John McLellan - Journalist, Editor and Lecturer

John McLellan is the former editor-in-chief of Scotsman Publications. He edited The Scotsman for three years, between 2009 and 2012, and before that was editor of the Edinburgh Evening News (1997-2001 and 2005-09) and Scotland on Sunday (2002-2005).

Prior to that he was deputy editor of the Edinburgh Evening News, assistant editor of The Journal, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and sports editor of the North-West Evening Mail.

He was a member of the Press Complaints Commission (2008-2012), the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee (2006-12) and was twice chair of the Scottish Newspaper Society's editors' committee.

At the Scottish Press Awards he twice received the Newspaper of the Year award, in 2006 and 2012.

He graduated from the University of Stirling in 1983 with a BA in English and film and media studies and went on to study journalism at Preston Polytechnic. John has been a visiting lecturer to the media studies department for many years and was appointed honorary professor in 2010.

He formally joined the department as a member of staff in 2012 following his departure from The Scotsman, when he also was appointed director of communications for the Scottish Conservative Party.

On leaving the Conservatives in 2013 he moved to his current position as director of the Scottish Newspaper Society. He also works as a newspaper columnist, with his work appearing in the The Herald, Edinburgh Evening News and Sunday Times.

Perhaps more by accident than design, but it's thanks to Stirling I became a journalist. I chose Stirling because of the film and media department and I was part of the first-ever journalism module. Alastair Hetherington was an inspiration, but it was getting fifty quid a term to write a weekly column about university life for the Stirling Observer which showed me I could have fun and earn money too!

It's an understatement to say I was not the most diligent student, but my final year set me on the right track and after serving my time on weeklies and dailies in the North of England I was fortunate enough to reach the top of the profession in Scotland and to edit what were three tremendous Scottish titles.

In my time at Scotsman Publications I regularly came back for guest lectures and now my editing days are over  it's a privilege to help bring on the next generation of Stirling journalists as a member of the communications and media staff. And I'm glad to say John Izod is still here!

John McLellan
BA English, Film and Media Studies, 1983