Mark Hirst

Mark Hirst is former Editor-in-Chief of Radio Sputnik/Sputnik News UK, formerly RIA Novosti, (Rossiya Segodnya/Russia Today), Russia's largest news organisation.[1][2][3] Hirst is a former broadcast journalist[4] with STV News.[5] He has also produced and appeared in a number of independently-made documentary films.

Mark Hirst
Mark Hirst speaking outside the Scottish Parliament.
Born
Scotland
OccupationEditor-in-Chief

Background

Hirst has a BA in Communication Studies from Queen Margaret University. In 2001 Hirst was a communications officer for Orkney Islands Council. In 2003 he was appointed as press officer for the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration.

Politics

Hirst has worked as a staffer for four Scottish National Party politicians including Sandra White and Christine Grahame[6][7]

Journalism

In August 2004 Hirst was a speaker at the Damien Walsh Memorial Lecture at Queens University Belfast as part of the Féile an Phobail. The event was organised by the Victims and Survivors Trust.[8][9] Former civil rights leader and journalist Eamonn McCann gave the second part of the lecture focused on the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. In 2017 Hirst produced and presented a 30 minute documentary for Radio Sputnik exploring the IRA’s transition from conflict to peace that included interviews with Colin Parry, Professor Peter Shirlow as well as former senior members of the IRA including Séanna Breathnach.[10]

In 2003 Hirst produced and appeared in Histoire d'un naufrage confidentiel (The Story of a Secret Sinking) in association with Atlantic Television and France 3. At the Toulon Film Festival in 2004, a three-day maritime festival in France, it won Best 'International Documentary'. The film subsequently screened in 85 countries. In 2017 Hirst was Associate Producer for an episode of “Combat Ships” broadcast on the History Channel.[11]

In 2005 Hirst co-founded the Lancastria Association of Scotland. In 2008 he successfully petitioned the Scottish Parliament to commission a Commemorative Lancastria Medal, which he designed.[12][13][14] In 2012 Hirst was an Associate Producer for the documentary Maritime Mysteries, Case Closed broadcast on the French international channel TV5 Monde.[15] In 2015 Hirst directed a one-hour documentary, The Ablyazov Syndicate, examining an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud of the BTA Bank by its former Chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov.[16][17]

Hirst has contributed articles to the Scottish Left Review magazine[18][19][20] and also the Scots Independent newspaper.[21] A former reporter for Orkney Farmer magazine.,[22] Hirst has written for every newspaper in Scotland. [23]

In 2018 Hirst produced two special episodes of The Alex Salmond Show, broadcast on the RT television channel.[24][25]

Arrest

In March 2020, Mark Hirst released a youtube video where he said that the legally-protected anonymity of women who had accused Alex Salmond of sexual assault would not be continued and they were "going to reap the whirlwind."[26] When those remarks were criticised by Rape Crisis Scotland, Hirst alleged Rape Crisis Scotland had been directed by the Labour Party.[27] Following an investigation into reports of menacing communication, Hirst was arrested and charged by police in May.[28]

gollark: I put myself in as 0.5 because I have the osmarks.tk server cluster™, palaiologos as 0.8 because they probably have a botnet or something, and baidicoot as 0.2 because he has a low-powered server of some kind.
gollark: Oh, it's arbitrary.
gollark: I mean, I made potatOS, which is a similar insane sort of thing but smaller in scope.
gollark: I mean, sports are physical skill primarily, not mental skill.
gollark: IQ correlates with various important general things.

References
  1. Russian Embassy Mass media in UK, "Russian mass media", May 2018
  2. RIA Novosti article, "Scottish nuke ban could lead to annexation and US sanctions", April 2014
  3. RIA Novosti article, "Scottish independence forecasts uncertain", April 2014
  4. Journalisted.com, "Mark Hirst - journalisted.com", April 2012
  5. "Disabled girl in respite battle", July 2013
  7. [https://news.stv.tv/politics/alex-salmond-ally-says-accusers-will-reap-a-whirlwind
  8. VAST, "Victims and Survivors Trust", August 2004
  9. Féile an Phobail official website, "The people’s festival", November 2013
  10. Breaking the code “After the dawn” March 2017
  11. Combat Ships Rescue ships episode [http://woodcutmedia.com/woodcut-media-takes-high-seas-new-doc-series-combat-ships-ae-networks-uk/ “Rescue ships”, March 2017
  12. Lancastria Wiki, "Lancastria", July 2013
  13. Scotsman story by Mark Hirst, "Wartime loss that has been ignored too long", August 2007
  14. Scotsman newspaper story by Mark Hirst, "Recognition remains sunk without trace", April 2012
  15. Grand Angle Productions, "Martyred Ships" Archived 2014-01-13 at the Wayback Machine, November 2012
  16. The Ablyazov Syndicate, "The Ablyazov Syndicate documentary" Archived 2016-04-23 at the Wayback Machine, January 2016
  17. IMDb profile "The Ablyazov Syndicate", "Trailer - Ablyazov Syndicate documentary", January 2016
  18. Scottish Left Review, "We don't need no thought control by Mark Hirst", August 2010
  19. Scottish Left Review, "Gassing the past by Mark Hirst", May 2010
  20. Scottish Left Review, "Are we targets by Mark Hirst", May 2011
  21. Scots Independent, "Flag in the wind" Archived 2008-12-03 at the Wayback Machine, July 2008
  22. Orkney Farmer Magazine, "The Orkney Farmer magazine team" Archived 2013-07-29 at the Wayback Machine July 2013
  23. The Scotsman,"Scots shipping boss linked to previous sinkings", August 2013
  24. Alex Salmond Show “The unknown disaster” November 2018
  25. Alex Salmond Show “Quest for remembrance” November 2018
  26. "Alex Salmond ally says accusers will 'reap a whirlwind'". STV. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  27. "Former SNP staffer says anonymity of Alex Salmond trial witnesses 'will not be continued'". The Scotsman. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  28. "Former Sputnik editor arrested after probe into "menacing" Salmond accuser video". Daily Record. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
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