Then again, paranoia about the news media is now as fundamental to the Nationalist worldview as independence itself. This despite the fact that Nicola Sturgeon’s party has never before enjoyed the editorial backing it gets today. That includes three Scottish newspapers, a coterie of on-message columnists, and platoons of bloggers who spend much of their time trying to prove the BBC’s Jackie Bird is an MI5 asset. It is this very alternative universe, free from unpalatable truths and heterodox opinions, that is allowing the Nats to sustain their denial of the electoral thumping they received last week.