WHEN the Sunday Herald launched, the Scottish Parliament was about to “reconvene” after an absence of almost 300 years. There was undeniably a buzz about Scotland at that time, with the prospect of decisions about health, education, transport and the environment being made in a democratic forum that Scotland had lacked for so long. The paper launched with a promise to be “Scotland’s independent newspaper”, a phrase which later took on a new meaning in the run-up to the referendum of 2014 when it became the only paper to back a Yes vote.

Looking back it’s not hard to see the case for a quality Sunday paper to try to bring together a readership that had been traditionally split during the week between The Herald in the west, The Scotsman in the east and the P&J in the north.

Over the years the Scottish Greens have had many opportunities to work with the paper, partly because the readership it successfully cultivated mirrors our own support base – people who care deeply about social justice, equalities and the environment, and who want Scottish politics to set about the radical agenda which inspired so many to campaign together to create Scotland’s Parliament.

We’ve often felt that the Sunday Herald has reflected values important to us. The paper’s eye-catching support for independence had solid reasoning, echoing what many Greens were saying at the time. “We believe independence is the only way to achieve a more progressive, fair and equitable society – not because independence is an end in itself,” an editorial stated.

Ahead of the 2016 Holyrood election, everyone knew the party of government was unlikely to change, so the question became which of the other parties would be able to influence the direction of the parliament and hold ministers to account. The Sunday Herald pinned its colours to the mast, calling for a “strengthened” group of Green MSPs, with the government “critiqued and pushed from a progressive position”.

In February this year, following a budget deal that prevented cuts to local government and brought in a fairer system of income tax, the paper said: “The Greens should be congratulated for the intelligent, constructive and democratic role they played. If only more political parties engaged with each other in such a way. Greens are often in the vanguard of political change.”

So we’re immensely grateful for the role the Sunday Herald has played, especially on some of the issues we’ve been focused on.

Perhaps the strongest signal it has sent in recent years has been its retention of an environment editor, keeping crucial issues such as climate change, fracking, corporate polluters, nuclear convoys, fox hunting and salmon farming on the agenda. It has also maintained an investigations editor, clearly recognising the benefit of giving journalists time to deep-dive for stories that would otherwise never see the light of day.

Over the years I’ve been interviewed by political editors from Douglas Fraser during the “rainbow parliament” of 2003-07 through to Tom Gordon, Andrew Whitaker and Paul Hutcheon. It’s been encouraging to see the paper giving prominence to equalities and civil liberties issues, from equal marriage to phone hacking.

There is also a potential Sunday Herald legislative legacy in the pipeline, as the paper has campaigned in support of my colleague Mark Ruskell’s bill to create safer streets by reducing the urban speed limit to 20mph. Given the range of political, health expert and safety campaigner support, it has a strong chance of becoming law. As the Sunday Herald said in its editorial in April this year: “Child safety trumps every argument. A price cannot be put on that.”

I’ll be especially sad to see the paper go given the fundamental challenges in today’s media. I believe there’s still a market for people who want substance and depth, and who will repay quality journalism with trust instead of dismissing the media as some kind of conspiracy. So I wish the new Herald on Sunday well, and hope that both online and in print it manages to continue the Sunday Herald’s standards. Investment in staff will be crucial to that, and as an MSP I’ll be watching carefully how Newsquest handles the next steps.