The ''Scottish Standard'' was a weekly Scottish

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

, supportive of Scottish independence. It was launched on 9 March 2005 with a 48-page issue in full-colour that was on sale for 70p. Seven issues were published in all. The intention of the paper was to provide a middle-market tabloid for the section of the Scottish public that support independence.

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...

, leader of the Scottish National Party, wrote a column for the paper, as did other Scottish political figures supportive of independence, including Colin Fox of the

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP; gd, Pàrtaidh Sòisealach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Socialist Pairtie) is a left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an independent socialist Scotland. The party was founded in 1998. It c ...

. It was published in Paisley. It was edited by Alex MacLeod and financed by the

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

-based Flagship Media Group. The paper had a modest circulation of between 6,000 and 12,000 copies, which was too low to sustain the journalists, sales and administration staff who at launch totalled approximately 38. The failure of the title may have been due to its lack of any real promotion; the only notable attempt was a ten-second advert on

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...

and

Grampian Television Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William a ...

the night before the paper launched. Equally, if not more so, it suffered from distribution problems, with RS McColl being one of the few larger chains to carry it.

References

Scottish Standard Scottish Standard Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom {{Scotland-newspaper-stub

See also

References