DAILY RECORD (SCOTLAND)

The '''Daily Record''' is a Scottish tabloid newspaper, based in Glasgow. For many years, it had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland, with average sales of 451,672 as of December 2004 ^[1]. At one stage it had the second largest saturation per population in the world. For some time it has been involved in a battle with Rupert Murdoch's The Sun newspaper which sells in Scotland at a reduced cover price of 20p. Consequently circulation as of July 2007 has now dropped to a daily average of 363,543^[2], a fall of more than 24% in just 31 months. This is less than half the number the newspaper once achieved when its circulation was at its height, a huge 743,000 achieved in 1983 ^[3]
The ''Daily Record'' was founded in 1895. In 1901, the ''North British Daily Mail'' ceased publication and was incorporated into the ''Daily Record'', which was retitled as the ''Daily Record and Mail''. In 1922, Lord Kemsley bought the papers for £1 million and formed a company known as Associated Scottish Newspapers Limited to control the venture. In 1926, production transferred from Renfield Lane to 67 Hope Street. In 1971, the ''Daily Record'' became the first European newspaper to be printed with run-of-paper colour and was the first British national to introduce computer page make-up technology. It was purchased by Trinity Mirror in 1992, from the estate of the late, notorious Robert Maxwell.

Contents

Daily Record PM

Political Involvement

See also

References

External links

Daily Record PM

In August 2006, the paper launched afternoon editions in Glasgow and Edinburgh ^[4]. Both papers initially had a cover price of 15p, but in January 2007, it was announced that they would become freesheets, which are distributed on the streets of the city centres. It was simultaneously announced that new editions were to be released in Aberdeen and Dundee ^[5].

Political Involvement

The paper openly supports and has a close relationship with the Scottish Labour Party. For example, Helen Liddell, a former Labour Secretary of State for Scotland was employed on the newspaper. The then Labour-led Scottish Executive also gave the Daily Record £1 million in advertising revenue ^[6] while only giving £40,000 to ''The Sun'', despite both newspapers having similar circulation figures. It's executives have also been substantial donors to the Labour party, gifting them some £10,000 in 2007 alone ''The Herald'' This has led to accusations that by following such a fervently pro-Labour line, the newspaper has damaged the interests of its owners, because circulation has almost halved in the past 20 years and has now fallen significantly below that of ''The Sun''.
The ''Daily Record'' is also vehemently against Scottish independence. On the day of the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, it ran a front page editorial attacking the SNP. This urged Scots to '"not sleepwalk into independence. Do not let a protest vote break up Britain"'^[7]. The hostile coverage given to the SNP during the 2007 campaign has been criticised in some quarters^[8]. Despite this hostile coverage, the SNP narrowly won the election and formed a new Scottish Executive.
The ''Daily Record'' ^[9], along with Brian Souter ^[10], spearheaded the "'Keep the Clause'" campaign which aimed to prevent the Scottish Parliament from repealing Section 28. This law prevented local authorities from "promoting homosexuality". The campaign ended in failure when Section 28 was repealed by 99 votes to 17.

See also

★ List of newspapers in Scotland

References

1. ''Media Guardian'' - subscription necessary
2. ''allMedia Scotland''
3. ''Monopolies and mergers commission report, 1985''
4. Trinity Mirror
5. ''BBC News''
6. ''The Herald''
7. ''Daily Record''
8. ''The Guardian''
9. ''Red Flag''
10. ''BBC News''

External links

★ Daily Record homepage