A new dawn for the Ayrshire Post

Dec 6 2011

Your local newspaper has joined forces with the Daily Record and the Sunday Mail to create Scotland’s biggest publishing business.

THIS week heralds a new dawn for the Ayrshire Post.
Your local newspaper has joined forces with the Daily Record and the Sunday Mail to create Scotland’s biggest publishing business.
The Post and 16 other weekly titles published by Scottish & Universal Newspapers will operate alongside the two national institutions as a single business.
Working together the huge portfolio of newspapers and websites will be known as Media Scotland, providing a full package of news to two out of three Scots.
S&UN’s market-leading stable of local newspapers, including the Paisley Daily Express, the Perthshire Advertiser, the Hamilton Advertiser and the Dumfries Standard, will reach 1.5million readers every weekday as part of the merged group.
Media Scotland will also command a digital audience of 2.6 million unique users a month.
The newly-formed business is, quite simply, the largest, strongest and most effective media operation in the country.
By any measure – circulation, readership or market share – Media Scotland is greater than The Sun, Herald, Scotsman and Daily Mail put together.
S&UN’s family of papers across the main population belts of south and west central Scotland are themselves historic, iconic and trusted titles that have served their own communities for generations.
The Ayrshire Post is the company’s biggest-selling title and, with the Kilmarnock Standard and Irvine Herald, the three papers constitute a formidable media presence in the county.
Like the Daily Record and Sunday Mail, they too have a proud heritage of supporting and campaigning on behalf of their readers.
This combined publishing might places Media Scotland in an unrivalled position at the heart of Scottish life, perfectly placed to serve our expanding army of readers.
Driving this editorial revolution will be newly-appointed Media Scotland Editor-in-Chief Allan Rennie, a former editor of the Sunday Mail and assistant editor of the Daily Record.
S&UN Group Editor Alan Woodison, who is based in Ayrshire, will represent the weekly titles in the new combined editorial set-up.
He said: “This is the beginning of a new era in Scottish publishing.
“Media Scotland is an exciting concept that brings together the best of the local press and the best of the national press.
“Working as one, with the addition of our strong online presence, the new business will ensure the Ayrshire Post and its sister titles are better prepared for the challenge that is facing the entire newspaper industry.”