The Scotsman facts for kids
The Scotsman cover (11 May 2011)
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Compact |
| Owner(s) | National World |
| Founded | 1817 |
| Political alignment | None |
| Headquarters | Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
| Circulation | 7,710 (as of 2023) |
| Sister newspapers | Edinburgh Evening News Scotland on Sunday |
| ISSN | 0307-5850 |
| OCLC number | 614655655 |
The Scotsman is a newspaper from Scotland. It is based in Edinburgh. It started as a weekly newspaper in 1817. Later, it became a daily newspaper in 1855.
For many years, it was a large newspaper called a "broadsheet." But in 2004, it changed to a smaller size called a "compact" newspaper. This is the size you often see today. The company that owns The Scotsman also publishes the Edinburgh Evening News.
In 2022, about 8,762 copies of the newspaper were printed each day. Its website, Scotsman.com, gets many visitors. In 2017, about 138,000 people visited the website every day. In 2017, The Scotsman celebrated its 200th birthday!
The Story of The Scotsman
The Scotsman newspaper was first thought of in 1816. It was started on January 25, 1817. Two men, William Ritchie and Charles Maclaren, created it. They were unhappy that other newspapers in Edinburgh were not fair. These other papers often just agreed with the powerful people in the city.
The Scotsman promised to be "impartial, firm, and independent." This means it would be fair, strong, and not controlled by anyone. When it first started, it cost 6d plus a 4d tax.
In 1855, a special tax on newspapers in Scotland was removed. After this, The Scotsman became a daily newspaper. It cost only 1d (one old penny) and printed 6,000 copies each day.
The first office for the newspaper was at 257 High Street. This is on the famous Royal Mile in Edinburgh. For a while, it shared an office with another newspaper.
In 1860, The Scotsman got its own special office. It was on Cockburn Street in Edinburgh. The building was designed in a Scottish castle-like style. This new building was connected to their old offices.
Later, on December 19, 1904, they moved to a huge new office. This building was at the top of Cockburn Street. It took three years to build. It also had printing presses on Market Street. These presses were connected directly to Waverley train station. This made it very easy to send out the newspapers.
In 1953, a rich Canadian businessman named Roy Thomson bought the newspaper. He was building a big group of media companies. In 1995, two brothers, David and Frederick Barclay, bought it for £85 million.
They moved the newspaper from its old office on North Bridge. That old building is now a fancy hotel. The newspaper moved to new, modern offices on Holyrood Road. This new location was close to where the Scottish Parliament Building would later be built. In 1994, The Scotsman was named the World's Best Designed Newspaper.
In 2005, The Scotsman and its sister newspapers were bought by Johnston Press. This company was one of the biggest local newspaper publishers in the UK. In 2012, The Scotsman won the Newspaper of the Year award at the Scottish Press Awards.
In 2014, Johnston Press moved to smaller offices. This helped the company save about £1 million in rent each year.
Before the vote on Scottish independence in 2014, the newspaper supported voting "No." This meant they wanted Scotland to stay part of the United Kingdom.
In 2018, Johnston Press faced financial difficulties. Soon after, a new company called JPIMedia bought it. Then, in 2020, another company called National World bought JPIMedia.
In July 2023, many more old newspaper articles were added to the online archive. This means you can now read articles from 1951 all the way to 2002, plus 52 more years of history!
Editors of The Scotsman
- 1817: William Ritchie
- 1817: Charles Maclaren
- 1818: John Ramsay McCulloch
- 1843: John Hill Burton (acting)
- 1846: Alexander Russel
- 1876: Robert Wallace
- 1880: Charles Alfred Cooper
- 1905: John Pettigrew Croal
- 1924: George A. Waters
- 1944: James Murray Watson
- 1955: John Buchanan (acting)
- 1956: Alastair Dunnett
- 1972: Eric MacKay
- 1985: Chris Baur
- 1988: Magnus Linklater
- 1994: Andrew Jaspan
- 1995: James Seaton
- 1997: Martin Clarke
- 1998: Alan Ruddock
- 2000: Tim Luckhurst
- 2000: Rebecca Hardy
- 2001: Iain Martin
- 2004: John McGurk
- 2006: Mike Gilson
- 2009: John McLellan
- 2012: Ian Stewart
- 2017: Frank O'Donnell
- 2020: Joy Yates
- 2021: Neil McIntosh
See also
In Spanish: The Scotsman para niños
- List of newspapers in Scotland
- List of newspapers by date
