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Publisher makes politics coverage commitment with election ‘manifesto’ launch

Two sister dailies have published a manifesto for readers ahead of the forthcoming May elections.

Aberdeen’s Press & Journal and Dundee daily The Courier have run the manifesto after launching a new ‘Election Hub’ online as Scottish voters prepare to go to the polls.

The hub is described as a “one-stop-shop” featuring expert opinion, live polls, data visualisations, reaction and analysis.

The manifesto itself, pictured below, was published on Monday and sets out DC Thomson’s commitment for covering Scottish politics around themes of “civility, experience and trustworthiness”.

PJ manifesto

As part of its coverage, the group’s politics team will also launch Scotland’s first interactive digital newscast, ‘Election Hub Live’, a daily 20-minute livestream, available to watch on the titles’ websites and social media channels.

The show is hosted by group head of politics David Mac Dougall, with reporter Rachel Amery and producer Finlay Jack.

“As the Scottish Parliamentary election fast approaches, our aim is to bring our audiences unrivalled political coverage, delivering compelling content that people want to read, watch and listen to.

“Across print, social and the launch of our election hubs, we will bring a fresh and unique offering, centred on the high-quality journalism our audience has come to expect from DC Thomson Media.

“In addition, we have invested in one of the most comprehensive election research projects conducted by a Scottish media company to identify and define the most important topics to our audiences.

“This allows our political reporting to be hyper-localised and relevant for our readers, as well holding politicians accountable on their behalf.”

Richard Neville, DC Thomson’s head of news brands, added: “Local and regional reporting, particularly during the election period, has never had such an important role to play for communities across Scotland.

“Alongside significant investment in our data, audio and video journalism capabilities, we have a dedicated team of specialist experts ready to deliver high-quality, relevant, and engaging political storytelling, whenever, however and whenever our audience want it.”