As today’s final edition of the Sunday Herald rolls off the press, it signifies the end of an important chapter in Scottish media history.

It is another telling example of the changing media world, and a tell-tale sign of the way people are now accessing news and journalism.

With newspaper circulation figures in decline and an increasing desire for 24/7 "bite-sized" information dominating the presentation of news around the world, there continues to be big name casualties along the way.

Over almost 20 years, the first years of devolution, the Sunday Herald’s editorial team has broken stories, campaigned for sometimes unpopular causes and displayed editorial bravery by challenging authority at every level.

While Scottish Labour and the Sunday Herald have held very different views on the constitution in recent years, there is a common commitment to a fairer society, one which tackles poverty and eradicates inequality.

In the week that Scottish Labour revealed that the number of children living in poverty, despite having a parent in work, has soared to 40,000 across Scotland: a figure even worse if the parents could only find part-time jobs, the Sunday Herald’s focus on social and economic conditions will be missed.

Now, I cannot say that I have always been in agreement with the Sunday Herald’s coverage or its choice of front page stories or headlines, but that’s what happens with a pluralistic press. So, I do accept and will always argue for the right of newspapers to bring stories to their readers which reflect the views of a wide spectrum of our society. And I hope the day will come when there is more diversity in ownership and a rekindling of the flame of investigative journalism.

The next few years will be important for all those opposed to continued Tory and SNP austerity. For all those who want to see a real change built upon a redistribution of wealth and power in society, and a refuelling of devolution. For all those people looking for hope in Scottish politics.

The Sunday Herald may no longer be here to report on those political ideas, and that in itself is disappointing, but the many staff who have helped deliver news good and bad and those others who have contributed to the debate on the state of the society we are in can reflect on a job well done.

For those of us in the thick of those debates we know there is much still to do, but winning the battle of ideas and so winning power for change remains my abiding goal.