Dunblane: We’re sorry
THE Scottish Sunday Express has enjoyed a long love affair with the people of our nation.
It is 81 years since the first edition of this great newspaper rolled off the presses in Glasgow.
Over that time, we have established a reputation for crusading journalism built on the twin cornerstones of honesty and integrity.
Scottish Sunday Express readers expect us to shine a light on the wrongs in our society, to expose the crooks, highlight the hypocrites and to give everyone the odd chuckle with the extraordinary stories that ordinary Scots so often have to tell.
We think we are pretty good at all that, and everyone involved in producing this newspaper takes pride in what we publish.
It is also hugely important to us that the Scottish Sunday Express reflects the feelings of the people of Scotland.
On March 8 we got that all wrong.
Our front-page story about the teenage survivors of the Dunblane massacre and their use of social networking websites has caused terrible offence, not only in that town, but across Scotland and around the world.
It is our belief that nobody was misquoted, but the story was undeniably inappropriate. It has upset the young people we named and caused great distress to their parents.
Where possible, we have spoken to the families involved and given them a heartfelt apology. Today we apologise to you, our loyal readers.
The Scottish Sunday Express is a big newspaper, with a long and illustrious history. We are also big enough to say we are truly sorry.
