Opinion John McLellan: Scotland’s news brands mean business in the digital age
When my journalism career started 40 years ago, newspapers had the field to themselves and the biggest threat to continued commercial success was other newspapers.
John McLellan: Why Corbyn’s IRA views should be dissected
THE Herald’s esteemed commentator Iain Macwhirter this week described the attacks on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s sympathy for the IRA as a witch-hunt, and whether a thorough examination of a potential Prime Minister’s attitude towards the sworn enemies of the British state is tantamount to persecution really depends on your point of view.
John McLellan: For a councillor, the devil is in the detail
IT was a standing joke on slow days at the Edinburgh Evening News to ask the news editor if there wasn’t a really interesting story about Cosla we could splash, instead of the tedious rubbish on the newslist. The joke was, of course, that there was nothing more boring than councillors talking about councils and we tried not to lead a side column on the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, never mind the whole paper.
John McLellan: Do’s and don’ts for a council greenhorn
MY 12-year-old son’s eyes were wide with astonishment. “You’ve got an iPhone 7 Plus?” he gawped, his tone making it very clear he felt this was a complete waste on a techno-numpty like me.
John McLellan: Election had lessons for the parties and the voters
SOME months ago out canvassing in the Meadowfield area of Edinburgh I approached a tidy bungalow with a big 4x4 on the driveway with reasonable optimism, only to be told in no uncertain terms to get lost. Not because the chap was vehemently anti-Tory, but because “we were all corrupt” and in the driving February rain I had no desire to winkle out of him his preferred system of local service delivery.
John McLellan: Farewell to The Strang, a champion of the old school
I WAS going to use this column for a few final observations from the council election campaign, but even after four months of door-stepping there are times when it just doesn’t seem to matter so much. Tuesday evening was one of those moments, when I learned of the death of Sandy Strang.
John McLellan: A harvest of poison from a kernel of truth
YOU don’t have to spend very long in politics to understand that it only takes a syllable or a hint of a fact to hand an opponent a golden opportunity. There will be thousands of people who still believe that Britain actually does send £350 million to Brussels every week despite clear and repeated proof that this was not the case.
John McLellan: A little local difficulty on the council hustings
JUST when we were building up to the big electoral enchilada on May 4, it now looks like the council poll will be a mere amuse bouche for the main course on June 8.
