AS the editor of the Sunday National, I clearly need to start with an apology.
I’m sorry that our title bucked the UK-wide trend and did not devote our front and inside newspaper pages, or the home-page of our website, to endless fawning coverage of the king’s coronation during a cost of living crisis.
We were obviously in the wrong because so many others saw fit to fill pages on pages with snaps of royals standing on a balcony, waving to the masses below, while we prioritised images of the Met Police pre-emptively arresting republican protesters using draconian Tory laws stamping out protests.
… or maybe I'm not actually sorry and, as with our stance on independence, The National was just that lone voice in the media landscape offering an alternative viewpoint.
I’ll let you decide.
It was a major weekend for us. We had reporters at the republican protest and a livestream of the coronation in Edinburgh, multiple journalists at the All Under One Banner march in Glasgow and even someone taking the mood in London beyond the Mall.
The National’s editor Laura Webster was co-ordinating our team on Saturday – making sure videos were going out on social media, that breaking news was covered fast on our website and filming and sharing some of the AUOB speeches herself.
For me, Saturday’s task was putting together the Sunday National newspaper. I was working closely with our chief political reporter Judith Duffy to take the tone of the day.
READ MORE: What was it like at Edinburgh's Calton Hill rally?
The major choice was, of course, the front page. What’s your Sunday splash the day after the coronation?
We’ve had some very thoughtful debate on our letters pages about the extent to which we tie the independence movement to republicanism. That factored into my thinking.
Tory protest laws being used to crack down on protesters was a total disgrace. That felt like an option, too – an early draft of the front saw us mock up one of the “Not My King” placards confiscated by the Met Police. If they wanted to shut down that debate, we’d open it up.
But ultimately, we opted to present a vision of hope, looking to the future a day after the country had been invited to stare back into the depths of Empire and all its (stolen, ransacked) trappings.
So, thanks to the fantastic efforts of our photographer Gordon Terris, our team picked out a photo from Glasgow that we felt did just that. As Lesley Riddoch said, it had felt like the good old days.
The National had major reach across social media and through our articles on the Saturday and strong sales on the Sunday. Thank you for your support as we helped broadcast what we thought were the key messages of the day.
Scotland is looking to the future and it’s an independent future. The UK is stuck in the past and will crack down on any who dare to speak up otherwise.
As Scotland’s pro-independence newspaper, we’re a lone voice on newsstands sending that message … but with the help of those who support us, it’s a loud voice.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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