IT would be easier to identify the newspapers that elected not to report, on their front pages, claims made in court on Thursday about an alleged six-year affair between Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, both former editors of the now defunct News of the World newspaper.
Of Friday’s main daily newspapers, those who did not feature the allegation on the front page were the Daily Star of Scotland, the Daily Record (an admirable show of restraint?) and The Scottish Sun (the former sister title of the NoW). For them, it was pages four, four and ten, respectively.
Of the others, the faint scent of schadenfreude? Well, perhaps on behalf of those of their readers who have had their affairs made public?
Brooks and Coulson deny charges including conspiracy to phone hack in a case that is expected to last several months.
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APPLICATIONS for voluntary redundancy at Johnston Press – publishers of, among others, The Scotsman, and several Scots local newspapers – were required by Thursday, the deadline having been extended to allow for prospective applicants (some of whom might have recently returned from the October school holidays) to fully consider the options.
Not that it was lost on some at Scotsman HQ that Thursday also happened to be Hallowe’en.
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THE chief executive of Johnston Press gave evidence on media plurality to a House of Lords committee last week.
And Ashley Highfield said an interesting thing (here: 16.36).
In claiming that The Scotsman competes in possibly the most competitive newspaper landscape where Johnston operates, he continued, thus: “The ability for The Scotsman to speak for Scotland… it doesn’t… it speaks for Edinburgh, really. Much as I’d like it to speak for Scotland.”
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GRATEFUL as ever, to Ken Smith’s magnificent daily diary in The Herald. He wrote, the other week: “Writer, Allan Brown has just published an affectionate encyclopedia of Glasgow humour, entitled The Glasgow Smile, which includes memories of the sometimes makeshift STV lunchtime show, The One O’Clock Gang.
“Allan recalls that one morning a cameraman had a ferocious hangover, and when Dorothy Paul was performing some airy ditty, the camerman vomited over his equipment sending bits of bacon sandwich on to her frock.
“Dorothy stormed off to the producer and declared that the cameraman was a disgrace. ‘Well Dorothy, everyone’s entitled to their opinion,’ said the placatory producer.”
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