Joy Yates, Editorial Director

Dear Voornaam,

Welcome to your latest newsletter featuring highlights of some of the key issues we reported on in November.

Finally! Some good news. My team and I were relieved, as I’m sure many of you were, by the announcement that a vaccine against Covid-19 is ready and will be rolled out in Scotland this week.

For millions of Scots 2020 has been a slog but this news seems to leave no doubt there is light at the end of the tunnel. We’re not out of the woods yet but I’d like to thank you for keeping up with the year's tumultuous news by reading The Scotsman. Your ongoing support has been absolutely vital and is never taken for granted.

We had more positive news in our (virtual) newsroom, when we found out The Scotsman Sessions were nominated in the Innovation of the Year category at the British Journalism Awards.

Our Arts team headed by Roger Cox have been flat out since March doing their very best to maintain and promote the Scottish arts scene - which was devastated by lockdown closures. The team invited artists stuck at home during lockdown to record short video performances, named The Scotsman Sessions. I’m really pleased for our critics and reviewers for making the shortlist. We will let you know soon if we win.

Our award-winning investigations reporter Martyn McLaughlin made waves across the pond as he revealed the US Secret Service paid Donald Trump's Scottish resort nearly £25,000 for his son's business trips.

While this piece from columnist Brian Wilson questioning if the BBC was being ‘taken for a ride’ over Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid briefings was one of the most popular reads of the month.

I’ve saved arguably the very best for last. 

Scotland is going to the Euros! The horrendous 22-year wait to qualify for a major tournament ended on November 12 in Serbia after a nail-biting penalty shootout. Like the rest of the nation we were all ecstatic and, of course, boogieing.

We’ve launched the option to buy a Scotsman.com subscription as a gift for a friend or loved one. The perfect Christmas present!

As always, I’m taking this opportunity to thank you so much for your on-going support - it is much appreciated by me and my team.

I hope you agree journalism continues to matter now more than ever and we couldn’t deliver the quantity and quality we do without your commitment.

I have enjoyed all your feedback, you can email me anytime at joy.yates@jpimedia.co.uk.

Thank you.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy December.

Joy

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