The Edinburgh Evening News is a daily newspaper and website based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Read about Edinburgh Evening News history below and see how the newspaper has transformed in recent years. Exploring our Edinburgh Evening News archives helps you find original copies of the newspaper from the date of your choice.

edinburgh

Edinburgh, Scotland

History of the Edinburgh Evening News

The Edinburgh Evening News was founded by John Wilson and was published for the first time in 1873. 

In 2006, a multimedia company called Johnston Press took over ownership of the Edinburgh Evening News, along with other Scottish newspapers. In 2014, the paper’s circulation began to decline, from approximately 32,160 to 28,000. This then dropped further in 2016 to 18,362 and 16,660 by early 2018. After over 200 years, Johnston Press announced that it was going into administration in 2018, unable to keep up with the losses. 

Following this, the multimedia company JPIMedia took over the publication and its website, saving the newspaper from closure. The company also owns another of Scotland’s top newspapers, The Scotsman. In an article by the Editor-In-Chief following the takeover, the Edinburgh Evening News claimed “There will be no change to our editorial policies, the values we hold, our editorial independence or our commitment to IPSO.” The newspaper continues to print daily, excluding Sundays, and is printed in tabloid format. 

The Edinburgh Evening News was formerly based on Holyrood Road, after downsizing to Queensferry Road in 2014 alongside its sister publications The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday. The move saved around 1 million pounds per year. 

Features of the Edinburgh Evening News

The Edinburgh Evening News gives an Edinburgh and Lothians’ perspective on various news events, keeping the newspaper’s outlook local. The majority of the content in the newspaper reflects local issues, including transport, health, the local council and crime. 

There’s also quite a big focus on sport in the Edinburgh Evening News. Each of the city’s football teams are assigned, namely the Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian. As well as the local teams, the newspaper also reports on other sports such as Rugby Union. The newspaper features a section called What’s On, to keep readers informed of upcoming events and things to do in the area.

Edinburgh Evening News Circulation Figures

Date  Circulation
2005 68,000
2013 30,176
2014 25,908
2016 20,235
2017 18,362
2018 14,195
2019 16,660

Along with other news publications, we can see that the print circulation figures for the magazine have been steadily declining. With the rise of the Internet, sources of income for the publication have been gradually coming from online content read on devices, as opposed to physical print newspapers. Since 2005, the circulation figures have decreased, except for a small jump between 2018 and 2019 bringing the figures slightly higher. 

While the newspaper may be widely read online, the standalone print figures show the newspaper in decline, which supports the trend that more readers are now obtaining their news from online apps and websites.  

Back to the top ↑