IMMEDIATELY after the First Minister’s statement on Wednesday The National moved into campaign mode for the first time since we launched – pledging to invest directly into independence if the movement backs us.
We said that for every thousand subscribers we sign up, we’ll put our money where our mouth is and invest in journalism to help boost the campaign for a Yes vote.
And we’re excited to announce today we have ALREADY hit our first subscription target – smashing past 6000 total subscribers by signing up more than 300 new readers in the first few days of the initiative.
This means we will be launching a series of short monthly supplements aimed not at our readers, but at No voters – with facts and myth-busting around the case for independence. We will reveal more details about how this will work in the coming days and it will launch next month.
Huge thanks to everybody who has signed up to support us so far. As of today, we have at least 6049 subscribers – and we’re well on our way to our next target of 7000.
And the next investment we make could be a gamechanger. When we sign up our 7000th subscriber, we’ll immediately hire a full-time video journalist to produce viral independence videos, which are easily shareable and can help take the case to places the printed newspaper can’t reach.
Back us today at by visiting www.thenational.scot/subscribe or find out more about our campaign at www.thenational.scot/10000steps!
See page 11 for details on our fantastic digital subscription packages – and how to claim a free Wee Ginger cuddly toy!
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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