Aberdeenshire and Highland newspapers stop print editions
- Published
Independent publisher Highland News and Media is to stop publishing print editions of three of its titles and incorporate a number of others.
Print editions of the weekly Turriff, Inverurie and Ellon Advertisers in Aberdeenshire are to end.
Highland News and Media said the communities would continue to be served via its Grampian Online website, external.
Weekly title The Highland News is to be incorporated into the publisher's flagship paper, the Inverness Courier.
Another weekly newspaper, the North Star, is to be incorporated into the Ross-shire Journal.
Inverness-based Highland News and Media said it was moving resources from some unprofitable newspaper titles to help it boost its digital presence. It added that growth in this area had already exceeded expectations.
The company also said it was aiming to protect jobs in the long-term by putting more focus on its digital platforms, adding that it was working hard to ensure any job losses were kept to a minimum.
Turra Squeak
All the titles involved have long histories in their local communities.
The Turriff Advertiser was established in 1930s by local publisher W Peters Ltd, and is well-known in the town by its nickname the Turra Squeak.
The North Star and Highland News are well-known Highland weekly papers
The twice-weekly Inverness Courier also started out as a family-owned enterprise and marked its 200th anniversary in 2017.
Highland News and Media said it had an ambitious digital-first strategy.
It said more than 10% of its readers were now opting for digital subscriptions instead of printed newspapers, with 50,000 having become registered users and 20,000 signed up to receive email newsletters.
Publishing director Steve Barron said: "This is progress well beyond where we expected to be at this point.
"The challenge is to accelerate these numbers whilst responsibly managing our print brands."
- Published4 December 2017
