0:00:03 > 0:00:08
0:00:08 > 0:00:12Tonight on Newsnight Scotland, an endangered beasts special. Once the
0:00:12 > 0:00:16Scottish press was red in tooth and claw. Now it's a shadow of its
0:00:16 > 0:00:18former self. One of the men who used to run part of it says it's in
0:00:18 > 0:00:22terminal decline. But is he right? And, we're told the Scottish
0:00:22 > 0:00:24wildcat could go the way of the dodo or the Tasmanian tiger within
0:00:24 > 0:00:28months. Should we launch an immediate attempt to save it, or
0:00:28 > 0:00:31let it rest in peace? Good evening. Once Scotland's newspaper industry
0:00:31 > 0:00:34was vibrant and influential. Now with plummeting circulation and
0:00:34 > 0:00:39severe cost-cutting, the question is how long it can survive in its
0:00:39 > 0:00:41current form. As the debate around the referendum gets going, will our
0:00:41 > 0:00:50newspapers be an important part of the national conversation as they
0:00:50 > 0:00:59were in 1979 and 1997? Jamie McIvor reports. It was a world of scoops
0:00:59 > 0:01:06and scandals. And, in Scotland, the newspaper industry was one of the
0:01:06 > 0:01:10most fiercely competitive in the English-speaking world. Its readers
0:01:10 > 0:01:15are were amongst the most keen. But the home-grown Scottish press has
0:01:15 > 0:01:23been hit by a perfect storm. Advertising sales are in long-term
0:01:23 > 0:01:28decline. Some readers have told to UK wait tables like the Daily Mail,
0:01:28 > 0:01:37the Times and the Telegraph, others have given up on newspapers. I read
0:01:37 > 0:01:40it all online. I just read it online. Since 2,000, sales of the
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Daily Record have fallen by more than half. The Scotsman has seen
0:01:45 > 0:01:51circulation fall by two-thirds. And the Herald can hardly take much
0:01:51 > 0:01:56comfort. Journalist and broadcaster Andrew Neil was publisher of the
0:01:56 > 0:02:00Scotsman for several years under its former owners. When we took
0:02:00 > 0:02:04over this course win Group in the mid- 1990s Scottish newspapers was
0:02:04 > 0:02:11Back's still very important. The Scotsman and the Herald had helped
0:02:11 > 0:02:14circulations and were not in the decline. It was a struggle to keep
0:02:15 > 0:02:23circulation up and invest in the papers and the marketing or them
0:02:23 > 0:02:27but they were not in the knacker's yard. And, devolution was finally
0:02:28 > 0:02:31becoming a role hit -- a reality. Some journalists believe that
0:02:31 > 0:02:35devolution would not have happened without newspapers. The received
0:02:35 > 0:02:42wisdom was that the new Scottish parliament could only help Scottish
0:02:42 > 0:02:47newspapers. By 1997 with devolution, the press was still very important,
0:02:47 > 0:02:53not as important as in 1979, but it would have been unwise for any
0:02:53 > 0:02:57party to ignore the press. And there was no doubt they played a
0:02:57 > 0:03:04very important part in the lead up to the referendum and indeed, to
0:03:04 > 0:03:07the result of the referendum. how influential will the press be
0:03:07 > 0:03:12in the independence referendum? Papers like the Scotsman and the
0:03:12 > 0:03:16Herald could have an influence, but it is most likely that, if they
0:03:16 > 0:03:21have any influence is because the politicians think they have got it.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26Politicians are becoming aware of the fact that they do not have to
0:03:26 > 0:03:30be as worried about newspapers as in the past. So, it is the fear of
0:03:30 > 0:03:37those whose bid was that might have given them in flowers, rather than
0:03:37 > 0:03:41reality. During the referendum, how much longer can use rivers like the
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Herald and the Scotsman survive in their traditional form? Don't
0:03:46 > 0:03:49forget, the real historical strength not of the Aberdeen and
0:03:49 > 0:03:53then the newspapers but the Scotsman and they Herald is, we do
0:03:53 > 0:03:59what all the London newspapers do, we just do Scotland as well and we
0:03:59 > 0:04:05just do it as well, too, and now, the Revenue is coming in, and that
0:04:05 > 0:04:11is impossible. They are in terminal decline and I cannot see any way
0:04:11 > 0:04:17that it can be reversed. Scotland is not unique. Newspaper
0:04:17 > 0:04:22sales have been falling across the developed world. Some newspapers in
0:04:22 > 0:04:28United States are known only on the internet. But, generally, the sales
0:04:28 > 0:04:32of UK-wide peoples have held up better than Scottish titles. The
0:04:32 > 0:04:37Scottish edition of the Daily Mail sells more than the Herald and the
0:04:37 > 0:04:41Scotsman put together. Can the industry of all, like the buildings
0:04:41 > 0:04:44where the people's were ones printed? This famous Glasgow
0:04:44 > 0:04:49building was at the centre of the Scottish newspaper rolled, for
0:04:49 > 0:04:54decades. Even the design was inspired by the London headquarters
0:04:54 > 0:04:59of the Daily Express. That is because, for 40 years, this was the
0:04:59 > 0:05:08home of the Scottish Daily Express. Later, for many years, it was the
0:05:08 > 0:05:15home of the Herald. Today, it is flats and offices. Can these be the
0:05:16 > 0:05:24industry prove critics wrong and evolve? -- can the newspaper
0:05:24 > 0:05:27industry, just like the bars that the journalists frequented. I'm
0:05:27 > 0:05:29joined now by the newly appointed director of the Scottish Newspaper
0:05:29 > 0:05:33Society, Jim Chisholm and by Professor Philip Schlesinger of
0:05:33 > 0:05:39Glasgow University. Is Andrew Neil right? You cannot deny the figures.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44There it is obviously decline of circulation and those you see, it
0:05:44 > 0:05:48is happening all across Europe and the Western rock. But, newspapers
0:05:48 > 0:05:54are evolving in their own right. Circulation is only a small pot of
0:05:54 > 0:05:58the definition of the business. Audiences are stable in terms of
0:05:58 > 0:06:05readership. Just yesterday figures come out for the first time which
0:06:05 > 0:06:12showed that online, we have 40% as many readers as we have a in print.
0:06:12 > 0:06:20Is this stable in terms of readership? Circulations have been
0:06:20 > 0:06:25falling, readership has not been falling, as fast. They a share in
0:06:25 > 0:06:28newspapers? Yes, I am reading fewer newspapers, that cannot be denied,
0:06:28 > 0:06:34but if you look at the online statistics were people are
0:06:34 > 0:06:39transferring to digital, one-third of the market now is people reading
0:06:39 > 0:06:46in the digital world, so the total audience for the past two years has
0:06:46 > 0:06:51been rising. The problem they have his they do not make money off of
0:06:51 > 0:06:56those. It might well be healthy that people or reading the Scotsman
0:06:56 > 0:07:02and the Herald online, but other Scotsman and the Herald making any
0:07:02 > 0:07:07money, surely not as much as people buying the newspaper. That is
0:07:07 > 0:07:13absolutely true. That is the same the world over apart from people
0:07:13 > 0:07:19like the New York Times. As the audiences grow, which they are, in
0:07:19 > 0:07:23the advertising revenue will follow. But that has not happened online.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28People have been saying what people -- what you have just said for 10
0:07:28 > 0:07:33or 12 years and it does not happen. Yes, for a number of reasons, many
0:07:33 > 0:07:37of them social. It is not just newspapers that allow a in pickling,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41broadcast news is declining just as fast and audiences are moving at
0:07:41 > 0:07:46the same rate. As we gather critical mass, the revenues are
0:07:46 > 0:07:53coming in and they would dispute the suggestion we're losing money.
0:07:53 > 0:07:59They are not making vast amounts. In general they are breaking even.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04Do you agree with Andrew Neil? Terminal is pretty different, I
0:08:04 > 0:08:08think. I think the press will be important up to the next referendum,
0:08:08 > 0:08:14no question about that, I will continue to be important,
0:08:14 > 0:08:20thereafter. The form of journalism is changing and the migration to
0:08:20 > 0:08:24digital is changing what we think of as journalism. The Scottish
0:08:24 > 0:08:28newspapers can envisage a way of selling themselves which is high-
0:08:28 > 0:08:36quality journalism, whatever the form of distribution, then they
0:08:36 > 0:08:42have got a future. That is the big challenge. The trouble with high-
0:08:42 > 0:08:47quality journalism is that it is expensive. The picture is one of
0:08:47 > 0:08:53this investment and it is understandable that it is counter-
0:08:53 > 0:08:57productive. It is undermining the chances of creating a formidable
0:08:57 > 0:09:05presence in the case of the quality press. One thing that has intrigued
0:09:05 > 0:09:08me about that report, people have not just the indigenous Scottish
0:09:08 > 0:09:12newspaper circulations going down, more people are drifting away from
0:09:13 > 0:09:17those, two things like the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the Times,
0:09:17 > 0:09:22there is slightly surprising as a trend, says the Scottish roll-up
0:09:22 > 0:09:27has been created. Of these newspapers covering Scotland are
0:09:27 > 0:09:32better, or are people not as interested in the constitutional
0:09:32 > 0:09:36stuff as maybe they should be? Maybe there is some sort of
0:09:36 > 0:09:41substitution going on. They are certainly not covering Scotland
0:09:41 > 0:09:45better, there is no question they are. They have a more attractive
0:09:45 > 0:09:49journalistic proposition. The news values and the quality of the
0:09:49 > 0:09:56journalism is better and that is why people are my gritting there.
0:09:56 > 0:10:03That is a problem, isn't it? -- migrating. Even though the work
0:10:03 > 0:10:06should be able to cover Affairs in Scotland, it implies people are
0:10:06 > 0:10:10interested in the Affairs of Scotland but not too extent of
0:10:10 > 0:10:15buying a newspaper that will enable better journalism there. Three
0:10:15 > 0:10:20points in that discussion. The English press has a strong presence,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24about one-third of the daily market, more a function of the fact that
0:10:24 > 0:10:28they were not there before and they are, now. That is because they have
0:10:28 > 0:10:32been able to enter the market, discounting heavily to get into the
0:10:32 > 0:10:39market. They have got strong newsrooms in Scotland and can do
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Scottish editions. It is like the evolution of radio displaced media
0:10:44 > 0:10:49before that. Television displaced radio, the Internet is displacing,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54this is an evolution of media consumption and when newspapers
0:10:54 > 0:11:01appear that were not there before, they are going to take some of the
0:11:01 > 0:11:06market if they can deliver the service. Where I would dispute that
0:11:06 > 0:11:10is, first of all, you have to differentiate the world "quality".
0:11:10 > 0:11:15There is a difference in quality newspapers which is a badge that we
0:11:15 > 0:11:21put on the posh papers, and quality journalism. Underrating that it is
0:11:21 > 0:11:26very interesting -- and they think that it is very interesting that
0:11:26 > 0:11:33the Sun and the Daily Record are "tabloid" newspapers does not mean
0:11:34 > 0:11:39the quality of the writing in those newspapers is poorer. That was a
0:11:39 > 0:11:44very pure insinuation that was me that is just not the case.
0:11:44 > 0:11:53other point that I would make is that, because there has been, and
0:11:53 > 0:11:56so, no doubt about it, -- down so, no doubt about it... I take the
0:11:56 > 0:12:04point that there is good writing in the tabloids, but their
0:12:04 > 0:12:11circulations have been falling, as well. Yes, you have to
0:12:11 > 0:12:14differentiate that the writing in them is not any worse. The key
0:12:14 > 0:12:20point in what we have called the quality press historically is the
0:12:20 > 0:12:23range of what they, and the debt with which they cover it. Scottish
0:12:23 > 0:12:29affairs during the previous referendum, for example, that has
0:12:29 > 0:12:37been a key part of discussion within Scottish Society and the
0:12:37 > 0:12:43You think the papers set an agenda in the way they did in the period
0:12:43 > 0:12:49leading up to 1997 or 1979? I don't think they are at the present time.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53I think we are in a kind of a strange quite confusing situation
0:12:53 > 0:12:57about precisely what the terms of the referendum are going to be and
0:12:57 > 0:13:02precisely what the nature of the debate is going to be. We also
0:13:02 > 0:13:06haven't got clear-cut campaigning on both sides at the present time.
0:13:06 > 0:13:12Ock, but you would presumably agree they have to up their game if they
0:13:12 > 0:13:15are to have a future? I don't think it is so much they have to up their
0:13:15 > 0:13:19game My opinion the cuts that have taken place are cuts that should
0:13:19 > 0:13:24have taken place. You commented that quality newspapers are more
0:13:24 > 0:13:29expensive to produce, but the reality is when you examine what
0:13:29 > 0:13:32people read, more upmarket readers have less time to read, so they
0:13:32 > 0:13:37leave less. The fact that papers are producing less content is more
0:13:37 > 0:13:41in line with the lifestyle of the people reading them. That's a fact.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Therefore if we are seeing less content that isn't necessarily a
0:13:45 > 0:13:51bad thing as long as we are seeing good content. We have a wide range
0:13:51 > 0:13:59of quality writers across the board. That includes the weekly papers,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03The Courier, and others. When you analyse the in-depth-quality
0:14:03 > 0:14:07writing that people want and they have the time to read, newspapers
0:14:07 > 0:14:10are holding up very well. Thank you both very much indeed.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13It's not quite up there with the Monarch of the Glen as a symbol of
0:14:13 > 0:14:16the Scottish spirit, but Scotland has nonetheless always taken a
0:14:16 > 0:14:23certain pride in the uniqueness of the Highland wildcat. Now, it seems,
0:14:23 > 0:14:32the creature might be more unique than anybody thought. The wildcat
0:14:32 > 0:14:40finds itself an exotic, distinguished but unwanted confirm
0:14:40 > 0:14:44company like this chameleon from Madagascar, the Sumatran rhino, and
0:14:44 > 0:14:50this Vietnam pheasant, which hasn't been sighted for 12 years. Bigger,
0:14:50 > 0:14:55stronger and more aggressive than a domestic cat, the highland wildcat
0:14:55 > 0:15:00has been on the cusp of extinction for years, due in large part to
0:15:00 > 0:15:05disease and its awilt to breed easily with domestic or federal
0:15:05 > 0:15:10cats, creating a hybrid. Last month Scottish Natural Heritage gloomily
0:15:10 > 0:15:14reported there were only about 400 of the animals across the entire
0:15:14 > 0:15:18Highlands. The sparsity of the population makes it difficult to
0:15:18 > 0:15:23make an accurate study of them. Experts for example can't even say
0:15:23 > 0:15:28for sure whether this footage captured by the BBC's Autumn Watch
0:15:28 > 0:15:31captured by the BBC's Autumn Watch programme is of a true wildcat. But
0:15:31 > 0:15:39recent installations of photo traps have yielded some impressive
0:15:39 > 0:15:43results. Now, though, the Scottish Wildcat
0:15:43 > 0:15:48Association says there could be as few as 35 wildcats left. Their
0:15:48 > 0:15:55verdict: The animal will be extinct within months. Anything else is
0:15:55 > 0:15:59blind hope. But could there been an unrecorded population of the
0:15:59 > 0:16:04creatures living in remote Caithness and Sutherland.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09Conservationists hope so and they want to improve DNA techniques, so
0:16:09 > 0:16:16they can have a more accurate measure of what's or isn't a
0:16:16 > 0:16:18wildcat. If this cat survives, it is likely to be by a whisker, or it
0:16:18 > 0:16:20will disappear like this poor thing. will disappear like this poor thing.
0:16:20 > 0:16:26I'm joined now from Edinburgh by Dr Andrew Kitchener, principal curator
0:16:26 > 0:16:30of mammals at the National Museums of Scotland and a wildcat expert.
0:16:30 > 0:16:38What's your best guess as to how many of these animals are still
0:16:38 > 0:16:41around? We don't really know and we really need to do some robust
0:16:41 > 0:16:50scientifically based population experts. My Bess guess is there are
0:16:50 > 0:16:58hundreds, not tense, but we need to research to find out. So you would
0:16:58 > 0:17:03rather piano-piano this, that they -- poo-poo this, that they will be
0:17:03 > 0:17:07gone within months. Everyone is just really guessing. What would we
0:17:07 > 0:17:12have to do should we decide it was vitally important these things do
0:17:12 > 0:17:16not die out? We need to have a comprehensive, fully costed
0:17:17 > 0:17:22conservation action plan. We can't pussyfoot around. We've got to be
0:17:22 > 0:17:28bold and brave. I take it when you said "pussyfoot" you were trying to
0:17:28 > 0:17:32make a joke? Maybe. But it is a serious business after all. The
0:17:32 > 0:17:38Scottish Wildcat is entering the last chance saloon, but there is
0:17:38 > 0:17:42still time to do something about it. We must do the right thing. It is
0:17:42 > 0:17:48an odd thing with wildcats, there are some animals like pandas that
0:17:48 > 0:17:51seem to have evolved in such a way that it is easy for them to die out.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55But the analogy with wildcats is because they are keen on breeding
0:17:55 > 0:18:02with the local moggies that's the problem isn't? It is not that
0:18:02 > 0:18:06people are hunting them. But they themselves are breeding themselves
0:18:06 > 0:18:13into hybridity? That is a problem, probably going on for a century or
0:18:13 > 0:18:16more. The problem is the wildcat nearly became extinct in the 20th
0:18:16 > 0:18:20century. Then the persecution pressure was released and they
0:18:20 > 0:18:23started to recolonise. The meals found themselves in areas where
0:18:23 > 0:18:29there weren't any female wildcats and they only had the local
0:18:29 > 0:18:34domestic cats to turn to. Does it really matter? As I understand it
0:18:34 > 0:18:40that was a false thing I said, because they are not like a dodo,
0:18:40 > 0:18:44they are not a species, just a Scottish population of wildcats
0:18:44 > 0:18:49which aren't actually globally even endangered? I think the wildcat in
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Europe is endangered. Wildcats are not just souped up domestic cats.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58They have a distinct fossil history that goes back 2 million years.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03accept that, I'm not saying they are not different from domestic
0:19:03 > 0:19:06cats, but the Scottish wildcats are simply a Scottish population of the
0:19:06 > 0:19:11European wildcat, so it is not a separate species. There are
0:19:11 > 0:19:16thousands of these things across Europe. There may well be but all
0:19:16 > 0:19:21populations in Europe are under pressure and all are suffer trg
0:19:22 > 0:19:25this problem of hybrid isation. We can't assume just if we lose our
0:19:25 > 0:19:30wildcat we can import some from somewhere else they will be OK,
0:19:30 > 0:19:34because they are not doing well in Europe too. I'm not sure how you
0:19:34 > 0:19:37stop them breeding with the local moggies. Is it even possible?
0:19:37 > 0:19:43we need to do more research to understand the environmental and
0:19:43 > 0:19:48the social conditions under which hybridisation curse. It doesn't
0:19:49 > 0:19:54occur everywhere in Europe equally Some population it is a real
0:19:54 > 0:19:58problem but in others it isn't. just because British people like
0:19:58 > 0:20:02keeping domestic cats more than other people do? No, I think it is
0:20:02 > 0:20:08this special set of circumstances where the wildcat was recolonising
0:20:08 > 0:20:12vast areas of Scotland after the First World War. We have similar
0:20:12 > 0:20:17situations that have occurred elsewhere in Europe. Where the
0:20:17 > 0:20:22populations tend to be stable, there's been no persecution
0:20:22 > 0:20:26pressure, the level of hybridisation does seem to be much
0:20:26 > 0:20:30less. Thank you very much indeed. Tomorrow's front pages. The
0:20:30 > 0:20:35Scotsman, almost half of care hold elderly are kept sedated for