Scotland’s leading quality news publisher has reported a surge in subscriptions from readers looking to support quality journalism after a BBC documentary recorded in the office of Newsquest Scotland aired on national television for the first time earlier this week.
The Herald and heraldscotland.com has had a 70% lift in daily subscriptions since ‘The Papers’ first episode ‘Off Stone’ was broadcast and appeared on BBC iPlayer catch up showing the dedicated professionalism of the news-team against a backdrop of evolving business challenges.
Both The National and Evening Times has also seen an increase in activity, the publisher stated.
Episode 2 – ‘Banging Out’ - directed by Bafta Scotland winning producer Sarah Howitt – goes out this Wednesday on BBC 1 Scotland after she and colleagues were given unrestricted access to The Herald, Evening Times and The National newsroom over seven months.
READ MORE: The Papers: Why we let a BBC crew film The Herald newsroom
Staff at The Herald said they had been ‘inundated’ with messages of support, good wishes and pledges from lapsed readers to buy the title again or subscribe online after honest and frank accounts of their daily working life inspired a passionate defence of the need for trustworthy news gathering and reporting in Scotland.
Editor-in-Chief Donald Martin said: “Myself, members of my team and colleagues across the business have all had messages of support from friends, peers and readers who say they were blown away by the dedication, professionalism and sheer hard work it takes to maintain such high journalistic standards seven days a week in print and online.
“It was a huge risk for us - as a brand - to open our doors in such a transparent way. But in an age of fake news and political upheaval where trust has never been more important, I am delighted that we have been able to engage with readers in a way that gives them a unique insight into the world of digital natives and inky fingers.
READ MORE: Herald readers react to BBC Documentary The Papers
“I would like to thank everyone who has been in touch – and all those who have chosen to back quality journalism in Scotland through this flood of new subscriptions - I hope others will join then after the next episode airs.
To mark the success we are offering a 21-day free trial to www.heraldscotland.co.uk providing Premium Plus access including the daily page-turning replica of the newspaper and unlimited access to the website including all premium articles as well many more excellent package benefits.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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