The reason we have sought to publish The Media in Scotland is simple enough: although in the past thirty years several books on aspects of the Scottish media have appeared, cinema being particularly well served, there has been no attempt in one volume to cover the entire territory. (It is not false modesty which makes us say that the small volume of essays on the topic which one of us edited in 1978 was much narrower than the present undertaking.) It is desirable that there should be one book which offers readers a survey of as much of the field as possible, and does so in such a way that current concerns and debates are set in their historical contexts.

It is also appropriate, with the third Holyrood parliament well into its stride, that the strengths and weaknesses of the devolution settlement in the communications area are examined. As several of our contributors note, there is something a little bit lop-sided about cultural policy being devolved while broadcasting and media ownership remain exclusively the domain of Westminster. But however the devolution settlement might be modified, there are certain issues concerning the media which will still need to be addressed, not simply the legislative powers thereon of the Edinburgh parliament. The options open to a small nation with myriad calls on its budget, a nation, too, that is sensitive – some might say hyper-sensitive – about how it is portrayed, are both limited and challenging.