This chapter begins by outlining the situation as regards Scottish newspapers and their readers. It then examines the nature of the relationship that exists between newspapers and their readers more closely and queries how a sense of shared community consciousness between newspaper and reader is created. It introduces the concept of the ‘ideal reader’, before going on to consider how newspapers seek to align themselves with their readerships, and the various strategies open to newspapers seeking to align themselves with a Scottish readership. How do these newspapers foster their Scottish identity and what effects might this have on the language they use? The chapter concludes by examining the role of the press as gatekeepers and assessing the impact of appropriacy constraints on the language that they use.

Readerships

Newspapers need readers – an obvious statement perhaps, but nevertheless crucially important. They rely on developing a core loyal readership who will continue to buy the same newspaper day after day, year after year. Newspaper readers, not editors, have the ultimate power of veto. If they do not like what the newspaper contains, or its political or ideological viewpoints, or even the language it uses, they can choose not to buy it. Ultimately newspapers are driven by commercial forces; they have to sell to survive. So keeping their readers happy and, indeed, just keeping them as readers, is essential.

Having outlined the key theoretical constructs on which this study is based in Chapters 1–4, this chapter begins the detailed analysis of the newspaper corpus. It uses quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques to discover whether there are indeed appropriacy constraints operating on Scottish newspapers which affect where and in what quantities Scots lexis is used. If so, this would suggest that there are limitations operating on the linguistic construction of identity. In addition, it considers whether the Scots words and phrases found occur in passages of dense or thin Scottish-English, and also whether the items found tend to be non-cognate or cognate lexis. The previous chapter suggested that newspapers are expected to uphold certain standards, and hence institutional expectations may mean that the newspaper needs to distance itself from the use of Scots. Thus the extent to which Scots lexis is restricted to direct speech contexts and regular feature columns is also investigated. Status constraints mean that Scots is often thought to be preferred for use in humorous rather than serious contexts. Does the newspaper data exhibit this pattern of usage? The final section of this chapter looks for evidence of the Scottish newspapers' potential role as a force for standardisation in their spelling conventions for Scots lexis.

Setting the Scene

In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in Scottish identity and Scottish language varieties, but to date there has been no in-depth investigation of the link between the two. This book attempts to address that gap by focusing on the language of one of the most common and influential text types in Scotland, as elsewhere: the national newspapers. It studies the link between language and identity in the Scottish press and argues that Scottish newspapers create a special relationship with their readers based on their shared Scottish identity by using elements of Scottish language – specifically Scots lexis (see section 1.3.1 for definition). The main focus is therefore linguistic, though reference is made to other areas of research such as sociological and historical viewpoints where appropriate.

Contrary to popular opinion, Scottish language is not restricted to the tartan realms of Burns Suppers and poetry readings; rather it forms a contemporary and significant part of most Scots' Scottish identity and daily experience. It is found in the distinctive accents, in conversations overheard on trains, in words used to discuss the weather, and, crucially for this study, in the language of newspapers. Scottish identity is alive and flourishing and there is a new-found national confidence fuelled, no doubt, by the significant changes in Scotland's political landscape with the re-establishment of the Scottish Parliament after a gap of nearly three centuries.

This final chapter considers the possible external explanations for the differences noted in the pre- and post-devolution corpora and so it begins by examining whether devolution has had tangible effects on Scottish identity. It then assesses the evidence for post-devolution changes in the use of Scots language, and asks whether prevailing linguistic hegemonic and appropraicy norms are being challenged, before looking to the future for Scots. Finally this chapter investigates post-devolution changes in the press. It considers the shifting Scottish newspaper market, drawing comparisons between indigenous and non-indigenous newspapers fighting for readers. It also examines the growth of the so-called ‘tartan’ editions, before questioning the impact of the digital era, the growth in free dailies and devolution itself on the press. The chapter concludes by considering what the future holds for newspapers in Scotland and asking whether this study into the use of Scots lexis suggests that a salutary lesson could be learned by newspapers competing in the Scottish market.

Is Scottish Identity Changing?

Chapter 2 considered the links between nation status, identity and language. Since devolution, Scotland may no longer be a stateless nation, but neither is it an independent one. The situation is one of quasi-autonomy or as McCrone (2001: 6) puts it, Scotland is ‘an imagined community with considerable institutional autonomy, and, at least as yet, no sovereign parliament’. So what, if any, have been the effects of devolution on Scottish identity? Bond and Rosie (2006: 141) ask whether devolution has heightened a sense of Scottish identity ‘or alternatively whether its political expression will in fact mean that people feel less need to emphasise their Scottishness’ (Paterson et al. 2001).