May 16 2008
Declining circulation of Scottish newspapers
May 16: As an after effect of growing competition posed by London based media groups the newspapers in Scotland are struggling to survive. An investigative study conducted by BBC Scotland has found that there is a decline in the circulation rate of Scotland’s newspaper. The Daily Mail has more circulation than the Herald and Scotsman combined together. Generally newspaper sales is on a decline throughout the world but it is considered as higher in Scotland as there are over 17 daily newspapers in Scotland that are battling for attention.
According to industrial figures major newspapers like the Sun, the Times and the Daily Mail have gained impressive circulation by wooing the readers with their low cover prices and freebies such as CDs and DVDs. Today the Sun has more circulation than the once-mighty Daily Record as the biggest-selling Scottish daily newspaper. The Daily Mail circulates more copies than The Herald and The Scotsman combined.
While responding to this issue Andrew Neil, the former publisher of The Scotsman said: “The decline in newspaper circulation is beyond any doubt. It is gaining momentum and will be fatal for the whole industry.”
Industrial figures show that for the past 20 years the Record has declined by 48.6%. The Herald has fallen by 46.4% and The Scotsman has fallen by 41.5%. The Courier in Dundee has seen 41.1% decline. The Journal and Press retains their name as the best performing Scottish quality daily with a decline of 26.5%.
The shift of focus of the readers to the web based media is also attributed as the reason for the decline in the circulation of newspapers.
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