A LOCAL, free newspaper serving the south of Glasgow is up for sale, following a decision to step down by its editorial director and publisher.
Workload has been cited by John Maclean as the reason for stepping down from the Govan Press and sister (also free) titles, the SouthSide Press and the East Renfrewshire Press.
The papers – with a joint circulation of 35,000 – are published fortnightly, Maclean having bought the Govan Press six years ago, when it was monthly and running to just 16 pages.
Maclean and sales director, Lesley McComiskey, are understood to be in the early stages of discussions with a number of groups over the future of the titles.
In an announcement, Maclean said: “I’m so proud of what Lesley and I achieved in taking over the Govan Press – which was printing 16 pages once a month with a 12,000 circulation – and turning it into a group of papers with 40 jam-packed, great-looking pages and 35,000 copies being printed and distributed every two weeks.
“The papers were were very popular with both readers and advertisers.
“Unfortunately, I feel at this stage that I have to take a step off the hamster wheel and catch a breath.
“I’m sure the titles have a great future. We have built up a great following and a wonderful bank of regular advertisers, thanks to Lesley’s sterling efforts.
“My thanks go to her and all our other contributors, supporters and readers for six amazing years.”
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VERY widely reported and summed up by The Herald (here): “A planned strike [by broadcasters and technicians] scheduled for the first day of the Commonwealth Games at the BBC has been called off after a new pay offer was made.
“Journalists and technicians had been due to walkout next Wednesday for 12 hours.”
Read more, here (on the BBC website), here (on the NUJ website), here (on the BECTU website) and here (on The STV website).
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BEGINS a BBC announcement just issued: “The BBC’s annual report published today shows that it has been a year of strong performance for BBC Scotland, with high quality drama, news, comedy and documentaries.
“In addition there was a record spend on BBC programmes made in Scotland for the whole UK, with 1,000 hours of programmes produced in the 2013 calendar year – double the hours produced five years ago.”
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WRITES Dominic Jeff, in Scotland on Sunday newspaper, about Simon Farrell, MD of creative design agency, Tayburn: “He’s not just rebranding [Tayburn], he’s redesigning its service so that it branches out into service design.”
Read more, here.
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BEGAN The Herald, on Saturday: “Dozens of future journalists have taken part in a training day to prepare them for a special project providing coverage of the Commonwealth Games.
“Around 40 youngsters attended the Future News 2014 training day held at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, which will be their base for the next few weeks.”
Read more, here.
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ALSO reported in The Herald (here), on Saturday: “Leading journalists from around the world will take part in a debate on the independence referendum at the Scottish Parliament next month.
“The event, To See Ourselves As Others See Us, is being hosted by the Law Society of Scotland on August 16 and will include reporters from Japan, Spain and the United States.”
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A SOCIAL media manager at the Scottish Conservatives has joined the communication team at a law firm in Edinburgh.
Scott Douglas started at Brodies LLP at the beginning of the month, as communications co-ordinator.
He has been succeeded at the Scottish Conservatives by James Mildred.
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THE head of the pro-Scots independence website, Wings over Scotland, is the subject of a full-page interview in the Sunday Herald.
Stuart Campbell is quoted, as saying: “The bottom line is I don’t particularly care if people don’t want to be associated with us.”
The interview is by Paul Hutcheon and can be read here.
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THE co-founder of the TV production company, Shed Productions, is the cover feature in the Sunday Herald Life magazine.
But it’s mainly in Eileen Gallagher’s capacity as chair of the Glasgow 2014 ceremonies, culture and Queen’s Baton Relay committee.
Read more, here.
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