AN ORKNEY monopoly that has lasted the best part of 150 years ended this morning with the publication of a tabloid newspaper to challenge The Orcadian, the islands’ long-established title.

Orkney Today, a paper promising a “modern reflection” of the community, is the third new publication to hit newsstands across the Highlands and Islands in three years in what is seen as a renaissance for the local newspaper industry.

In an opening salvo of the latest media war, Ken Amer, founder of Orkney’s new paper, said yesterday that the island desperately needed a contemporary voice that would champion its achievements. He said that the community’s thirst for news, in an area poorly covered by other media, would easily accommodate two titles.

“Orkney needs a paper that reflects the people of Orkney,” he said, adding that The Orcadian’s coverage was “fogeyish and flat” and suffered from languishing in a monopoly.

He added: “This is not a backwater. It is a very modern community which does everything from build its own roads to make its ice-cream. We are very independent and the paper needs to reflect these things.”

A weekly publication which will appear every Friday, Orkney Today reflects the marked growth of the regional press in northern and western Scotland. The Hebridean launched in April and Shetland gained a second title in 2000.

The Orcadian has a circulation of 11,100 among a population of only 20,000 and Orkney Today will provide its first competition in 42 years. Its last short-lived rival, the Orkney Herald, folded in 1961.

But if the heat was being felt yesterday at Hell’s Half Acre, The Orcadian’s printworks site in Kirkwall, staff were not letting it show. Stuart Laundy, the paper’s editor, said that it would rely on the loyalty of its readers, including a strong subscription sector of Orkney expatriates.

“All we can do is concentrate on The Orcadian and ensure that we produce as good a paper as we possibly can,” he said. “I am looking forward to it.”

James Miller, owner and publisher of The Orcadian, said that the prospect of a rival caused he and his team no problem. “We have got a good paper, a good product with a loyal readership. We’re just very interested to see what they come up with.”

Founded in 1854, The Orcadian is due to celebrate its 150th birthday in three months’ time. Yesterday, however, the island’s great and good, including Cameron Stout, the winner of Big Brother, were at Kirkwall town hall to mark a different date — the start of a two-paper era in Orkney.

According to Mr Amer, the growing interest in regional newspapers is reflected in the financial backing he has received from the Robertson Group, an oil business.

John Robertson, its director, was previously part of a syndicate that tried to buy three other Scottish titles, The Scotsman, the Edinburgh Evening News and the Inverness Courier.

Mr Amer said he hoped to see Orkney Today reach a circulation of 8,000 by December.

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