THE publishers of the Sunday Herald have declined to comment on a possible revamp of the newspaper, into a news magazine, to be launched on the ninth of next month.
Sources suggest the newspaper might even be re-titled, as the New Sunday Herald, as its sections are folded into one, magazine-style publication, on relatively high quality paper, and capitalising on its stable of top-rated columnists and writers, plus the acclaimed design skills of its editor, Richard Walker.
allmediascotland put a series of questions to the Herald & Times Group, but a spokesperson replied, simply, “No comment.”
One question asked what facility any new publication would have for jobs, property and car adverts.
In light of an announcement last week that there are to be around seven compulsory redundancies among editorial staff across the group – on top of six applications already accepted for voluntary redundancy – another asked of the staffing and freelancing implications of any revamp.
Last month, the Sunday Herald won the ‘Weekly Newspaper’ title in an Europe-wide newspaper design competition.
According to the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the Sunday Herald’s average sale in Scotland last month was 41,314, down 3.9 per cent on 12 months previously.
The questions, in full, read as follows:
1. Is the Sunday Herald to be renamed the New Sunday Herald?
2. Is it going to be revamped, to become ‘Scotland’s News Magazine’?
3. Are all the current sections going to be folded into one, printed on relatively high-quality paper and the size of many current affairs magazines, such as Time.
4. If it is going ahead, what type of advertising is the new publication expected to attract? Jobs? Property? Cars?
5. Again, should it go ahead, what are the staffing and freelancing implications?
6. If going ahead, is the first issue out on January 9?
