December 3, 2009

Scotland’s two newspaper associations to merge

The Scottish Daily Newspaper Society and the Scottish Newspaper Publishers Association are to merge.

The new organisation, to be called the Scottish Newspaper Society, will formally approve its constitution when it meets for the first time in January.

This meeting will also see the election of a president and vice president, appoint a director and agree a programme of work for the new body.

Tim Blott, managing director of Herald & Times Group and president of the SDNS, said: “The two organisations have been working together successfully for some time now on issues of common interest and from that there has been a recognition that a united body could best represent the interests of the Scottish newspaper industry as a whole, particularly at Holyrood and Westminster.”

Michael Johnston, president of SNPA and managing director of Johnston Press Scotland, added: “The proposed Scottish Newspaper Society will be the voice of a united industry presenting its case on key issues such as Scottish Government plans to remove the legal obligation requiring public notices to be advertised in newspapers.”

The SDNS was established in 1915 to represent publishers and editors of Scottish daily and Sunday newspapers.

The SNPA currently represents the interests of local newspaper.