| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | Trinity Mirror |
| Founded | 1895 |
| Political alignment | Labour Party – Centre and populist Unionist |
| Headquarters | Glasgow (Scotland) |
| Circulation | 307,794[1] |
| ISSN | 0956-8069 |
| OCLC number | 500344244 |
| Official website | DailyRecord.co.uk |
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 (ABC). It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun[2] which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in Scotland (ABC). Current circulation is less than half the all-time high of 743,000 achieved in 1983[3] when it enjoyed the second highest market saturation in the world.
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The Daily Record was founded in 1895. The North British Daily Mail ceased publication in 1901 and was then incorporated into the Daily Record, which was renamed the Daily Record and Mail. Lord Kemsley bought the paper for £1 million in 1922, forming a controlling company known as Associated Scottish Newspapers Limited. Production was transferred from Renfield Lane to 67 Hope Street in 1926. In 1971 the Daily Record became the first European newspaper to be printed with run-of-paper colour, and was the first British national to introduce computer page make-up technology. It was purchased by Trinity Mirror in 1999,[4] from the estate of Robert Maxwell.
In August 2006, the paper launched afternoon editions in Glasgow and Edinburgh entitled Record PM.[5] Both papers initially had a cover price of 15p, but in January 2007, it was announced that they would become freesheets, which are distributed on the streets of the city centres.[6] It was simultaneously announced that new editions were to be released in Aberdeen and Dundee.[6] The PM is no longer published by the Daily Record.
The paper supports and has a close relationship with the Scottish Labour Party. For example, Helen Liddell, a former Labour Secretary of State for Scotland was employed on the newspaper. The then Labour-led Scottish Executive also gave the Daily Record £1 million in advertising revenue[7] while only giving £40,000 to The Sun, despite both newspapers having similar circulation figures.[8] The newspaper donated £10,000 to the Labour Party in 2007.[9] This has led to accusations that by following such a fervently pro-Labour line, the newspaper has damaged the interests of its owners, because circulation has almost halved in the past 20 years and has now fallen significantly below that of the Scottish edition of The Sun.[8] While 61% of readers supported the Labour Party, only 7% supported the Liberal Democrats, the lowest percentage of any newspaper.[10]
The Daily Record is vehemently against Scottish independence. On the day of the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, it ran a front page editorial attacking the SNP.[11]
The Daily Record, along with Brian Souter,[12] spearheaded the "Keep the Clause" campaign which aimed to prevent the Scottish Parliament from repealing Section 28. This law prevented local authorities from "promoting homosexuality". The campaign ended in failure when Section 28 was repealed by 99 votes to 17.
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