The Sunday Post Explained

The Sunday Post
Type:	Sunday newspaper
Format:	Tabloid
Price:	£0.90
Owners:	DC Thomson
Foundation:	1914
Headquarters:	Dundee, Scotland
Circulation:	37,045
Circulation Date:	January 2024
Circulation Ref:	^[1]

The Sunday Post is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, Northern Ireland, and parts of Northern England.

The current editor is Richard Prest.

Sales of the Sunday Post in Scotland were once so high that it was recorded in The Guinness Book of Records as the newspaper with the highest per capita readership penetration of anywhere in the world; in 1969, its total estimated readership of 2,931,000 represented more than 80 per cent of the entire population of Scotland aged 16 and over.^[2] The Sunday Post has seen a decline in circulation in common with other print titles; in 1999 circulation was around 700,000, dropping to just under 143,000 in December 2016, with a year-on-year fall of 13.5% recorded for 2016.^[3]

2007 saw DC Thomson launch an advertising drive for The Sunday Post, primarily used on buses, in which the exclamation "Strip Sensation!" is seen by a picture of the folded paper displaying its masthead; next to this is the tagline punning on the exclamation: "A thoroughly decent read".

The newspaper backed a "No" vote in the referendum on Scottish independence.^[4]

In 2014 a weekly magazine supplement was reintroduced. Called IN10, it features entertainment, food, homes, gardens, travel and books as well as The Sunday Posts man in Hollywood, Ross King.^[5]

Regular features

Regular columns include:

• My Week by Francis Gay (a generic character), featuring sentimental stories and a weekly short poem
• The Honest Truth – question and answer celebrity interview feature
• Raw Deal – consumer problems
• The Doc Replies – medical advice
• Can You Do Me a Favour? – readers asking if fellow readers can help them in their quest to find an item (discontinued)
• The Queries Man – readers send in questions on a range of topics, which an unnamed person answers
• Your Money – Personal finance feature.^[6]
• On The Box – TV review column.^[7]

Former long-running columns included:

• The HON Man – (a generic character), an unidentifiable peripatetic man (represented by a cartoon in all his photographs, and reputedly a team of reporters), who travelled Britain, meeting people and exploring local tourist attractions (HON being short for "Holiday on Nothing").

Comics

There is a Fun Section featuring comic strips such as:

• • Oor Wullie
  • The Broons
  • Wee Harry
  • Wor Nicky^[8]

Comic strips that no longer appear include:

• • Nosey Parker Our Muddling Meddler
  • Nero and Zero The Rollicking Romans
  • Silias Snatcher The Truant Catcher
  • Wishbone Wuzzy
  • Austen and his Auto
  • Barnacle Bill
  • Funny Corner
  • Peter Pumpkin The Country Bumpkin
  • Natty Ned
  • Wee Jock Sparra
  • The Broons' Bairn

Editors

2001: David Pollington

2010: Donald Martin^[9]

2015: Richard Prest

2023-present: Dave Lord

See also

• The People's Friend
• List of newspapers in Scotland
• List of DC Thomson Publications
• Ron Scott

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sunday Post . . 9 February 2024 . 2 March 2024.
2. The Guinness Book of Records 17th edition, published October 1970, p. 96.
3. Web site: Print ABCs: Seven UK national newspapers losing print sales at more than 10 per cent year on year. Press Gazette. 23 January 2017. 28 January 2017.
4. Web site: Together we can build a fairer, stronger Scotland . Sunday Post . 14 September 2014 . 14 September 2014.
5. Web site: The Sunday Post launches new weekly magazine. dcthomson.co.uk. dead. https://archive.today/20150422153404/http://www.dcthomson.co.uk/media/the-sunday-post-launches-new-weekly-magazine. 22 April 2015.
6. Web site: Your Money / That's Life / The Sunday Post. sundaypost.com.
7. Web site: TV review: The Great British Sewing Bee. sundaypost.com. 15 March 2015.
8. Web site: Blimey! It's another blog about comics!: Cor! Wor Nicky joins The Sunday Post. Lew Stringer. 4 May 2014 . lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk.
9. News: Herald editor Donald Martin joins Sunday Post . BBC News . 22 January 2010.