THE question is raised and the answer posed is none too encouraging. Former broadcaster, Kenneth Roy, on his website, Scottish Review, considers the recent circulation figures of Scotland’s main newspaper titles and draws a pretty depressing conclusion, when he asks if the Scottish press can be saved.
He writes: “Can the Scottish press be saved? The unthinkable option – abandoning the print version and converting to online publication with a subscription base – could soon be tempting in a market so small and vulnerable as Scotland.
“Or we could see a territorial retreat, the Herald and Scotsman, and their Sunday stablemates, becoming essentially regional newspapers with an accompanying drift downmarket. Or we could see mergers. Or we could see titles folding. Whatever happens, it will be journalism’s loss – and democracy’s. When the Holyrood parliament arrived, many of us confidently assumed that the more exciting politics of Scotland would be reflected in a more vigorous press alive to the possibilities. How wrong we were.”
Read more, here.
