Sunday Herald to be axed next month

GLASGOW based newspaper The Sunday Herald is to close next month.

The final edition of the Newsquest-owned title will be published on September 2.

The company is to begin printing its daily broadsheet The Herald and pro-independence title The National seven days a week from September 9.

It was announced earlier this month that The Herald and The Sunday Herald teams were to be merged.

Newsquest said the decision followed “extensive market research and feedback from readers and advertisers alike that their needs were not being fully met on a Sunday”.

Newsquest Scotland managing director Graham Morrison said: “This is a highly competitive industry and to be successful requires innovation, diversification and investment to ensure we deliver the media and marketing platforms our customers want.

“It has been clear for some time that Herald readers wanted a seven-day offering with closer alignment of the brand and the title’s editorial values on a Sunday.

“By launching The Herald on Sunday and extending the National title to seven days a week, we are able to give our audience and advertisers a clearer and better choice.”

The Sunday Herald was the only national newspaper to back independence during the 2014 referendum campaign, with The National launched shortly after the ballot took place.

The title was billed as “a daily newspaper that will fly a vibrant flag for independence and the right for Scots to govern themselves”.

Newsquest Scotland editor-in-chief and editor of the seven-day Herald Donald Martin said: “The Herald on Sunday will take the best of our journalism and columnists, and offer a weekend package unrivalled for the Scottish market.

“The National has been a tremendous success since its launch almost four years ago and it is clear there is a growing appetite to extend its superbly targeted journalism across the seven days.”