Investigation suggest Scottish papers doomed, some like The Herald fight back

Meanwhile, the BBC Radio Scotland investigation included comments from US academic Professor Phillip Mayer suggesting that Scotland's major quality newspapers may not survive beyond 2018.  He was quoted: "If you take the rate of decline and extend it to the zero point, I would say the end of Scottish newspapers as we know them within ten years will probably happen unless there are some surprises."

Scottish daily newspapers may not survive in the face of competition from London-based titles, a BBC Scotland investigation has revealed. Already struggling with their lowest sales figures ever, they are facing  Local authorities  preparing to transfer recruitment advertising to their own council websites at the end of this month.

The Scottish Government plans to follow this lead, despite lobbying from the newspaper industry which currently enjoys public sector advertising revenues of £47m a year. The Investigation which includes a forecast by American newspaper academic, Professor Philip Meyer,  suggests that Scotland's major quality newspapers may not survive beyond 2018.

His book, The Vanishing Newspaper, predicts that the last newspaper in America will be published in 2043, said: "If you take the rate of decline and extend it to the zero point, I would say the end of Scottish newspapers as we know them within 10 years, will probably happen, unless there are some surprises."

Newspaper sales are falling sharply throughout the world but the decline is more precipitate in Scotland where the market is overcrowded with 17 daily papers battling for attention.

The Sun, the Daily Mail and The Times have made impressive circulation gains in Scotland with  "tartan editions" supported by low cover prices and giveaways such as CDs and DVDs. The Sun has overtaken the once-mighty Daily Record as the biggest-selling Scottish daily newspaper, while the Daily Mail sells more every day than The Scotsman and The Herald combined.

Industry figures show that over the past 20 years, the Record has fallen by 48.6%. The Herald has dropped 46.4% while The Scotsman's sale is down 41.5%. The Courier in Dundee has lost 41.1% while the Press and Journal remains the best performing Scottish quality daily with a drop of 26.5%.

Latest official sales figures for Scotland show that The Sun sold 399,321 against the Daily Record's 363,411. The Herald sold 65,286 and The Scotsman 50,790, while the Scottish Daily Mail sold 126,542.

Earlier this week, Johnston Press, the owners of The Scotsman, announced a rights issue which they hope will raise £212m to meet company debt. Johnston has also negotiated to sell 20% of the company to a Malaysian businessman following an advertising slump which saw their share price drop to 124p from a high of 490p a year ago.

The Herald has announced it is seeking a further 40 redundancies. Unions claim that a third of The Herald's workforce has been cut since the paper was bought by Newsquest in 2002. The latest assault on advertising revenues follows a decision by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to make better use of council tax.
Councillor Michael Green said local authority driven recruitment and public notices websites were expected to save an initial £5m.

Jim Raeburn, director of the Scottish Daily Newspaper Society, tells the documentary: "There is a long-term downward trend in circulation but it's not all gloom. The underlying Scottish market is still strong."

The Herald fights back with internet and website

The Sunday Herald, The Herald and the Evening Times will launch a new 24/7 online service later this year. Central to the plan is a joint Herald and Sunday Herald website, as well as a revamped separate Evening Times site. The new joint Herald website, whose name is yet to be announced, will provide readers and advertisers with a wide range of new digital content including blogs, podcasts, video interviews and photographic slide shows.

Hopefully they will look at international web papers, like the New York Times which has flourished using the more
traditional paper format, but easily navigable for news readers in a hurry to keep up on business critical sectors.

Content for the site will be provided by journalists currently working for Newsquest's three titles, and will put extra emphasis on breaking news, and Scottish news in particular stories will be filed to the website immediately and will be updated to follow developments as they happen. Extra content, including video reports and blogs, will be added throughout each day. The site will also include user-generated content and encourage online interactivity and debate.

Although the staffs of The Herald and the Sunday Herald will collaborate online, each will retain separate teams for the print editions. The print editions themselves will concentrate on exclusive content which has previously not been published elsewhere. All three print titles will retain their unique voices and characters . The developments follow the establishment of a group multi-media desk for all three titles which aims to substantially increase the content for the online operation.

David Milne, currently deputy editor of the Sunday Herald, who has been with the paper since its launch in 1999, will become the project's new online editor. Milne said: "Online is not a threat, it is an opportunity. We can significantly grow the audience for our excellent journalism by taking full advantage of the technologies available.

"We aim to be fast and authoritative on breaking news, have a rich diet of multimedia content and offer users the most comprehensive and compelling ideas and debates platform in Scotland. We are developing innovative commercial strategies to support our ambitious plans and we face the future with confidence."

Sources:http://news.bbc.co.uk
http://www.sundayherald.com/