The Scotsman

The Scotsman is a Scottish newspaper published in Edinburgh. Since August 16, 2004, it has been printed in tabloid format. Its sister Sunday publication, which remains broadsheet, is entitled Scotland on Sunday .

The Scotsman was launched in 1817 as a liberal weekly by lawyer William Ritchie and customs official Charles Maclaren in response to the unblushing subservience of competing newspapers to the Edinburgh establishment. The paper was pledged to impartiality, firmness and independence . After the abolition of newspaper stamp tax in Scotland in 1850, The Scotsman was relaunched as a daily newspaper priced at £sd and a circulation of 6000 copies.

The Scotsman ’s first editor, Charles Maclaren, was the only editor of the paper to fight a duel. Stung by journalistic attacks from Dr James Browne, the Caledonian Mercury ’s editor, Maclaren, with grave reservations concerning Browne s existence, agreed to meet him at Ravelston. The two exchanged shots, missed, refused to shake hands, and parted without apology.

During the 1926 UK General Strike 1926 The Scotsman was the only national newspaper in the UK to continue publishing. The UK Government of the time offered the owners free air transport to get daily newspapers to London.

In 1953 the newspaper was bought by Canadian millionaire Roy Thompson who was in the process of building an enormous media empire. The paper was in 1995 bought by billionaires David and Frederick Barclay, who moved the newspaper from its landmark Edinburgh office, which is now an upmarket hotel. The Scotsman was a staunch supporter of Scottish devolution but has since been critical of the Scottish Parliament. While not aligned to any political party, it remains as anti-establishment today as in its inception.

The Scotsman has a daily circulation of around 67,000 [http://media.scotsman.com/readership.cfmsection=21 Source]. It has fallen fairly dramatically over the past few years, in common with other titles. The current editor John McGurk started in the autumn of 2004 and has had some success in arresting the decline in circulation. Controversial British journalist Andrew Neil, a former editor of The Sunday Times, is publisher of the newspaper in addition to The Business (newspaper) and The Spectator magazine.

The Scotsman is sometimes jokingly referred to as The Hootsmon .

=External links=

*[http://www.scotsman.com/ The Scotsman website] *[http://archive.scotsman.com/scotsman.cfm History of The Scotsman]