The Scotsman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Compact |
| Owner | Johnston Press |
| Editor | John McLellan[1] |
| Founded | 1817 |
| Political allegiance | Centre |
| Headquarters | 108 Holyrood Rd, Edinburgh |
| Website | http://www.scotsman.com/ |
The Scotsman is a Scottish national newspaper, published in Edinburgh. It has an audited circulation of 53,513.[2] This represents a significant drop from an approximately 100,000 circulation in the 1980s.[3]
Since 16 August 2004, it has been printed in compact format. Its sister Sunday publication, which remains broadsheet, is titled Scotland on Sunday. The Scotsman Publications Ltd also produces the Edinburgh Evening News and the Herald & Post series of free newspapers in Edinburgh, Fife, and West Lothian.
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[edit] History
The Scotsman was launched[4] 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". 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 6000 copies.
In 1953 the newspaper was bought by Canadian millionaire Roy Thomson who was in the process of building an enormous media empire. The paper was in 1995 bought by billionaires David and Frederick Barclay for £85 million. They moved the newspaper from its traditional Edinburgh office on North Bridge, which is now an upmarket hotel, to state-of-the-art offices on Holyrood Road designed by Edinburgh architects CDA, near where the Scottish Parliament Building was subsequently built.
In December 2005, The Scotsman was acquired, in a £160 million deal, by its current owners Johnston Press a company founded in Scotland and now one of the top three largest local newspaper publishers in the UK as well as a major force on the internet.
John McLellan has been the editor since February 2009. He is vice chair of the Scottish Daily Newspapers Editors Committee and a trustee of Radio Forth Cash For Kids appeal. He was previously editor of the Journal in Newcastle until 2003. He has previously edited Scotland On Sunday' and the Edinburgh Evening News for Scotsman Publications.
The last decade or so has seen the paper replaced by The Herald as the pre-eminent Scottish quality newspaper in terms of readership.[citation needed]
[edit] Politics
The Scotsman is a staunch supporter of Scottish devolution[citation needed]. It was unionist until it was bought by the Falkirk based Johnston Press Group in 2006[citation needed] In the 2007 Scottish general election The Scotsman gave its support for the Scottish National Party[citation needed]. Its current editor, John McLellan is thought to be undecided about which party to support, however he is also thought to be pleased with some of work the SNP government has done[citation needed].
[edit] Editors
- 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
Source: The Scotsman Digital Archive
[edit] Scotsman.com
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.
