The Sash their Mothers Wore

Today there was a 2-page article in The Scotsman newspaper about the Ladies Orange Association of Scotland. The article was advertised on the front page with the heading ' Sash Their Mothers Wore' and a sub-heading ' Why the Orange Order is growing its female following'.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Women-of-Orange.5685091.jp

The article noted that this is the 100th anniversary of the Women's Orange Association and journalist Emma Cowing provided an assessment of the current state of the organisation. She noted that membership is increasing and that the members of the lodge she visited were 'educated, professional women'. They included a senior clinical researcher, a company general manager and a secretary in Glasgow University.

It was interesting to see how a Scottish journalist and a Scottish newspaper deal with the Orange Order and it was refreshing to see the opportunity afforded to the Ladies Orange Association of Scotland to explain itself to the readership of a major Scottish newspaper.

Yes there were a couple of negative observations but these were presented as the opinions of some people in Scotland rather than as absolute facts. Overall the article was very fair and balanced and a credit to both newspaper and journalist.