Newspapers

Papers on-line

http://www.scotsman.com/ - The Scotsman

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/ - Daily Record

http://www.heraldscotland.com/ - The Herald

http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/ - Scotland on Sunday

http://www.sundayherald.com/ - The Sunday Herald

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/ - The Evening Times (Glasgow)

http://www.edinburghnews.com/ - Edinburgh Evening News

http://www.timeout.com/ - The List - look for Glasgow/Edinburgh sections

http://westernislesonline.co.uk/ - Stornoway Gazette

http://www.northern-scot.co.uk/ Northern Scot

http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/ (The Shetland News)

http://www.shetland-times.co.uk/st/ (The Shetland Times)

http://www.freescotland.com/si.html - Scots Independent

http://www.dcthomson.co.uk/ - D C Thomson (Sunday Post, Courier, Scots Mag etc)

http://www.scotsmagazine.com/ (The Scots Magazine)
The world's most widely-read Scottish interest publication. First published in 1739, The Scots Magazine is a monthly periodical with around 300,000 readers worldwide.

http://www.argyllinternet.co.uk/scotmem/
Scottish Memories magazine

Courier and Advertiser, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee, DD1 9HU
Tel: 01382 223131
http://www.dcthomson.co.uk/courier/

Press and Journal, 84 Academy Street, Inverness, IV1 IJY
Tel: 01463 222801
http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/

The West Highland Free Press
http://www.whfp.co.uk/
mailto: newsdesk@whfp.co.uk
(Broadford, Isle of Skye, IV49 9AP) , tel: 01471 822464

Festival

Newspaper dedicated to the Edinburgh Festival:
http://www.threeweeks.co.uk/
mailto: info@threeweeks.co.uk

Other Scottish Newspapers

Edinburgh Herald and Post, 108 Holyrood Park, Edinburgh EH8 8AS
Tel: 0131 243 3659. mailto: edinhp@scotsman.com

Oban Times, PO Box 1, Oban, PA34 5PY
Tel: 01631 563058, Fax: 01631 565470

Stirling Observer, 40 Upper Craigs, Stirling, FK8 2DW
Tel: 01786 451110

Linlithgowshire Journal and Gazette
114 High Street, Linlithgow EH49 7AQ
tel: 01506 844592
fax: 01506 670281
http://www.linlithgowtoday.co.uk/
mailto: editorial@Linlithgowherald.co.uk

The Inverness Courier, Inverness, IV1 1QW

Guth na Gàidhlig, Highland News Group, Henderson Road, Inverness IV1 1SP, Tel: 01463 713700

Lá newspaper (Northern Ireland) has a Scottish Gaelic column.

Metro (A DC Thomson free paper) Tel 0141 225 3345. Fax: 0141 225 3316 mailto: news@metroscot.co.uk

Political bias in newspapers

I understand from The Scotsman journalists I've spoken to (perhaps better not to name names) that Andrew Neil, who is hardly ever there, is detested and there is a constant struggle away from his hard Unionist line. The Scotsman also uses ICM as a polling organisation. The director of ICM has admitted that the allocation of "don't knows" in ICM polls has a bias against the SNP. The ICM poll for the North East Euro seat by-election in Nov 98 was 600% out in terms of the SNP majority over Labour. During Andrew Neil's tenure, the Scotsman reported a drop in circulation of 2.2% for the first six months of 1999 when the Scottish General Election was one of its main stories, and projected ABC figures for the Scotsman for the year are about 3.5% down. The Herald over the same six months only lost 0.5%. This was the period during which I switched from The Scotsman to The Herald because of The Herald's political neutrality.

Having got himself a new job presenting a daily afternoon show on Radio Scotland veteran Scotsman columnist Tom Morton felt free to comment on what has been happening at what used to be the establishment voice of the nation, (or at least that part of the establishment living on the east coast).

His thoughts were quoted in the Sunday Herald diary 31-March-2002

"The Scotsman is a paper run on the whim of someone who has no insight into or concern for Scotland, its culture or politics. It has become a vanity publication and I want nothing to do with it."

Additionally, on 16th April 2002, the staff of The Scotsman and its sister publications passed a vote of no confidence in the group's publisher Andrew Neil in the face of declining revenues and sales. Hint: Maybe the publisher's political stance might have something to do with this.

The Herald has gone through bad periods and two editors as it works out where its readership lies, although its history is unionist and Whig. They both give a lot of space to nationalist letter writers with circulation in mind, often tending towards the controversial (but misinformed) simply to stir up a good debate. The Sun has dropped circulation badly since dropping the SNP, and even the arch unionist Record now has Ian Bell as a columnist, at least till they see if he is increasing circulation. The Scotsman has of course held its price well below The Herald for over a year. The general perception and one which The Herald is keen to emphasise is that the Herald is politically neutral.

The West Highland Free press has an exceptionally hard anti-SNP line and is often little more than a front for Brian Wilson's press office. One wonders whether the paper should be entered as an election expense for the Labour party.

Political bias in Journalists

See also http://www.freescotland.com/media.html

Some journalists and columnists with political interests:

Margaret Vaughan - The Herald - wife of Social Security Minister Alistair Darling.

Gerald Warner - Scotland on Sunday - former spin doctor and adviser to Michael Forsyth.

George Birrell - The Herald - former spin doctor and adviser to Michael Forsyth.

Michael Kelly - The Scotsman - former Lord Provost of Glasgow and Labour activist

Jim Stevens - economist Fraser of Allander Institute and Member of Labour NEC.

Michael Fry, who occasionally works for the Herald, is a former Tory candidate in one of the Glasgow seats.

Brian Meek, also a Tory activist, also works for the Herald.

George Galloway - Scottish Mail on Sunday - current Labour MP for Hillhead.

The Economist's Peter Jones is married to Labour MSP Rhona Brankin.

Alex Salmond and Tommy Sheridan also have columns in the Scottish Press. Sheridan in the Record IIRC, and Salmond in the Sunday Mail or News of the Screws. Lorraine Davidson, erstwhile Labour spin doctrix, also has a column in either the Sunday Mail or News of the World - don't normally buy 'em so sorry for being so vague.

Further Information

Scottish newspapers on-line
http://www.ecola.com/news/press/eu/uk/sc/

Yahoo index for Scotland is
http://uk.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/United_Kingdom/Scotland/
Media and newspapers are off there at:
News_and_Media/Newspapers/

See also (UK newspapers on-line)
http://www.lifestyle.co.uk/fa.htm
http://www.smg.plc.uk/publishing/

Scottish Media Watch
http://www.freescotland.com/media.html

The Press Complaints Commission
http://www.pcc.org.uk/

The Scottish News Agency.
mailto: iainx@reporters.net
fax 0870 787 8961.

Free press release publication

http://www.pr-scotland.com/

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