THE weekly agriculture newspaper, The Scottish Farmer, is going compact, with the promise of “more news, more business, more show and sale coverage and more topical features – all printed on a superior quality of paper stock”.
The move – by the same publishers as The Herald newspaper – will begin from the tenth of next month and will see the paper switch from ‘A3 tabloid’ to ‘compact tabloid’, measuring 27cm x 33cm.
Says a media release issued by the title: “Readers will see a new look ‘compact tabloid’ with significantly increased pagination. That means there will be more news, more business, more show and sale coverage and more topical features – all printed on a superior quality of paper stock at their own state-of-the-art print centre at Cambuslang, near Glasgow.
“The Scottish Farmer is widely recognised as the agricultural market leader for Scotland and this move will allow them to develop pagination, paper quality, editorial expertise and brand marketing.
“Scottish agriculture has weathered the recession better than most sectors; indeed some parts could even be described as buoyant, and this move gives The Scottish Farmer a great opportunity to further strengthen its position in its 120th year of publication.”
Editor, Alasdair Fletcher, is quoted, as saying: “2012 will be a defining year for agriculture as many key focuses will be on the independence debate, CAP reform, renewable energy, etc – and as such we have repositioned our business model to ensure we are well prepared to report, challenge and steer our readers through these exciting times.”
“Internally, we will benefit from a more flexible production schedule for breaking news, and with our in-house IT expertise on hand we will be able to further enhance our unrivalled world-class livestock photographic coverage.”
Circulation and marketing manager, David Boyle, is also quoted, as saying: “In addition to our print edition changes, we will be developing our multimedia strategy. Our digital edition is now available for consumption on the iPad, iPhone and all mobile devices and we will also be refreshing our website in March for an enhanced user experience.”
“Furthermore, our strategic wholesale, sampling and subscription plans will reach and deliver a significantly larger readership to the benefit of our advertisers.”
And publisher, Darren Bruce, is also quoted, as saying: “Whilst 2011 was considered a relatively positive year for farmers, increasing utility, fuel, feeding and fertiliser costs offset most, if not all, of farmers’ turnover.
“Like farmers, publishers continually strive for efficiencies and, when appropriate, the correct investment to maintain their position and push growth. That time is now, for The Scottish Farmer to continue to provide our readers with continued investment as their news and information provider, as well as their impartial campaigner and supporter for Scottish agriculture.”
