Hello and welcome to Friday’s Editor’s Pick where I am choosing my top five stories from our week at The Herald.
First in, after an eventful day at Holyrood, is Andrew Learmonth’s analysis of First Minister Humza Yousaf’s cabinet reshuffle, following the resignation of Health Secretary Michael Matheson. “It’s not just Michael who should have handled the situation better,” writes Learmonth in his dissection of the events – and the words that were said – in the run up to the resignation. A new cabinet. A fresh start? “For the sake of his own future, Yousaf needs to get this reset right.”
Next up is Scott Wright’s look at the future of the drinks industry when he asks, ‘Is Scotch whisky heading for the rocks?’. There have been a few ‘bumps along the road’ when it comes to Scotch whisky exports in recent years, despite a broadly upward direction. But just how hard is global economic uncertainty hitting sales? Wright takes a look.
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In much lighter content, Kevin McKenna responds to the controversial Gregg Wallace day in the life piece from The Telegraph which went viral this week. How about a Saturday in the life of our long-standing journalist (and some much-needed humour too)? “My daughters worry needlessly about me," writes McKenna. "During lockdown, they insisted on getting me a dog. All was going well until the pubs re-opened. Mistaking the Winalot for a tin of tuna, I scoffed the entire contents after adding white wine vinegar and olive oil to it."
My next piece comes from Garrett Stell and his thorough examination of why, throughout his career as an education writer, he has so often covered the headline, or a variation of, ‘Rural school in trouble – community rallies to save it’. Drawing on personal reflections from reporting in the US, to the similarities in our own rural areas, he discusses the pressures placed on local authorities, and communities, when roll calls begin to fall.
My final piece comes from Martin Williams who has been at the forefront of the coverage of Scotland’s ferry problems for many years, breaking countless exclusives. This week he revealed that CalMac is making moves to pull out of Ardrossan over safety issues, coupled with bad weather. Services will run on a temporary basis instead from Troon, but could this be the first step in a permanent move?
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Catherine Salmond
Editor
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