Among the benefits that devolution was meant to confer was a reinvigorated national culture. The arts, media, broadcasting - all were meant to benefit from the loosening of ties with London and a growing sense of Scottish identity.

It would be hard to claim that this has happened. The arts have suffered from a lengthy period of throat-clearing reports, but little positive leadership. Broadcasting, the subject of the Broadcasting Commission's recent report, has been losing jobs, programmes, and production skills to London.

But the greatest decline has been within the indigenous media of Scotland, where The Scotsman and The Herald have seen circulation and advertising revenue suffer, putting extreme pressure on the share prices of their respective companies. The inevitable cutbacks in jobs and resources at both titles has meant a restriction on their competitive edge when, arguably, they have been needed more.

It has, of course, been a difficult time for all newspapers. The pressure of competition from online news services has never been greater. The regional press throughout the UK has fared badly, and Scotland has been no exception, though the strength of newspapers such as The Press and Journal in Aberdeen and The Courier in Dundee suggests local ties count strongly among readers.

The fact that the Scottish press has suffered so markedly is a matter for keen debate within the industry and concern for Scotland as a whole. The owners of The Herald and The Scotsman face greater challenges than they ever did before. It is to be hoped that they can maintain the traditions

of a vigorous Scottish press by continuing to invest in the editorial content of their papers. Scotland needs strong and diverse media - and can ill afford to see it in decline.

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