The ''Ayrshire Post'' was a weekly

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

local

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 poli ...

serving the communities of

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire (; , ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,45 ...

and parts of

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Roa ...

with local news, issues and sports coverage. The ''Ayrshire Post'' primarily serves the towns of

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

Prestwick Prestwick () is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small vi ...

Troon Troon (Scottish Gaelic: ''An Truthail'') is a town and sea port in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with ferry and freight serv ...

Cumnock Cumnock (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cumnag'') is a town and former civil parish located in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The town sits at the confluence of the Glaisnock Water and the Lugar Water. There are three neighbouring housing projects which lie j ...

Maybole Maybole (, ) is a town and former burgh of barony and police burgh in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It had an estimated population of in . It is situated south of Ayr and southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The town is ...

Girvan Girvan (, "mouth of the River Girvan") is a burgh and harbour town in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Girvan is situated on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde, with a population of about 6,450. It lies south of Ayr, and north of St ...

and their surrounding communities. In 2013, it "Joined forces" with the Daily Record, and subsequently it's website was subsumed into that of the Daily Record. The ''Ayrshire Post'' was founded in 1880 as a voice of Liberalism, in direct competition to existing

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

rival the ''

Ayr Advertiser The ''Ayr Advertiser'' is a weekly Scottish local newspaper, serving the community of South Ayrshire with local news, issues and sports coverage. The Ayr Advertiser was founded in 1803, originally entitled the ''"Air Advertiser, or, West Country ...

'' and the now defunct ''Ayr Observer'' and the more radical ''Ayrshire Express''. The ''Post'' was edited by John Fergus Macnair from 1925 to 1958, and the chief reporter was Allan Hewitson from 1946 to 1961, who also founded the Ayr branch of the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades ...

. There was hot rivalry between the ''Advertiser'' and the ''Post''. The ''Advertiser'' came out on Thursday, and if it had a good story, the ''Post'', which came out on Friday could follow it up. Another source of news was ''The Daily Telegraph'' and ''The Times'', with any local event being followed up. The ''Post'' did not devote as much space to agricultural matters as did the 'Advertiser''. After World War II the circulation of the ''Advertiser'' was 14,000, while that of the ''Post'' was 20,000. The title was judged Scottish Weekly Newspaper of the Year in 2014 at the

Scottish Press Awards The Scottish Press Awards is an annual ceremony which recognises talent in Scottish journalism. The ceremony was established by the Scottish Newspaper Society (SNS), which "represents, protects, and promotes" Scotland's newspaper industry, in 1979 ...

. It was the first time an Ayrshire newspaper has won the award. The Ayrshire Post won Weekly Newspaper of the Year at the 43rd Scottish Press Awards held in September 2022. There separate editions for

and the district of Carrick, which includes communities centred around

and

. The newspaper is owned by

Reach plc Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', '' ...

and is the biggest selling weekly title within the Media Scotland stable. As of 2012, it had a circulation of 20,000, approximately the same as in 1939 and a 10% decline from 2011's circulation of 23,493.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayrshire Post South Ayrshire Newspapers published in Scotland 1880 establishments in Scotland Newspapers established in 1880 Newspapers published by Reach plc