THE National’s Callum Baird has been named Newsquest Editor of the Year for 2018, after a 12 months which saw the title go from strength to strength.

Scotland’s only pro-indy newspaper now has more than 5000 digital subscribers (a total which is growing by more than 100 every month), and website traffic is 60% up on last year.

A Facebook post by The National is more likely to be interacted with by a post from any other news media outlet in Scotland – including the BBC.

At the same time, The National continues to retain the vast majority of its print audience, and also added a fantastic new Sunday edition in September.

Newsquest CEO Henry Faure Walker hailed The National as “a phenomenal success story”, saying “Callum and his innovative team have excelled in building audiences across all platforms”.

Newsquest UK has more than 165 news brands and more than 40 magazines.

Callum said: “This award is really about the incredibly talented team of journalists who put together the paper every day.

I couldn’t ask for a better and more committed group of people to work with.

“I’m now more convinced than ever that The National will be a powerful force for decades to come in the Scottish media.

“When the next referendum comes we will play a vital role in countering the inevitable ‘Project Fear II’. And the more support we have from the Yes movement, the bigger the impact we’ll be able to have.

“Now is not the time to get complacent – we’ll only be in the shops as long as our brilliant readers keep supporting us.”