THE Sunday Herald would like to wish our readers a very happy Christmas. At this time of year we think of those who matter to us and, to the Sunday Herald, our readers matter most.
Today, honest journalism counts more than ever, and we thank you for putting your trust in us. We believe your trust is rewarded by the hard work we do bringing you the truth. This is a paper which has always held power to account, stuck up for the underdog and put fairness and equality top of the agenda.
Just look at some of the stories we brought to you in 2017. We told you fracking would be banned, that the public sector pay cap would be lifted. We broke the news about the meltdown in Anas Sarwar's campaign, we were the first to reveal sexual harassment at Holyrood, we reported on the civil war inside Labour on the eve of Kezia Dugdale's resignation, we warned of the Brexit powergrab against Scotland. The death of the Scottish Six O'Clock News. Lochs poisoned by chemicals. Sexual inequality in the Scottish workplace. The true toll of drug driving. Foreign spies hacking the Scottish Parliament. The DUP's links to terror. Orange Order members elected to Scottish councils. Death threats against Nicola Sturgeon. The plight of the homeless.
But it's not all hard news. We want to bring some fun to your Sundays too. We want to entertain you as well as inform you.
So, once again readers, thank you for being part of the Sunday Herald family - have a wonderful holiday.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here