JANUARY three years ago was not only the month when The Scotsman newspaper launched an app for the iPad (reported here, on allmediascotland) or was when Edinburgh College of Art dominated the shortlist of entries in a student media awards competition being run by the Scotland division of the Royal Television Society (read more, here).
Plenty else was taking place, including the chief executive of STV, Rob Woodward, suggesting that fiscal incentives would help develop Scotland’s creative sector and establish Scotland’s creative industries on a global scale (read more, here).
It was the month too where the publishers of The Sunday Post, DC Thomson, was predicting (here) a ‘bright future’ for newspapers and when The Scottish Sun announced it was withdrawing from the Scottish Press Awards, in favour of of its own, internal event.
While BBC Scotland was seeking to assure a committee of the Scottish Parliament that a freeze in the TV Licence Fee would not result in any loss in output or quality (here), the Greenock Telegraph was announcing a paywall to its website.
Three years ago, the then editor-in-chief of The Scotsman Publications Ltd, John McLellan, was writing a regular column about the media, in The Scotsman. In one, as noted here, he was arguing that subterfuge was a necessity for the Press to be effective in exposing wrong-doers.
McLellan and his then counterpart at The Herald, Jonathan Russell, were among those giving evidence during the month to the Leveson Inquiry into Press standards.
Meanwhile, new columnists were being introduced at The Press and Journal newspaper, to coincide with it going ‘compact’ six days a week – as reported, here. And it wasn’t the only paper in the DC Thomson-owned newspapers portfolio going compact – the same development happening, as noted here, at The Courier.
Mid-month, and BBC Scotland’s head of policy and corporate affairs, Ian Small, was seeking to clarify claims about staff cutbacks at BBC Radio Scotland – in a letter to The Herald, as noted, here. Elsewhere at BBC Scotland, there was a streamlining announced of its news and current affairs senior management team.
And then BBC Scotland journalist, Iain Macdonald, was being named the latest recipient of the Barron Trophy, lifetime achievement award for services to journalism, in the Highlands and Islands.
Also mid-month: a major makeover for The Big Issue magazine, as reported, here. And towards the beginning of the month: news that the Evening Times newspaper was set for an early morning sale time. There was an announcement too that Scotland on Sunday newspaper was being given a new look.
The month ended with news that five Fellowships had been awarded by the Scots division of the Marketing Society, including to Neil Gibson, of PR agency, The BIG Partnership.
Happy reading!
