Bella Caledonia

Bella Caledonia is an online magazine based in Scotland that publishes political and social commentary. It was launched in 2007 and came to prominence during the campaign period of the Scottish independence referendum that was held in 2014. The site is not affiliated to any political party.

History

In October 2007, writers Mike Small and Kevin Williamson launched Bella Caledonia at the Radical Book Fair in Edinburgh.[1] The site provided some robust political commentary and explored ideas of self-determination.[2] It was named after a character from Alasdair Gray's novel Poor Things.[3] Gray later provided the site with a new version of his artwork.[3]

By 2011, the magazine was gaining more recognition for its content and the The List ranked it highly in a feature about top Scottish websites.[3] During the discussions and debates that took place as part of the Scottish independence referendum, the site published commentary and arguments that helped the Yes Scotland campaign.[4][5] By 2014 the site was being read by 40,000 people daily.[6] In the run up to Scottish independence referendum, international interest grew and Bella Caledonia had more than 500,000 unique users a month, with a peak of one million in August.[7]

After the referendum the site continued to publish a mix of culture and politics. A "Songs for Scotland" event was organised at the Òran Mór in Glasgow in December 2014, along with an album of music that could be downloaded.[8] In 2015, the site was named as one of the top 10 political blogs in the UK by Cision.[9] By this point the site was moving from a citizen journalism model along the lines of De Correspondent, now trying to accommodate more contributions from freelance writers and engaging in journalistic collaboration.[10][11] In 2015 the website began to publish articles that were written in Gaelic and in Scots.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Fresh thinking for the new republic - Bella Caledonia". www.senscot.net. 21 October 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "Bella Caledonia: borne of a desire for a pro-indy voice". The National. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "The best Scottish websites. The top 30 websites made for and by Scots". The List. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  4. ↑ McKenna, Kevin (30 March 2014). "More power to Glasgow's online journalists". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Andrew Marr: Why I'm torn over Scotland". The New Statesman. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  6. ↑ Gani, Aisha (1 December 2014). "Scottish blogs: what next for alternative media post-referendum?". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  7. ↑ Haggerty, Angela (26 September 2014). "Scottish news website Bella Caledonia launches 'buycott' plan to redirect BBC licence fee funds amid bias row". The Drum. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "Jim Gilchrist: Spirit of the age reflected". The Scotsman. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  9. ↑ MacAlister, Ealasaid (11 June 2015). "Bella Caledonia on final push to make fundraising target". CommonSpace. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  10. ↑ Turvill, William (9 July 2015). "Scotland sees 'flowering' of news websites as national press wilts north of the border". Press Gazette. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  11. ↑ Greenslade, Roy (22 June 2015). "CommonSpace joins Scotland's burgeoning alternative media outlets". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  12. ↑ Brett, Miriam (28 October 2015). "Bella Caledonia launches Gaelic and Scots content". CommonSpace. Retrieved 26 November 2016.

External links


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