News

The Herald Tops Holyrood Poll For MSPs' Newspaper Of Choice

THE Herald is the most widely read newspaper among MSPs according to
an annual survey by Ipsos MORI.

The title is read by 83% of the members of the Scottish Parliament on at least three days out of four.  The second most widely read title is the Scotsman, at just 50%. The most widely read of the English-based titles by MSPs is The Sun, at 24%, followed by the Guardian, at 18%, the Daily Mail on 10%, the Times, Daily Telegraph and Independent all on 7%, and the
Mirror bottom on 1%.

The Herald’s sister paper, the Sunday Herald, was the most widely read Sunday title, at 74%.

Ipsos MORI stated: “The Herald is clearly the most popular among MSPs,
followed by The Scotsman, which seems to have fallen from favour somewhat since its short recovery in 2005.”

The survey suggests MSPs’ interest in the media waxes and wanes with the electoral cycle.  The Herald’s highest readership level, 84%, was in
1999, at the outset of devolution. In line with most other titles it then dipped slightly before peaking again in 2002, the year before the Holyrood election. The current 83% readership marks another pre-election high.

The survey was based on 80 face-to-face interviews carried out between September 15 and November 3 this year.

- December 2006