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  5. University receives historic Scottish newspaper archive

A collection of material documenting the post-war history of the Scottish newspaper industry has been donated to the University of Stirling where some historic items are now on display.

The minutes and reports trace the workings of the old Scottish Daily Newspaper Society and the Scottish Newspaper Publishers Association, which merged to form the Scottish Newspaper Society in 2009.

The collection includes chains of office dating back to 1915, which form the centre-piece of the display, but the earliest papers date from the mid 1940s and detail the effect of the Second World War on the industry.

The wartime papers record the challenges faced by newspapers at the time, including loss of manpower, newsprint supply and censorship, and includes a meeting between the Chief Censor and the Scottish Newspaper Proprietors Association in 1943.

The collection is now being catalogued and an application is being submitted to the Arts and Humanities Research Council to fund a research programme.

The SNS agreed to deposit the paper at Stirling because of its links to the industry and its reputation for research;  a media studies department was established in the 1970s and the current SNS director John McLellan is one of its honorary professors of journalism studies.

John McLellan said: “I’m delighted the archive is in safe hands and I’m sure the papers will provide the basis of a fascinating analysis of the development of the Scottish Press over the past 70 years.”

Dr Adrian Hadland, the university’s director of journalism studies, said “We are very grateful to the SNS for donating the archive to Stirling, which I’m sure will prove to be a highly valuable resource for research.”

Further details about the archive are available on the University website here