Scotland’s most iconic newspaper, The Scotsman, today marks 200 years since the publication of its first edition in 1817.
Formerly known as The Paper Thistle and founded by William Ritchie and Charles MacLaren, today’s souvenir edition will feature the first of The Scotsman’s 200 – an array of selected contributors sharing their thoughts and opinions.
Today’s edition also marks the beginning of a year-long calendar of events and activities that will showcase the paper’s heritage and look ahead to the publication’s future, which will focus on digital innovation across the brand’s platforms.
“For two centuries The Scotsman has been at the heart of Scotland as a nation, covering the breaking news stories that have shaped our past and influenced our future,” said Ian Stewart, current editor at The Scotsman.
“The celebrations that have kicked off today are just the beginning, with various events and editorial initiatives still to come throughout 2017. We very much look forward to taking our readers on this journey with us into the third century of The Scotsman.”
Despite once outselling all other British newspapers, The Scotsman today faces the same challenges as most of the publishing industry, with circulation figures rapidly decreasing. The latest ABC figures show that it had a circulation of 20,304 in June 2016 compared to 105,420 in June 2000.
The newspaper has covered many significant stories over the years, including the sinking of the Titanic, the Lockerbie disaster and the Dunblane shootings.
Throughout its history, The Scotsman has employed a host of household-name journalists, including Andrew Marr, Fraser Nelson and Hugh McIlvanney. It was also one of the first newspapers to hire female journalists as they were breaking into a traditionally male-dominated industry.
