The Press and Journal is a daily regional newspaper serving northern and highland Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. Established in 1747, it is Scotland's oldest daily newspaper and one of the longest-running newspapers in the world.
History
The newspaper was first published as a weekly title, Aberdeen's Journal, on 29 December 1747. In 1748 it changed its name to the Aberdeen Journal. It was published on a weekly basis for 128 years until August 1876, when it became a daily newspaper. The newspaper was owned by the Chalmers family throughout the nineteenth century, and edited by members of the family until 1849, when William Forsyth became editor. Its political position was Conservative. In November 1922, the paper was renamed The Aberdeen Press and Journal when its parent firm joined forces with the Free Press. Historical copies of the Aberdeen Journal, dating back to 1798, are available to search and view in digitised form at The British Newspaper Archive.
Editors
Present-day situation
The newspaper is printed six days a week and there are six geographic editions every day. Although for many years a broadsheet, since 2012, The Press and Journal has been in compact size. Online, The Press and Journal serves various needs beyond news and sport, with pages dedicated to: Energy; YourJob; YourAds; YourHome; YourCar; YourDining; YourBreaks; and Family Announcements. The newspaper is occasionally criticised for its regional perspective on global events, but the paper defends this stance, occasionally running "proud to be local" advertisements. It is sometimes nicknamed the Parochial and Journal for its local news focus. Just one week after the September 11 attacks in 2001 the paper's World News section totalled just a single half-page. The head office of the paper is located in Mastrick, Aberdeen, and as of March 2012 employed 470 staff locally and at branch offices throughout the North of Scotland. The current editor of the newspaper is Richard Neville, who replaced former editor Damian Bates in 2017. The paper, along with the Evening Express, Aberdeen Citizen and Scot-Ads is published by Aberdeen Journals Ltd. It has a circulation of 39,502 copies, making it the most-read and best-selling former broadsheet newspaper in Scotland. Its circulation is greater than that of the Herald and the Scotsman combined. Aberdeen Journals Ltd is now owned by the Dundee-based D. C. Thomson media group, after being sold by the Daily Mail and General Trust in 2006. The Press and Journal, the Evening Express, Aberdeen Citizen and Scot-Ads were all printed on Aberdeen Journals own printing presses in Aberdeen until May 2013. All titles are now printed in Dundee. Until March 2006 the News of the World was also printed on the Aberdeen press. The 1989–90 Journals industrial action by employees, and the ferocity with which Aberdeen Journals reacted has been credited with the downfall of unionised workforces in Scottish journalism.
Coverage of Trump International Golf Links Development
Aberdeen's Press and Journal was a staunch supporter of the building of a highly controversial golf resort by Donald Trump at the Menie Estate in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. The development was against the wishes of many local residents, and on an area designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. In 2007, the Aberdeen Evening Express ran pictures of seven councillors who voted against the application under the headline "You Traitors". In 2009, the newspaper announced it would not report anything said by the protest group "Tripping Up Trump", saying it was not "bona fide". In contrast, opponents complained, the DC Thomson papers in Aberdeen, the Evening Express and the Press and Journal gave a large amount of positive press to Donald Trump and the real estate development. In 2013, Press and Journal editor Damian Bates married the executive vice president and press spokeswoman for the Trump International project.
