It has been something of a sombre weekend with one story dominating headlines across the country after the sudden death of former first minister Alex Salmond.

Salmond had been attending the Cultural Diplomacy Forum in the city Ohrid, North Macedonia, when he collapsed during a lunch with fellow delegates on Saturday afternoon from what was thought to be a heart attack. Paramedics tried in vain to resuscitate him and the rest of the event was cancelled.

His death, aged 69, sent shockwaves all over Scotland and the UK and it’s one of those days where you’ll likely remember how newspapers reported on the story on their front pages.

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At The National – and we would not have been alone – we had to practically rework our entire Sunday edition to reflect the magnitude of the story after the news broke at around 5.30pm on Saturday. Journalists across the country would’ve been logging on in a flurry to try and ensure it was given the prominence it deserved, and it was quite moving to see some of the splashes that resulted the next day.

In the Sunday National we decided to pay tribute to Salmond’s final words on social media just hours before his death where he argued “Scotland is a country not a county”. Salmond had given a speech promoting Scottish independence at the conference the day before he died. It was the dream he hoped would never die.

(Image: NQ) Other newspapers similarly went big on the news. The Herald went for a close-up of Salmond accompanied by a quote of “he was a towering figure”. The Sunday Mail referred to the former SNP leader as a “political giant”, the Sunday Post went for “political colossus”, and Scotland on Sunday described him as a “titan”.

Even across political divides in the press, the impact of Salmond in Scottish politics was undeniable and it was somewhat reassuring to see the media and journalists come together – no matter what they personally thought of Salmond – to honour his contribution.

What was even more notable and proof of Salmond’s influence was how his death was reported south of the Border. The Sunday Times used the same front page in England and Scotland and referred to Salmond as a “titan of Scottish independence”. 

The Sunday Telegraph and The Observer also featured large pictures of Salmond on the front, while others made smaller references to his passing. Only two or three papers in England chose not to mention the event at all on their front pages.

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Salmond’s death also sparked headlines across the world.

The French newspaper Le Monde reported that, after news of Salmond’s death broke, “reactions poured in from across the British political spectrum … paying tribute to one of the most significant figures in recent Scottish history”.

The German language magazine Der Spiegel said Salmond had “shaped Scottish politics for over three decades, and suffered his worst defeat in the referendum on independence”. It further said that the former first minister was “considered charismatic, but also controversial”, pointing to his show on the Kremlin-controlled RT.

Spanish newspaper El Confidencial said Salmond had been called the “Braveheart of the 21st Century” as it noted he “made history by managing to negotiate with the then Conservative Government of David Cameron the holding of a plebiscite on Scottish independence, which he almost won”.

The story of his death was also picked up by The New York Times, Turkish outlet TRT World and The Times of India.

Salmond being one of the most consequential political figures this country has ever seen was something clearly agreed on globally and just for a brief moment, it put a pin in constitutional wrangling and journalists came together to do what was right.