INVITATIONS are going out today to organisations – such as charities and universities – inviting them to become Friends of The Scotsman newspaper, inviting content to a brand new section of the newspaper, perhaps up to four pages per day.
The initiative is to complement the paper’s highly-regarded, daily Perspectives section, containing op eds, letters, etc.
The hope is for the paper to engage even further with Civic Scotland, with a sales spin-off from them signing up to the scheme. Organisations signing up to become a Friend will be asked to subscribe to buying the paper, with substantial discounts for bulk buying.
The content they will provide will be clearly badged as such in the paper and will be overseen by The Scotsman’s assistant editor, Donald Walker.
The hope is that enough content will come from Friends to sustain four pages every day; certainly two. It might launch as early as the end of next month, depending on the response to the invitation.
Only organisations such as charities and trade bodies can become a Friend, not individuals, companies or political parties.
In a Scotsman media release, editor, Ian Stewart, is quoted, as saying: “The Scotsman has a long and proud history of being at the centre of debate in Scotland and I want to continue and develop that.
“I believe that over a period of years we have seen an ever-narrowing news agenda. As a result, I believe there are innovations, debates, research and informative views across broad spectrums of Scotland and beyond that are not getting the airing they need and deserve because they fall outwith the narrow news agenda of the day.
“I want to tackle that and put the debates and issues that face industry, academia, law, charities, the arts, sports, science, medicine – every area of Scotland – in front of the tens of thousands of people who read The Scotsman every day.”
Stewart is further quoted, as saying: “I think this is an exciting innovation for The Scotsman that will open up new channels of information and debate across Scotland and beyond, highlighting work and issues that currently have limited opportunities to be heard.”
