The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish

Sunday newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...

, it was published in

compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...

format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

stance with support for

Scottish devolution Devolution is the process in which the central British parliament grants administrative powers (excluding principally reserved matters) to the devolved Scottish Parliament. Prior to the advent of devolution, some had argued for a Scottish Parl ...

, and later

Scottish independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. S ...

. The last edition of the newspaper was published on 2 September 2018 and it was replaced with Sunday editions of ''The Herald'' and ''The National''''.

Circulation

In July 2012, the newspapers' publishers classified the ''Sunday Herald'' as a regional instead of a national title. Between July and December 2013, the ''Sunday Herald'' sold an average of 23,907 copies, down 7.5% on the 12 months previous. After declaring support for

, The ''Sunday Herald'' received a huge increase in sales, with circulation in September 2014 up 111% year on year. By 2017 circulation had fallen to 18,387 and in August 2018 staff were told they would now be expected to work on the Glasgow Herald too, with the potential for the two titles to be combined at some point in the future.

History

Background

In early 1998 the Scottish Media Group (SMG), then led by chairman

Gus Macdonald Gus is a masculine name, often a diminutive for Angus, August, Augustine, or Augustus, and other names (e.g. Aengus, Argus, Fergus, Ghassan, Gustav, Gustave, Gustafson, Gustavo, Gussie). It can also be used as the adaptation into English of t ...

, decided to create a Sunday sister for its existing national morning title '' The Herald'', because the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

-based media group was losing advertising revenue to rival newspaper publishers every Sunday. In March 1998 the media company's board appointed

Andrew Jaspan Andrew Jaspan AM (born 20 April 1952) is a British-Australian journalist and Founding Director and Editor-in-Chief of 360info. He is the Founder of ''The Conversation''. He was previously editor-in-chief of Melbourne's''The Age'', editor o ...

, then the publisher and managing director of ''

The Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people, or individ ...

'' and a former editor of ''Scotland on Sunday'', ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' to examine the business case for launching a new Sunday title. In October 1998 SMG (now known as

STV Group plc STV Group plc (formerly known as Scottish Television plc, Scottish Media Group plc and SMG plc) is a media company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Beginning as a television broadcaster in 1957, the company expanded into newspapers, advertising and r ...

), which also owns the broadcaster STV, committed to putting £10 million behind the new paper's launch.

Jaspan's launch team

Jaspan assembled a launch team including former Hue & Cry singer

Pat Kane Patrick Mark "Pat" Kane (born 10 March 1964) is a Scottish musician, journalist, political activist and one half of the pop duo Hue and Cry with his younger brother Greg.Larkin, Colin (1997) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music'', Virgi ...

, TV producer and presenter

Muriel Gray Muriel Janet Gray FRSE (born 30 August 1958) is a Scottish author, broadcaster and journalist. She came to public notice as an interviewer on Channel 4's alternative pop-show ''The Tube'', and then appeared as a regular presenter on BBC radio ...

and

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Department of Trade and Industry in March 2003, partly because it was persuaded the papers would keep their editorial independence under Gannett's ownership and because of Gannett's creation of a new Scottish division to run the acquired papers from Glasgow. The DTI report said: "We do not expect the transfer adversely to affect the current editorial freedom, the current editorial stance, content or quality of the SMG titles, accurate presentation of news or freedom of expression." The deal completed on 5 April 2003. Jaspan resigned in 2004 to become editor of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' in Melbourne, Australia.

Richard Walker Richard Walker, Rick, Ricky, or Dick Walker may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Richard Walker (baritone) (1897–1989), English singer and actor Law and politics * Richard Walker (MP) (1784–1855), British Member of Parliament for Bury, 1832 ...

was appointed as his successor. Walker, a former production journalist on both the ''Daily Record'' and ''Scotland on Sunday'' had been with the title since its launch and had served as deputy to Jaspan for five years.

The Walker years

Walker took the ''Sunday Herald'' tabloid in November 2005 which brought a temporary uplift in circulation. Sales settled at 58,000 (source:

Audit Bureau of Circulations An Audit Bureau of Circulations is a private organization that provides industry-agreed standards for media brand measurement of print publications and other media outlets in a given country. The International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circula ...

), and readership at 195,000 (source: National Readership Survey). The week before the ''Sunday Herald'' was launched in February 1999, the Barclays' ''Scotland on Sunday'' sold more than 130,000 copies. This has since plummeted to c.46,000, about 50% higher than the circulation (June 2012 ABCs) of the Sunday Herald (26,074 weekly). Walker was behind the launch of the blog site Sundayheraldtalk.com in September 2006..

Taxigate

In April 2006 the ''Sunday Herald'' Scottish political editor,

Paul Hutcheon Paul Hutcheon is a Scottish political journalist who currently serves as Investigations Editor for the ''Sunday Herald''. In 2006, while serving as political editor for the ''Sunday Herald'', he won both Journalist of the Year and Political Journ ...

, won both Political Journalist of the Year and Journalist of the Year in the

Scottish Press Awards The Scottish Press Awards is an annual ceremony which recognises talent in Scottish journalism. The ceremony was established by the Scottish Newspaper Society (SNS), which "represents, protects, and promotes" Scotland's newspaper industry, in 1979 ...

for articles revealing that

David McLetchie David William McLetchie CBE (6 August 1952 – 12 August 2013) was a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 1999 to 2005. He was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Edinburgh Pentlands co ...

, leader of the

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

, had abused taxpayers' money to pay for taxi fares for legal and party work. Hutcheon made use of the Scottish Freedom of Information Act to establish his case, which ultimately led to McLetchie resigning both as Conservative leader and as a partner in Edinburgh law firm Tods Murray.

Super injunctions

On 22 May 2011, the paper became the first mainstream UK publication to name a person involved with a super injunction. In ''

CTB v News Group Newspapers ''CTB v. News Group Newspapers'' is an English legal case between Manchester United player Ryan Giggs, given the pseudonym CTB, and defendants News Group Newspapers Limited and model Imogen Thomas. On 14 April 2011, Mr Justice Eady granted firs ...

'' the claimant, a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

previously known only as CTB, was identified by publishing as its front page an image of

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his List of one-club men in association football, entir ...

whose eyes are covered with a black bar which features the word "censored". The paper argued that the injunction was not valid in Scotland which is a separate jurisdiction and only applicable to England, however one legal opinion suggests that the Scottish news outlet may be in breach an English injunction due to a House of Lords ruling in the 1987

Spycatcher ''Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer'' (1987) is a memoir written by Peter Wright, former MI5 officer and Assistant Director, and co-author Paul Greengrass. He drew on his own experiences and research into ...

case. The paper was awarded the European Newspaper of the Year in the category of weekend paper by the European Newspaper Congress in 2011.

Independence referendum

The ''Sunday Herald'' was the only Scottish newspaper to back a vote for independence in the

2014 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 w ...

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

designed a special front page for the ''Sunday Herald'' in May 2014 when it came out in favour of a "Yes" vote. The cover consisted of a large thistle framed by Scottish saltires.

Closure

The newspaper ceased publication in late 2018, after falling sales.

Editors

:1999:

:2004:

:2015: Neil Mackay :2018:

References

* *

External links

''Sunday Herald'' website
{{GCI Publications established in 1999 1999 establishments in Scotland 2018 disestablishments in Scotland The Herald (Glasgow) Newspapers published in Scotland Weekly newspapers published in the United Kingdom Scottish independence Defunct Sunday newspapers published in the United Kingdom