''Bella Caledonia'' is an

online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer mag ...

publishing social, political and cultural commentary. It was launched in 2007 and came to particular prominence during the campaign period of the

Scottish independence referendum A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side wo ...

that was held in 2014. The site is not affiliated to any political party. Until late 2017, it also produced a 24-page print magazine which appeared as a supplement in '' The National'' on the first Saturday of every month.

History

In October 2007, writers Mike Small and Kevin Williamson launched Bella Caledonia at the Radical Book Fair in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. The site provided some robust political commentary and explored ideas of self-determination. It was named after a character from

Alasdair Gray Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark: A Life in Four Books, Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays ...

's novel '' Poor Things''. Gray later provided the site with a new version of his artwork. By 2011, the magazine was gaining more recognition for its content and '' The List'' ranked it highly in a feature about top Scottish websites. During the discussions and debates that took place as part of the Scottish independence referendum, the site published commentary and arguments that helped the

Yes Scotland Yes Scotland was the organisation representing the parties, organisations, and individuals campaigning for a ''Yes'' vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. It was launched on 25 May 2012 and dissolved in late 2014 after Scotland voted ...

campaign. By 2014 the site was being read by 40,000 people daily. In the run up to Scottish independence referendum, international interest grew and ''Bella Caledonia'' had more than 500,000 unique users a month, with a peak of one million in August. A "Songs for Scotland" event was organised at the Òran Mór in Glasgow in September 2014, along with an album of music that could be downloaded. In 2015, the site was named as one of the top 10 political blogs in the UK by Cision. By this point the site was moving from a

citizen journalism Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, a ...

model along the lines of ''

De Correspondent ''De Correspondent'' is a Dutch news website based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was launched on 30 September 2013 after raising more than in a crowdfunding campaign in eight days. The website distinguishes itself by rejecting the daily news ...

'', now trying to accommodate more contributions from freelance writers and engaging in journalistic collaboration. In 2015 the website began to publish articles that were written in

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

and in Scots. In January 2017 the site announced that it was facing closure due to running costs and launched an urgent fundraising appeal. The magazine's advisory board met days later and resolved to continue publishing, agreeing upon a plan for a complete restructure- closing as a company and becoming a media collective. In March 2017, it began producing a 24-page supplement for '' The National'', to appear in the edition on the first Saturday of each month. In November 2021, just weeks following the murder of the MP

David Amess David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, the website was heavily criticised for publishing on Twitter the whereabouts of the UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel. The Tweet said: "BREAKING NEWS: UK Home Secretary Priti Patel is at a public event at the Hilton Grosvenor in the West End tonight (Friday). 1-9 Grosvenor Terrace, Glasgow G12 0TA. Do with that what you will". Bella Caledonia has since deleted the tweet.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bella Caledonia 2007 establishments in Scotland Political magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 2007 Online magazines published in Scotland