Type in the content of your page here. History of the Scottish Press It’s most common for us to associate press with newspapers, magazines and articles of a literature origin. The history of Scottish press is much like the history of press elsewhere in the world for the times and there’s no real difference in how the process developed. It was the Chinese who came up with the idea of producing “prints” which were done with basic inks and paper. This meant that the idea of producing one copy of a print could be mass produced and many copies of the same print could be made-giving birth to the idea of “press” as we know it today; “The news-gathering business generally, or all the people involved in gathering and reporting on the news, especially journalists working on newspapers”. We’ll all remember from 1st year I’m sure the invention of the movable printing press coined by Gutenburg in the 1450’s which ultimately unleashed accessibility of printing and press on a global scale, and Scotland was no exception to the numerous countries utilizing the new invention. In contrast to the past, the Scottish press of present times can now be represented in newspaper form as traditionally practiced and in radio and television form with the invention of new technology and broadening horizons in the last 50-60 years. The 1700’s saw the release and success of the first daily newspaper, the Daily Cournat, which brought important and urgent news to communities who previously had no way of hearing news bar word of mouth. Many smaller Scottish publications began popping up across the country, following in the same footsteps as the Daily Courant, but never really competing and breaking past the boarder, unlike the wider distributed English papers. As the Scottish press industry was fairly independent and small, it could thrive quite sufficiently as a relatively “small scale operation”, however with the development and changing ways of how the public accessed their press, there was more demand and competition for papers to stay ahead and on top. In a bid to move forward with the times, one large “umbrella” was formed to house and publish most of Scotland’s press as well at our television output, magazine production and news broadcasting. The Scottish Media Group was born in 1997 and comprises of the former company known as Scottish Television plc, Gateway studios in Edinburgh and Cowcadden Studios, and most recently Caledonian Publishing, responsible for publishing the magazine supplement available with the Sunday Herald. But Scottish press and the contents published within it must appeal to a Scottish market in order for it to outsell or even compete with its competition south of the boarder. Many publications do this through relatable stories, historical relevance of Scotland and identifiable language. A study at Leeds University illustrates how Scottish papers appeal to their Scottish target market through Scottish identity and how this has changed over a 10 year period. Dr Fiona Douglas examined the use of a selection of 440 Scottish words and their use in Scottish newspaper press. Words such as ‘bairn’ or ‘wean’ (child), ‘bonnie’(pretty/attractive) and ‘wee’ (small) were among the 440 and have long been used in Scottish press reflecting their widespread use in Scottish society and culture. Amid her findings, it was noted that the tabloid “Daily Record” had become ‘more Scottish’ having upped the usage of these words between 1995 and 2005. In comparison indigenous broadsheet titles “The Herald” and “The Scotsman” are becoming ‘less Scottish’ having slashed the usage of the words over the same time period. And Scottish editions of two UK papers “the Scottish Sun” and “The Times” have dramatically increased the number of Scots words they use suggesting their emphasising their Scottish-ness to appeal to readers. However in a changing climate and with less attention being paid by some papers to keeping the Scottish flavour in papers and the press alive, is Scottish press a dying trade, destine to merge with English run papers and ultimately loosing it’s unique identity altogether?
History of the Scottish Press
It’s most common for us to associate press with newspapers, magazines and articles of a literature origin. The history of Scottish press is much like the history of press elsewhere in the world for the times and there’s no real difference in how the process developed.
It was the Chinese who came up with the idea of producing “prints” which were done with basic inks and paper. This meant that the idea of producing one copy of a print could be mass produced and many copies of the same print could be made-giving birth to the idea of “press” as we know it today;
“The news-gathering business generally, or all the people involved in gathering and reporting on the news, especially journalists working on newspapers”.
We’ll all remember from 1st year I’m sure the invention of the movable printing press coined by Gutenburg in the 1450’s which ultimately unleashed accessibility of printing and press on a global scale, and Scotland was no exception to the numerous countries utilizing the new invention.
In contrast to the past, the Scottish press of present times can now be represented in newspaper form as traditionally practiced and in radio and television form with the invention of new technology and broadening horizons in the last 50-60 years.
The 1700’s saw the release and success of the first daily newspaper, the Daily Cournat, which brought important and urgent news to communities who previously had no way of hearing news bar word of mouth.
Many smaller Scottish publications began popping up across the country, following in the same footsteps as the Daily Courant, but never really competing and breaking past the boarder, unlike the wider distributed English papers.
As the Scottish press industry was fairly independent and small, it could thrive quite sufficiently as a relatively “small scale operation”, however with the development and changing ways of how the public accessed their press, there was more demand and competition for papers to stay ahead and on top.
In a bid to move forward with the times, one large “umbrella” was formed to house and publish most of Scotland’s press as well at our television output, magazine production and news broadcasting.
The Scottish Media Group was born in 1997 and comprises of the former company known as Scottish Television plc, Gateway studios in Edinburgh and Cowcadden Studios, and most recently Caledonian Publishing, responsible for publishing the magazine supplement available with the Sunday Herald.
But Scottish press and the contents published within it must appeal to a Scottish market in order for it to outsell or even compete with its competition south of the boarder. Many publications do this through relatable stories, historical relevance of Scotland and identifiable language. A study at Leeds University illustrates how Scottish papers appeal to their Scottish target market through Scottish identity and how this has changed over a 10 year period.
Dr Fiona Douglas examined the use of a selection of 440 Scottish words and their use in Scottish newspaper press. Words such as ‘bairn’ or ‘wean’ (child), ‘bonnie’(pretty/attractive) and ‘wee’ (small) were among the 440 and have long been used in Scottish press reflecting their widespread use in Scottish society and culture.
Amid her findings, it was noted that the tabloid “Daily Record” had become ‘more Scottish’ having upped the usage of these words between 1995 and 2005. In comparison indigenous broadsheet titles “The Herald” and “The Scotsman” are becoming ‘less Scottish’ having slashed the usage of the words over the same time period.
And Scottish editions of two UK papers “the Scottish Sun” and “The Times” have dramatically increased the number of Scots words they use suggesting their emphasising their Scottish-ness to appeal to readers.
However in a changing climate and with less attention being paid by some papers to keeping the Scottish flavour in papers and the press alive, is Scottish press a dying trade, destine to merge with English run papers and ultimately loosing it’s unique identity altogether?