Ian Stewart takes over the editor’s chair at The Scotsman
The Scotsman has a new editor - Ian Stewart, who has been acting editor since John McLellan was sacked in a recent top management shake-up by owners Johnston Press.
Stewart, 51, who has been editor of sister paper Scotland on Sunday for the past three years and a previous editor of the Edinburgh Evening News, takes up his new post from today.
His most immediate challenge will be to try and stem the seemingly inexorable declining circulation of a newspaper which now sells less than 40,000 copies a day.
Stewart is quoted in The Scotsman today as saying: “It is a great honour to be appointed editor of Scotland’s national newspaper, one of the country’s leading institutions with a long and proud history stretching back almost 200 years.
“These are momentous times for Scotland and The Scotsman will continue to play a central part in the debate as Scotland decides its future.
“These are also exciting times for news organisations as the digital world give us great opportunities to deliver more to readers and advertisers and to have greater engagement across the many platforms that technology affords us.
“I look forward to continuing and developing that growth and maintaining The Scotsman as Scotland’s leading quality newspaper.”
Andrew Richardson, managing director of Johnston Press Scotland, which owns Scotsman Publications Ltd, said: “I am delighted that Ian has taken on the role of editor of The Scotsman and am confident that under his leadership the title will thrive.”
Stewart first joined The Scotsman in 1991 as night news editor and has spent the majority of his career with the three Scotsman Publications titles except for a period with the Scottish Daily Mail, based in Glasgow.
McLellan was editor-in-chief of The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Evening News. His sudden demise came in a memo issued by Richardson who explained the editor-in-chief post at The Scotsman Publications Ltd "will cease to exist", and added: "The editors of each title will report directly to the managing director of the Scottish Publishing Unit.”
Richardson was made managing director of Johnston Press's Scotland division in February.