Brillo Scrubbed

Ho hum so the glorious era of the Barclay Brothers and their Handsome Lothario Andrew Neil is over at the Scotsman (no doubt giving rise to gratuitous publication of the famous picture - see right)? The pugnacious Tory Buddie has been bankrolled by milions by the secretive Barclay Boys only to find - after many years of publishing the sort of drivel of Gerald Warner, Duncan Hamilton and many other Unionist toadies that - funnily enough - a lot of people found it just to be objectionable ramblings of some sad old men.

Arriving with a clear remit to trash devolution this relentless negative dirge soon became wearisome even for Edinburgh's establishment. Years on with a news agenda to 'confront Scotland's liberal elite' and sales still plummeting despte desperate give-aways and a hacked-together 'compact' re-design, the Scotsman has been losing circulation in recent years with a daily sale of 59,000 last month ( and a weekly free distribution of 254,000)

Stories of mismanagement are legend and Neil's caprice famously included insisting that a plane leave Edinburgh airport London-bound with the first papers hot off the press, so that Scots in London could get the paper at the same time as the goodly citizens of Edinburgh. Due to ongoing production errors the plane - which had a pre-booked time-slot to leave - would invariabley depart empty, costing the Barclays and their inept Gaffer a lot of lolly.

Matt Wells' analysis at the Guardian: "Meanwhile those champagne-quaffing Scotsman staff should not be celebrating for too long: the purchase of the group by cost-conscious Johnston Press merely confirms its slow slide back into regional newspaper obscurity. The Barclays love newspapers for their own sake; the Johnstons will prove to be far less benign suitors" seems like so much metropolitan guff.

Neil - for whom the buck never stops - today blamed the Scottish Parliament for his failure saying: ""But the attitude of the Scottish political establishment during the takeover battle - that under no circumstances would we be allowed to buy [the Herald] - seriously curtailed our ability to grow to the appropriate size in Scotland that would allow us to deal adequately with threats as various as the internet and the growing and well-financed Scottish editions of the London-based nationals." More here.

Ah - another free marketeer who wants a monopoly, fantastic! But where next for Paisley's best-loved brace-wearing, simmet-sporting media guru?

2 comments

You describe Ducan Hamilton,the ex SNP MSP as a Unonist toadie.
I hardly think so,in the articles I have read by him he makes his support for Scottish Independence very clear.

left by Willie Douglas on 26 December 2005

Gus,

Willis Douglas is right.

Duncan Hamilton is SNP and very much a pro-independence supporter. He was the youngest MSP elected to Holyrood in 1999; he opted out of re-election in 2003.

Pro-Independence supporters are extremely fortunate to have Duncan Hamilton at the Scotsman.

If at times Duncan's pro-independence message gets lost in the Scotmans' ink, we have only the anti-Scottish owners and editors to blame.

left by Niniane Mackenzie on 29 December 2005