The Scotsman is a Scottish compact newspaper published from Edinburgh. It was a broadsheet until 16 August 2004. Its sister publication, the Sunday newspaper Scotland on Sunday, remains a broadsheet. The Scotsman Publications Ltd also issues the Edinburgh Evening News and the Herald & Post series of free newspapers in Edinburgh, Fife, and West Lothian.
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Compact |
| Owner | Johnston Press |
| Editor | Ian Stewart[1] |
| Founded | 1817 |
| Political alignment | centre-right |
| Circulation | 28,500[2] |
| Sister newspapers | Scotland on Sunday |
| ISSN | 0307-5850 |
| OCLC number | 614655655 |
| Official website | scotsman.com |
The Scotsman is a Scottish compact newspaper published from Edinburgh. It was a broadsheet until 16 August 2004. Its sister publication, the Sunday newspaper Scotland on Sunday, remains a broadsheet. The Scotsman Publications Ltd also issues the Edinburgh Evening News and the Herald & Post series of free newspapers in Edinburgh, Fife, and West Lothian.
As of November 2012, it had an audited print circulation of 28,500,[2] down from 35,949 in 2012 (Jan - Aug average) and 42,581 in August 2011.[3] Scotsman.com websites, including the news site, job site, property site, mobile site and others have an average of 105,959 visitors a day.[4]
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History[edit]
The Scotsman was launched[5] in 1817 as a liberal weekly newspaper by lawyer William Ritchie and customs official Charles Maclaren in response to the "unblushing subservience" of competing newspapers to the Edinburgh establishment. The paper was pledged to "impartiality, firmness and independence". Its modern editorial line is firmly anti-independence. After the abolition of newspaper stamp tax in Scotland in 1850, The Scotsman was relaunched as a daily newspaper priced at 1d and a circulation of 6,000 copies.
In 1953 the newspaper was bought by Canadian millionaire Roy Thomson who was in the process of building a large media group. The paper was bought in 1995 by David and Frederick Barclay for £85 million. They moved the newspaper from its Edinburgh office on North Bridge, which is now an upmarket hotel, to modern offices in Holyrood Road designed by Edinburgh architects CDA, near the subsequent location of the Scottish Parliament Building.
In December 2005, The Scotsman was acquired, in a £160 million deal, by its present owners Johnston Press a company founded in Scotland and now one of the top three largest local newspaper publishers in the UK.
Ian Stewart has been the editor since June 2012, after a reshuffle of senior management in April 2012 during which John McLellan who was the paper's Editor-in-Chief was dismissed. Ian Stewart was previously editor of Edinburgh Evening News and remains as the editor of Scotland on Sunday.
In 2012, The Scotsman was named Newspaper of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.[6]
Editors[edit]
- 1817: William Ritchie
- 1817: Charles Maclaren
- 1818: John Ramsay McCulloch
- 1843: John Hill Burton (acting)
- 1846: Alexander Russel
- 1876: Robert Wallace
- 1880: Charles Alfred Cooper
- 1905: John Pettigrew Croal
- 1924: George A. Waters
- 1944: James Murray Watson
- 1955: John Buchanan (acting)
- 1956: Alastair Dunnett
- 1972: Eric MacKay
- 1985: Chris Baur
- 1988: Magnus Linklater
- 1994: Andrew Jaspan
- 1995: James Seaton
- 1997: Martin Clarke
- 1998: Alan Ruddock
- 2000: Tim Luckhurst
- 2000: Rebecca Hardy
- 2001: Iain Martin
- 2004: John McGurk
- 2006: Mike Gilson
- 2009: John McLellan
- 2012: Ian Stewart
Source: The Scotsman Digital Archive
Scotsman.com[edit]
Since 1998, the Scotsman has had an internet portal that features the latest news, sports, business, property, motors and sport in different sections of the site. It has had live webcams and panoramas around Scotland. It also has sections for other Scotsman Publications including Scotland on Sunday and the Evening News.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "New man in the editor’s chair at The Scotsman". Media (UK). 12 June 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ a b "Scottish newspaper see sales slump". 2012-12-07. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
- ^ "Circulation down 12pc at flagship Scottish daily". Hold the Front Page (UK). 14 September 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
- ^ "ABCe". Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ "The Scotsman Archive – 25 January 1817 (page 1 of 8) – The Scotsman launched". The Scotsman. UK. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
- ^ "John McLellan collects newspaper of the year award". Press Gazette (UK). 20 April 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
