The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

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As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s.

Since 16 August 2004 it has been printed in compact

Compact (newspaper)

A compact newspaper is a broadsheet-quality newspaper printed in a tabloid format, especially one in the United Kingdom. The term is used also for this size came into use in its current use when The Independent began producing a smaller format edition for London's commuters, designed to be easier...

 format. Its sister Sunday publication, which remains broadsheet

Broadsheet

Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...

, is titled Scotland on Sunday

Scotland on Sunday

Scotland on Sunday is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by The Scotsman Publications Ltd and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate The Scotsman...

. The Scotsman Publications Ltd

The Scotsman publications

The Scotsman Publications Limited is the parent company of The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, Edinburgh Evening News and Herald & Post newspapers, and of the website....

 also issues the Edinburgh Evening News

Edinburgh Evening News

The Edinburgh Evening News is a local newspaper based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is published daily . It has a circulation of 68,000 and is owned by Johnston Press, which also owns The Scotsman and many regional titles throughout the UK.Much of the copy contained in the Evening News concerns local...

and the Herald & Post series of free newspapers in Edinburgh, Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, and West Lothian

West Lothian

West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire....

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The Scotsman was launched in 1817 as a liberal weekly newspaper by lawyer William Ritchie and customs

Customs

Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...

 official Charles Maclaren

Charles Maclaren

Charles Maclaren was a Scottish editor born in Ormiston, Haddingtonshire, the son of a farmer and cattle-dealer. He was almost entirely self-educated, and when a young man became a clerk in Edinburgh. In 1817, with others, he established The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh and at first acted as...

 in response to the "unblushing subservience" of competing newspapers to the Edinburgh establishment.