SCOTTISH NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION

The phenomenon that is downward newspaper circulation figures carries on unabated.  What are the causes - that is assuming  there are more than one cause - beyond   a dreary,  unappealing  product?

In the Daily  Newspaper section,  the Scottish Sun is still by far the best seller with a circulation of about 290,000.  The Daily Record is next,  with a circulation of about 245,000.  The Scotsman has 33,000 while The Glasgow Herald is believed to be slightly higher.  We say "believed" because The Glasgow Herald no longer classifies itself as a national daily and has reclassified itself as a regional title instead with a 6 month circulation cycle.

The Scottish Sun is,  of course,  a relative newcomer.  The Daily Record (like The Scotsman and The Glasgow Herald) sells a fraction of what it used to.

The Sunday Newspaper section is even worse.  The Sunday Post,  which at one time sold more than 1,000,000 copies per week,  now sells about 180,000.  The Sunday Mail,  once with sales of 800,000,  now sells 280,000 and falling.  The Scottish Sun on Sunday,  less than twelve months old,  sells about 210,000.  As for the Sunday Herald,  a truly awful product,  its sales are below the radar altogether with sales believed to be 20,000 odd.

If ever an industry took its customers for granted and thought,  in their arrogance,  that they were far more important than their customers,  that industry is the newspaper industry.  Once newspapers realise that their responsibility is to examine from a challenging and critical perspective,  instead of  fawning over politicians,  would-be celebrities and the like,  the better.