New pro-independence daily launches in Scotland

The creation of The National represents a growing demand for pro-independence coverage.

The creation of The National represents a growing demand for pro-independence coverage

This morning sees the launch of The National, a new pro-independence daily newspaper in Scotland.

Printed and published by the Newsquest-owned Herald & Times Group, the paper will be the first new daily to be launched in Scotland for years.

As 13,000 people gathered on Saturday to support new first minister Nicola Sturgeon at the Glasgow Hydro, The National was unveiled by its editor Richard Walker. Walker told the crowd: 

“We lost the referendum but the political momentum behind independence is growing by the day, evidenced by the doubling of membership of the SNP, and the ongoing debate about extra powers for the Scottish Parliament.”

Walker also edits the Sunday Herald, the only Scottish newspaper to actively support the referendum in September. On the Sunday after the results, the Herald’s print sales shot up to around 50,000 copies, representing a year on year increase of 111 per cent.

The National will cost 50p and can be purchased from most newsagents and supermarkets. It will also be available in an electronic edition, and an accompanying website TheNational.scot is in development.

New managing director Tim Blott said:

The National is an exciting opportunity to meet the needs of a very politically-engaged section of the Scottish population. We recognise that launching a newspaper in 2014 is to some extent counter-intuitive but we consistently argue for the power of great journalism and informed opinion.

“We will trial the new title in its proposed format for a week and if, as anticipated, it takes off then it will become a new and dynamic fixture in Scottish publishing.”

1.6m Scots voted to leave the Union  in September. The launch of this paper shows that future independence for Scotland is still a very real possibility.

 

14 Responses to “New pro-independence daily launches in Scotland”

  1. rollo_tommasi

    None of the national newspapers bar the Sunday Herald were
    short sighted enough to support independence so I know lets create one!

    Where does it end? a pro independence news channel? Pro
    independence hotels? Bars and restuarants only for YES voters??

  2. Iain Hill

    Yes please!

  3. Leon Wolfeson

    Ah, good old fashioned exclusionary Nationalism.

  4. Ian Brannan

    This newspaper is a welcome albeit small counterbalance to the overwhelming pro-union bias in the media in Scotland. The pro-Union propaganda campaign that Scots have been subjected to in the last 3 years was on par with Goebbels.

  5. uglyfatbloke

    I don’t think it will be a success. All the Scottish editions of newspapers are struggling to retain readers as it is. OTH it may do fairly well for a while. Lots of people were pissed-off at the heavy -handed bias of the print media and even more were infuriated by the partisan behaviour of the BBC….pregnant woman or OAP knocked down in street? No mention at all. Murphy hit by egg? Three days of solid wall-to-wall coverage.

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