'˜Scottish News' media company folds before first issue

Scottish News has folded before an issue could be produced

Eyebrows were raised in the sector in January when a website called Scottish News - a venture described as “Scotland’s largest multimedia platform” - appeared online.

Adverts claimed Scottish News was looking for a chief editor and 300 multimedia journalists, in both online and broadcast roles, to cover every area of the country.

Interviews took place last month at an office in Glasgow and a series of job offers were made.

But the venture has now collapsed with a lack of finance being blamed.

One applicant, who was offered a job with Scottish News, told The Scotsman he had suspicions about the venture before he even attended the interview process.

“Around 15 of us arrived and gathered in a boardroom. We were then asked to sign a non-disclosure form,” he said.

“One of the group activities we were asked to do was look at a list of items and debate which ones we would take on a trip to the Moon. At this point I thought: what has this got to do with a journalism job?”

The applicant, who asked not to be named, continued: “The event was being run by professional HR people, but there were no sign of any journalists. I was surprised my one-to-one interview was then conducted by someone with no editorial experience. I asked him: will this be a print or an online operation? And he replied: ‘both’. There were no straight answers.”

Paisley-based businessman John Wyllie, who was behind the venture, told The Sun: “Despite our very best intentions we are all extremely disappointed that the plans to launch Scottish News haven’t been able to progress as expected.

“We have been on an incredible journey so far to realise our aim of launching an innovative and exciting new company which would bring new jobs to the Glasgow area and allow us to invest in a city we love.”