THE National has smashed its 10,000 subscribers target – more than a year ahead of schedule.
We can reveal today that your favourite newspaper now has 10,540 people signed up to one of its subscription packages across print and digital.
Scotland’s lockdown has seen shops close and readers’ buying habits change. This has had a devastating impact on print sales across the newspaper industry, with many titles selling one-third fewer copies than they were at the start of March.
The National’s digital subscription offers, however, have been flying – with more than 2000 people having subscribed in the past two months alone.
That means we now have more digital subscribers than The Herald and Scotsman put together – not bad, considering they had a couple of hundred years’ head start.
The National launched its “10,000 Steps” campaign in 2019, pledging to invest directly in the campaign for independence for every 1000 readers who signed up. We wanted to hit 10,000 by the Holyrood election of May 2021 – but we’ve already got there a year ahead of schedule.
The campaign has allowed us to hire a video journalist, launch a series of monthly supplements, launch a Unionist Fact Check service and build a National Yes Hub, which is now ready to go.
Much of our campaign activity is on hold just now due to the coronavirus crisis, but when we’re able to get out on the streets and fight for a Yes vote again, we’ll be in a brilliant position to use all our resources to do so.
The National’s editor, Callum Baird, said: “It’s a remarkable achievement for a newspaper which many Scottish journalists seem to regularly regard as a ‘failure’ or a ‘missed opportunity’, for some reason.
“Perhaps they are looking at their own figures by mistake.
“Last year, we were the only newspaper in the UK to increase its print circulation, and now this year we’ve taken huge steps to increase our digital influence, with millions of new readers visiting our website every month.
“The National has been the biggest success story of the Scottish media in the last decade without doubt – launched into a market which already had too many newspapers, we’ve survived, thrived and grown into a formidable force in Scottish politics.
“We just want to say a huge thank you to everybody who has chosen to support us over the last few years. We’ve got many more exciting plans for when indyref2 really kicks off. Roll on 20,000!”
With no sign of lockdown ending any time soon, our digital subscriptions are more important than ever to securing our future – please sign up to support us today at www.thenational.scot/subscribe
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel