It has been argued that a distinctive Scottish media and press were instrumental in constructing a distinctive sense of Scottishness, and played a key part in ‘nationalising’ Scottish politics and culture since the 1970s. Since then, newspapers produced in Scotland have gone into steep decline. In this chapter we explore the role of the media, and ask whether there is any contradiction in the context of the major constitutional change in Scotland, and in particular the rise of political nationalism.

The chapter is designed to:

• explore how and why the ‘Scottish’ media have declined, especially in the context in which Scottish affairs, political, social and cultural, have never been so salient.
• examine the role of the media in shaping the Scottish ‘growth project’ in the second half of the 20th century.
• explain why newspapers owned and produced in England have made such incursions into the Scottish market.
• analyse the relationship between newspaper readership and national identity.
• focus on three moments of jurisdictional tension which have helped to shape Scottish-British issues, including the Scottish Independence Referendum in 2014.