside Alliance team worked around the clock to take calls, place stories and brief journalists ahead of the important day.
As a result, much of the national and local press that covered shooting on and around the August 12, was either spearheaded by the Countryside Alliance or included an Alliance representative to make the case for grouse shooting and moorland management.
Much of the focus with the English based press this year focused on the recent decision by United Utilities not to renew shoot licences, which the Alliance utilised as an opportunity to talk up the benefits of shooting for conservation, biodiversity and rural livelihoods.
Titled an ‘Environmental disaster waiting to happen’, The Telegraph ran a substantial 1,200 word piece, talking to those most likely to be impacted by UU’s decision. Contributors included, keepers, business owners, MPs and the Countryside Alliance. The Alliance issued a statement for the piece, arguing that: “United Utilities needs to take account of all available science and evidence which is overwhelming in its support of game shooting and its associated management, and renew shooting leases as and when they come up for renewal. If that does not happen, then the consequences can be expected to be considerable”. You can read the full article here.
Additionally, Adrian Blackmore, our Director of Shooting wrote an incredibly positive lead opinion piece for the Yorkshire Post for the August 12 edition. Titled 'Conservation efforts of gamekeepers on grouse moors in the Yorkshire Dales are giving a new lease of life to the curlew', Adrian used the piece to discuss the wider environmental benefits of moorland management. His piece can be found here.
The Countryside Alliance also successfully placed a number of other local stories, again, focusing on United Utilities.
The Warrington Guardian, which covers the geographic area where United Utilities has its corporate headquarters, ran with the headline: ‘Countryside Alliance uproar on United Utilities shooting ban’. The article carried the following message from our Chief Executive, Tim Bonner: "Our message to United Utilities is that [they] have not seen anything yet. The ‘Glorious Twelfth’ is the perfect opportunity to highlight the environmental and cultural vandalism of banning an activity which delivers so much in terms of environmental, social and economic benefit”. You can read the article in full here.
The Lancashire Telegraph, which went with the headline: ‘Rural lobby and water firm clash on ‘Glorious Twelfth’, also ran the same comments from Tim Bonner, as above, and included details of our ongoing petition opposing UU’s decision. You can read that article in full here.
Anti-shooting organisations had a noticeably tougher time breaking through the media noise this year. The League Against Cruel Sports managed to get one 'anti' dominated story in the Daily Mirror, but it ended up being cut down and placed at the back of the paper. Nevertheless, the Countryside Alliance provided a response to LACS, which was included in full. You can read that piece in full here.
PETA, the controversial animal rights group, also published a rant against grouse shooting in an opinion piece for the Daily Express. They said grouse shooting was “a class-ridden hangover from another age and needs to be put out of its misery”. However, in a counter piece for the same publication, Tim Bonner argued the case for moorland management. Tim reminded Express readers "that many of PETA’s claims should be taken with a giant bucket of salt. This is an organisation so extreme that it campaigns against all meat eating and apparently wants to rebrand milk as ‘bovine mammary secretions’." You can read the piece in full here.
Jake Swindells, our Scottish Countryside Alliance Director also provided a response to a Scottish media story on the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill, which was used by the Scottish Green Party to attack grouse shooting. Of the Bill, Jake said: ““Unless the government works closely with those who actually manage the land and listens to public bodies including the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Police Scotland, both of which have expressed serious concern with elements of this Bill, they risk getting this very badly wrong.” Jakes comments were picked up by The Independent, The Times and ITV, among a number of other national titles and on Radio 4’s Today programme.
In addition to media coverage, our social media channels lit up throughout the course of the weekend, with individual posts reaching upwards of 200,000 viewers at a time.
As a member and supporter of the Countryside Alliance, your contribution goes towards the running of a 24/7 reactive and proactive press office. It is thanks to your ongoing support that our press team are able to promote, protect and defend the rural way of life in the media.