In a year like no other, some stories still stood out more for our readers
Visitors to scotsman.com were drawn to our comprehensive Covid coverage, but some quirkier stories also proved popular, writes Sam Shedden
I n 2 0 2 0 t h e e n t i r e w o r l d ground to a halt as the coron a v i r u s p a n d e m i c s p r e a d around the glob e. The past year has seen dramatic shifts in how we live our lives. Busin e s s es h ave b e e n f o r c e d to close, schools shut, workers sent home and the most vulnerable forced to shield themselves from the rest of the population.
Our reporters, editors, webs i t e t e a m a n d p r o d u c t i o n staff have b een busier than e ve r, e n s u r i n g n e ws p a p e r s can be put out and the latest n e ws c o ve r e d o n l i n e f r o m kitchens, living rooms, studies and bedrooms across the nation. Here we take a lo ok back at some of the biggest stories of the year on scotsman.com.
JANUARY
The new decade began and many of us paid no attention to news of an unknown virus spreading in China.
People in Scotland were still recovering from Hogmanay, and apparently many were eyeing an escape from the rat race as heritage reporter Alison Campsie’s story on staff wanted for St Kilda, dubbed the “island on the edge of the Earth” was one of the most read articles of the month.
Continuing this theme of a desire to start anew, our story about a student who, in a bid to free herself from rent and bills, converted a 35-yearold campervan into her new home was extremely popular with our online readers. Simpler times.
FEBRUARY
In February the Scottish Government had begun testing people for Covid-19, as the virus arrived on these shores.
One of our biggest stories came from investigations reporter Martyn Mclaughlin who reported that ministers were told to seek an Unexplained Wealth Order for Donald Trump’s golf resorts to investigate the US president’s deals to acquire his Scottish properties.
Meanwhile, many readers visited our website for up-tothe-minute weather coverage as Storm Dennis lashed the country.
MARCH
On 1 March, 2020, Scotland recorded its first positive test result for Covid-19. The month that followed was one of the intensive months we’ve ever experienced here as the demand for news rocketed as the public and our reporters tried to find out everything possible about this disease. Everyone in the newsroom – which soon turned into newsrooms from spare bedrooms and kitchen tables at home – worked long hours to bring our readers information. The future was suddenly uncertain, and there was a real fear as to how bad things may get. Some of our staff were furloughed, but the majority were not, which we are thankful for.
Events unfolded quickly and it was hard to keep up. On 13 March, Scotland recorded its first Covid-19 death. Just seven days later the Scottish Government ordered cafés, pubs, and restaurants to close. Three days after that, on 23 March, Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared a nationwide lockdown, telling us all to stay at home.
APRIL
As spring progressed, the national lockdown was in full swing. Streets were empty, schools shut and we got to grips with queuing for the supermarket and making awkward Zoom calls. ..
Our most read news story of the month was about education secretar y John Swinney declaring “schools won’t open until at least summer break”.
Then the cautious reopenings came and perhaps lockdown was starting to get a tad tedious as more than 130,000 people visited our site to read about the long queues forming outside B&Q stores. It seems odd with hindsight but it was significant at the time as the public cautiously watched the first businesses open their doors again.
MAY
In May we had our mostviewed story of 2020 with more than a million page views recorded for the tragic tale of a Scottish carer who was found dead in her home. Her story touched many.
Jeanette Mckenna looked after residents at Whitecraigs care home in Glasgow. She had recently become an internet sensation after footage of her dancing with an elderly care home resident went viral on Tiktok.
Colleagues paid tribute in Katharine Hay’s story to the “absolutely selfless” and “hugely popular” woman who had worked at Whitecraigs for more than ten years.
JUNE
Half-way through the year the economic effect of lockdown and other coronavirus restrictions began to bite with thousands of business owners struggling with the financial burden of closures. Non-essential shops and retailers had to temporarily close their doors when the UK entered into lockdown in March, and many independent shops were barely staying afloat. A story on nine restaurant chains and shops that won’t reopen after the pandemic was our most-read piece this month.
Away from Covid, Harry Potter author JK Rowling was embroiled in a fierce row and accused of transphobia after details of her new book were revealed in an early review, with the villain, a “psychopathic serial killer”, turning out to be a man who dresses as a woman.
JULY
“Facemasks will become mandatory in shops in Scotland” was First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s message on 3 July following the announcement that Scotland was moving into phase two of its lockdown route map (not to be confused with the current five-level system), with face coverings also set to become mandatory on public transport.
Pubs and restaurants reopened under strict social distancing conditions.
AUGUST
Perhaps Covid fatigue was setting in by August as none of our most popular stories were virus-related.
The biggest story of the month was the shocking fatal Stonehaven train derailment on 12 August. Three people including a train driver died after a Scotrail train derailed in Aberdeenshire. The crash is thought to be the first incident involving a fatality on a train since a Glasgowbound Virgin Trains express derailed in Cumbria in 2007, in which one passenger died.
In the Highlands, problems caused by city dwellers flocking to rural areas (against government advice) made headlines when we reported how holiday owners had to call the police after discovering 34 men at their remote Airbnb property.
SEPTEMBER
As autumn rolled in, the First Minister addressed the Scottish Parliament to outline the new coronavirus restrictions that were to be implemented across the country.
Visiting other households would not be allowed, and pubs and restaurants will have a 10pm curfew we were told, as it began to feel like we were going backwards.
It has at times been hard to keep up with all the rule changes, tiers, levels and lockdown updates, but thankfully every weekday our live news team has run comprehensive up-to-theminute blogs which throughout the year have been exceptionally popular.
Alison Campsie provided one of the most popular features of the month (and year) with a look at another time when the Highlands went into “lockdown” – 80 years ago. Several areas were placed in a Protected Area by the War Office in 1940 in a bid to safeguard the naval defences of the far north, and in case of invasion.
OCTOBER
New month, new restrictions. Scotland’s regional five-level systems was enacted as the Scottish Government tried to stem a second wave. Unsurprisingly, explainer articles and analysis of these regulations were among our most popular stories.
Yet it was a Scottish poet who told us she felt touched by an overwhelming response to a poem she wrote in Scots that stole the show on scotsman.com in October.
Len Pennie filmed herself reciting her poem ‘I’m no havin’ children’, which is part-written in Scots, and posted it on Twitter before turning off her phone and going to bed. After checking her post the next morning, the 21-year-old from Airdrie, was amazed to find her poem had gone viral, and included a mention from renowned Scottish academic Billy Kay, an activist working to preserve the language.
The best James Bond and Scottish acting legend Sean Connery died at the end of the month, his passing generating an avalanche of tributes from our readers.
NOVEMBER
Last month a very human story of grief and kindness captured the attention of nearly 800,000 visitors to our website. A delivery man who works for Iceland spotted a heartbreaking hand-written message posted in a window from a pensioner who recently lost his dog to cancer.
David Macleod, from Stevenston, has been delivering supermarket goods to the elderly man in question, who lives in West Kilbride, for the last six years. In the last couple of months, the resident said he has felt “unwell” since losing his beloved pet Jack Russel. David made it his mission to get him a new pet.
Meanwhile, columnist Brian Wilson stoked debate as he declared “BBC Scotland is being taken for a ride over Sturgeon’s Covid briefing.”
Of course, let’s not forget when the nation boogied after Scotland qualified for the Euros after a 22-year absence from international football.
DECEMBER
The month isn’t over but already we can see two stories which particularly grabbed the attention of readers.
Martyn Mclaughlin delivered another exclusive as he revealed the US Secret Service paid Donald Trump’s flagship Scottish resort, Turnberry, nearly £25,000 for his son’s business trips.
And Alison Campsie delved into the “intriguing and unsettling” island tradition of skekling, a pagan custom to bring the sun back from the grip of winter and ensure good crops. It was known in Shetland for hundreds of years, with its roots in the Norse history of the islands.
Thank you to all our readers who supported us through this year. If you’d like to gain unlimited access to every story on our website and support Scottish journalism, you can try a digital subscription from £3 a month.