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October 27, 2014

News in brief: Sunday Herald gets 64 per cent circulation boost after backing Yes vote, new Express deputy chairman, social media journalist ‘murdered’ in Mexico

By William Turvill

The only newspaper in Scotland to back the Yes vote for independence in last month's referendum, the Sunday Herald, saw its average circulation increase by 64 per cent year on year in September.

The Sunday Herald peaked at just less than 50,000 copies the weekend before the vote.

Its daily sister title, the Herald, was also boosted by the vote, with print sales up 7,500 copies on the day after the vote and by nearly 10,000 the next day, according to its publisher.

The Heraldscotland.com website, meanwhile, reached a new high of 2.9m users in September

Tim Blott, managing director of the Herald & Times Group said: “Our digital, paid readership is growing faster than ever as a result and, having announced we had reached 10,000 paid digital subscribers by July, we saw that rise to 13,500 in just three months, by the end of September.

“Strong stories and informed, opinionated insight spark interest and, regardless of how readers choose to access news, the referendum has had a lasting effect on Scots’ engagement with the social, political and economic factors which influence their daily lives.”


A Mexican drugs cartel reportedly murdered a social media reporter and posted pictures of her dead body on her Twitter account.

According to the Mirror, María del Rosario Fuentes Rubio was tracked down and killed in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.


Lord Stevens of Ludgate has been appointed deputy chairman of Express Newspapers.

He will take on a strategic overview role, according to the publisher, and will report to Northern and Shell chairman Richard Desmond.

Desmond said: “Lord Stevens comes with a vast experience of the newspaper business. In challenging times for the media to have him working with us in this pivotal role is a huge asset.”

Lord Stevens said: “I’ve known Richard for many years and I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity to work with Express Newspapers and help shape their business over the coming years.”


Incisive Media magazine Computing has decreased its frequency from fortnightly to monthly. The move has seen its pagination increase.


Johnston Press has closed the offices of the Garstang Courier.

According to Holdthefrontpage, the newspaper’s three reporters will now be based nine miles away in the offices of the Lancashire Evening Posrt in Fulwood, near Preston.


Sky News foreign correspondent Alex Crawford is to star in a video raising awareness of girls’ rights across the world.

Crawford, the ambassador for global children’s charity Plan UK’s Because I am a Girl campaign, said: “My job as a foreign correspondent has taken me to some of the world’s most dangerous places, where I have witnessed first-hand the violations of girls’ rights."

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