Moya Lothian-McLean

London

Staff Writer and Editor at The Bell (Glasgow)

Staff writer & editor @theglasgowbell - tips and pitches to [email protected] 🔔 Freelance: [email protected] Agent: @MonicaMacSwan

Articles

Thwarting the press barons - at a discount

1 month ago | glasgowbell.co.uk | Moya Lothian- McLean |Moya Lothian-McLean

Dear readers — a story from over the pond that you might have missed: two weeks ago, staff at venerated newspaper The Washington Post, woke up to an email from their owner, Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos. “I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages,” the note began. That change, Bezos outlined, was about the topics he would allow to be published in the viewpoints section of the outlet, whose official slogan since 2017 has been ‘democracy dies in darkness’.
Doing news differently

2 months ago | glasgowbell.co.uk | Moya Lothian- McLean |Moya Lothian-McLean

A progress update. 4 min read | This post is for subscribers only Subscribe now Already have an account? Sign in This post is for subscribers only Subscribe Already have an account? Sign In Comments How to comment: If you are already a member, click here to sign in and leave a comment. If you aren't a member, sign up here to be able to leave a comment. To add your photo, click here to create a profile on Gravatar. A progress update.
The defector: Reform UK's first in-road into Glasgow

2 months ago | glasgowbell.co.uk | Moya Lothian- McLean |Moya Lothian-McLean

Dear readers — welcome to your Thursday edition of The Bell. We've got a profile for you today: Moya is off to a Shettleston cafe for a frank coffee date with Thomas Kerr, whose recent defection from the Conservatives makes him Reform UK's first politician to sit on Glasgow City Council. Reform's increasing foothold in Glasgow is one born out of rising wave of right-wing sentiment. We don't think that's controversial to say.
Who funds us?

Nov 24, 2024 | glasgowbell.co.uk | Moya Lothian- McLean |Moya Lothian-McLean

“People don’t like information, they like stories”. This is a favoured refrain of our editor, Joshi. And it’s just as well. Because Glasgow loves stories. You’ve got your founding myths, like Saint Mungo and Saint Enoch, or the more recent urban legends like the Gorbals Vampire where Glasgow’s weans fought fog in the Southern Necropolis. There are stories which make us proud, like the Battle of Kenmure Street.
Maryhill is sick of the status quo. So who are they meant to vote for?

Nov 23, 2024 | glasgowbell.co.uk | Moya Lothian- McLean |Moya Lothian-McLean

'The West End gets the money and the Southside gets the publicity' 12 min read | It’s 12.30am on a Friday morning, and instead of being tucked up warm in my double bed, I’m jockeying for a chair nearest the heaters in the City Chamber’s Banqueting Hall. Tonight, the grand space is a hive of activity. “Can all candidates and agents please gather by the screen closest to the mural side of the hall?” directs an official.
Glasgow’s oldest street is falling apart. Who’s responsible?

Nov 13, 2024 | glasgowbell.co.uk | Moya Lothian- McLean |Moya Lothian-McLean

When Samantha Cooper first opened her shop on Glasgow’s ancient High Street, an old man stood in the doorway and shook his walking stick at her. “It’ll never work,” he said, disapprovingly. Nearly 30 years on, Samantha is still making it work – just about. She and her store, 23 Enigma, claim to be the city’s (and Scotland’s) oldest retail trader in the occult, although Samantha prefers the term ‘esoteric’. But she’s on the brink.
How did Glasgow’s 'best bakery' become so polarising?

Nov 6, 2024 | glasgowbell.co.uk | Moya Lothian- McLean |Moya Lothian-McLean

Two reputational details precede Govanhill bakery two eight seven: the queue and the review. Let’s start with the queue. It forms at weekends, as early as 8.40am. Hungry punters mill on the corner of Langside Road in suspense. “Nowhere else deals with queues quite like that, rain or shine,” says Kate, a curator and Southside bakery regular. At 9am, the blue sign hanging in the bakery’s steamed-up window flips from ‘closed’ to ‘open’.
Meet Moya Lothian-McLean

Sep 26, 2024 | glasgowbell.co.uk | Robbie Armstrong |Moya Lothian-McLean

Growing up, my mother said I’d either be a writer or “showing off in public”. Thanks to the digital age, I’ve been able to do both. I started getting paid for putting pen to paper (or arranging pixels on a screen) at university, as a music journalist for cocky new media behemoth VICE.
Boomtown Festival Attendee ‘Slammed Against Wall’ by Security for Pro Sex-Worker Graffiti

Aug 15, 2024 | novaramedia.com | Moya Lothian-McLean

Attendees of this year’s Boomtown Festival have alleged mistreatment at the hands of security teams contracted to police the festival, including having their access to food and accommodation restricted. Two women have spoken to Novara Media about their experiences with Boomtown security, which they described as “aggressive” and “unsafe”. Boomtown says it is investigating the incidents.
Liverpool Is Famously Leftwing. How Did the Far Right Gain a Foothold?

Aug 9, 2024 | novaramedia.com | Moya Lothian-McLean

It’s Wednesday evening in Liverpool’s south end, and hundreds of people are milling outside a boarded-up church centre. They’re here in spite of a request not to be. Mid afternoon, Liverpool Region Mosque Network sent out a flyer asking all those planning to gather to stay at home. “We are calling on all anti-racism demonstrators to stand down,” the leaflet read. “Leave it to the police to handle.”But people wouldn’t be deterred.