Press and Journal (Scotland)

The Press and Journal

Front Page from 19 January 2012
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Compact
Owner(s)	D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd
Publisher	Aberdeen Journals
Editor	Damian Bates
Founded	1748
Headquarters	Aberdeen, Scotland
Circulation	51,880
Sister newspapers	Aberdeen Citizen Evening Express (Scotland) Scot-Ads
Website	http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk

The Press and Journal is a daily regional newspaper serving northern and highland Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. Established in 1747, it is Scotland's oldest daily newspaper and one of the longest-running newspapers in the world.

The newspaper was first published as a weekly title, Aberdeen's Journal, on 29 December 1747. In 1748 it changed its name to the Aberdeen Journal. It was published on a weekly basis for 128 years until August 1876, when it became a daily newspaper.

The newspaper was owned by the Chalmers family throughout the nineteenth century, and edited by members of the family until 1849, when William Forsyth became editor. Its political position was Conservative.

In November 1922, the paper was renamed The Aberdeen Press and Journal when its parent firm joined forces with the Free Press.

Historical copies of the Aberdeen Journal, dating back to 1798, are available to search and view in digitised form at The British Newspaper Archive.

The newspaper is printed six days a week and there are six geographic editions every day (seven prior to June 2011). Although for many years a broadsheet, since 2012, The Press and Journal has been in compact size. Online, The Press and Journal serves various needs beyond news and sport, with pages dedicated to: Energy; YourJob; YourAds; YourHome; YourCar; YourDining; YourBreaks; and Family Announcements.

The newspaper is occasionally criticised for its regional perspective on global events, but the paper defends this stance, occasionally running "proud to be local" advertisements. It is sometimes nicknamed the Parochial and Journal for its local news focus. Just one week after the September 11 attacks in 2001 the paper's World News section totalled just a single half-page.

The head office of the paper is located in Mastrick, Aberdeen, and as of March 2012 employed 470 staff locally and at branch offices throughout the North of Scotland. The current editor of the newspaper is Damian Bates.

The paper, along with the Evening Express, Aberdeen Citizen and Scot-Ads is published by Aberdeen Journals Ltd. It has a circulation of 58,502 copies, making it the most-read and best-selling former broadsheet newspaper in Scotland. Its circulation is greater than that of the Herald and the Scotsman combined. Aberdeen Journals Ltd is now owned by the Dundee-based D. C. Thomson media group, after being sold by the Daily Mail and General Trust in 2006.