Tim Luckhurst paints a depressing picture of the Scottish quality press in today’s Independent on Sunday:

"For the first time in 200 years, Scotland does not have its own
quality newspaper. Neither The Herald nor The Scotsman is a national
paper these days. They are both impoverished, eviscerated shadows of
their former selves."

It’s not just going wrong at the heavy end of the market. The Daily Record is also a pale imitation of its former self, and has been headed south for longer than Herald and Scotsman. All the titles appear to be caught between not being small enough to be indispensable, or big enough to be truly national - or international - in scope, in print or online.

There are strategies to pick themselves out that mess - just look to how big city dailies like the Washington Post are coping in the US, by moving to both be local and international. But that requires imagination and investment, and it appears both is in short supply.

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