The only weekly newspaper covering the Scottish islands of Shetland has been saved from closure.
The Shetland Times has been bought by Highland News and Media from independent owners Robert and June Wishart, ending 131 years of family ownership.
Robert Wishart said in a statement: “A few weeks ago I feared that not only our family ties to the paper but the newspaper itself was finished.
“Now I’m delighted that Steve Barron and Highland News and Media have raced to ensure continuity of production following our abrupt decision to end print of the paper at Gremista.
“It’s quite an achievement and gives the paper a new lease of life.”
The title will now be printed on mainland Scotland rather than locally on the Shetland islands.
The Shetland Times noted in its report that the ownership change ended “a period of uncertainty”.
Wishart had stated in April that there was “a risk that Shetland will lose its only weekly newspaper” if new owners were not found. He said this would have been “catastrophic for the community and, of course, for all the employees of the company.”
He said: “Despite shifting trends, not everyone prefers to read their news on a mobile phone; some still enjoy taking the time to sit down and read a paper from cover to cover.
“That could all be lost. Recent years have been tough on newspapers everywhere.
“The rise of social media and a presumption that news should be provided for free online, has seen sales of paid-for print publications plummet.
“Few things sum up the challenges facing print media better than this morning’s online report from our BBC-subsidised competitors Shetland News, which based its story on material from today’s newspaper, shared it online for free and used a photograph taken from The Shetland Times Bookshop’s Facebook page to illustrate it.
“…But despite weathering the pandemic, inflation and changing trends, paper sales and advertising are not what they once were and it has become increasingly difficult to balance the books.”
Rival online title Shetland News has a BBC-funded local democracy reporter.
The Shetland Times said in a press release that the purchase “secures not only the future of the title but also the employment of five journalists and two advertising staff”.
Managing director of Highland News and Media Steve Barron described The Shetland Times as “an excellent local newspaper which passionately represents and champions the community it serves – credit to long-term owners Robert and June Wishart who have clearly been committed to local journalism and the Shetland community. These values are closely aligned with our own.
“The method of consumption may be changing but local news is as important as ever.”
Highland News and Media is a Scottish publishing company based in Inverness. The Shetland Times is the newest addition to its roster of local newspapers. The list includes: The Banffshire, The Boss-shire Journal, The Caithness Courier, The Forres Gazette, The Huntly Express, The Inverness Courier, The John O’Groat Journal, The Northern Scot, The Northern Times and The Strathspey & Badenoch Herald.
Although Highland News and Media owns several print titles, it is also committed to a successful “digital transition”. The company’s website states: “Printed newspapers are still important to us and some of our readers, but we recognise that the future for our business is digital. That’s where we are putting all of our energy and effort.”
NUJ national organiser for Scotland Nick McGowan-Lowe welcomed “the assurance given to staff that they do not intend to cut editorial staffing”.
He added that “this potential closure of a valuable public interest journalism news provider makes the need for a properly funded Scottish Public Interest Journalism Institute even more urgent”.
Such an institute was proposed by the Public Interest Journalist Working Group in 2022 and was accepted by the Scottish government. However, a lack of funding meant that little progress has been made. The independent body would be focused on supporting the journalism sector through grants, training and promoting media literacy.
Imminent changes to The Shetland Times include being printed in “full colour and a more compact size” from the current broadsheet format.
The Shetland Times had a circulation of 11,000 copies per week the last time it was audited by ABC, in 2009. According to the NUJ this figure has fallen to around 3,400 copies in recent years.
Shetland’s media scene
The Shetland islands, population 23,000, are home to an independent radio station and independent online publisher Shetland News as well as paper of record, the Shetland Times, which was independent until its recent sale – writes Archie Willis.
Local, independent coverage of the islands’ affairs was the motivation for the founding of the Shetland Times, then the ‘Zetland Times’, in 1872. “We shall devote considerable space to local matters, believing that a local journal is best suited for such subjects; and the native industries – agriculture, the fisheries, etc – will have our best attention,” its first editorial stated.
The Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company (SIBC) aired for the first time on 26 November 1987 and, as the only Shetland radio station with 24/7, 365-days-a-year local programming, fills the gaps left by BBC Radio Shetland.
The voice and owner of SIBC, Ian Anderson, puts its longevity down to “local knowledge, specialist news experience, technical expertise, business ability, radio programming experience, magic tricks and bloody mindedness”, among other things.
Hans J. Marter, a German-turned-Shetlander, is the mind behind Shetland News. The online news service has established itself, under his direction since 2003, as a credible challenger to the authority of the Shetland Times.
“There was never any intention to become one of the longest-serving local journalists in Shetland,” he said. “Moving here was purely a lifestyle decision but you have to make a living from something, and since I have a degree in politics and have had some experience working in the German media, attempting to continue this here was the obvious choice.”
Shetland News, first launched online in 1995 and now “stands on its own feet” in Marter’s words, with five employees.
“There is plenty of news in Shetland,” he says. Shetland News ran 34 stories last week, on Viking burial sites, “robotic graveyard lawnmowers” and more.
Local news, Marter says, is the “most valued and most difficult journalism there is”.
“We are fully accountable as people will stop you in the street and challenge you,” he adds. “So we will have to get it right.”
The Shetland Times and Shetland News employ far more journalists than local titles covering similar-sized areas elsewhere in the UK and they are still committed to full coverage of the courts and council meetings in Shetland.
The recent Shetland Times swipte against its “BBC-subsidised competitor” hints at competitive friction between the two titles. The Times claimed that Shetland News had published its story about the sale of the historic newspaper using material from that day’s paper.
The BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service covers half the cost of employing reporter Chris Cope.
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