''The Buteman'' was a weekly tabloid newspaper serving the

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent is ...

in the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

, Scotland. It first published in 1854 and ceased in 2019. The final publisher was Angus County Press Ltd, a company within the Scotland and North East England division of

JPIMedia National World is a British multimedia company. The company was founded as JPIMedia Publishing Ltd in November 2018 following the acquisition of Johnston Press assets by its creditors. JPIMedia was purchased by National World PLC for £10.2 mill ...

History

The first issue of ''The Buteman, A General Advertiser for the Western Isles'' was published on 13 December 1854 from premises in 23 High Street in

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; gd, Baile Bhòid ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay, which offers an onward rail ...

, the only town on the island. In the 20th century the paper's offices had several moves: to Moodie's Court, then to Montague Street, and then Castle Street where staff were located until 2002. The paper was printed on the island until 1980. In 1981 the paper was taken into ownership by Goldenbolt International. In November 1997 Score Press, the newspaper division of

Scottish Radio Holdings Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) was a Scottish media company which owned 22 radio stations, and around 30 local newspapers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. History SRH had its origins in the 1970s when Glasgow was awarded the third licence for ...

, acquired the title for £300,000. In 2006 it was sold to Johnston Press. In 2015 the paper was selling 1800 to 2000 copies each week. Following the announcement by the local authority that Rothesay would be taking Syrian refugees, there were comments left on the paper's website. The editor Craig Borland responded by writing an editorial in defence of welcoming the refugees and won praise for this community leadership. In 2018 the owners Johnston Press went into administration and JPI media took the title over. The two remaining staff for the paper were based in Edinburgh. The last audited circulation figures of 730 were in 2018 and the population of Bute the previous year was 6,144. Circulation dropped further to 500 and JPI Media announced closure of the paper. The final edition of the paper was published on 21 June 2019.

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* * Mass media in Argyll and Bute Newspapers published in Scotland 1854 establishments in Scotland Publications established in 1854 2019 disestablishments in Scotland Publications disestablished in 2019 {{Scotland-newspaper-stub