Newsquest Herald & Times are the umbrella organisation that own the Herald, the Glasgow Evening…read moreTimes and the Sunday Herald. This trinity of west coast media have been in operation together for years though sadly massive, MASSIVE, cuts have saw a significant decline in content. Newsquest Herald & Times was in the news as it fired all of the staff and made everyone reapply and since this event 2 years ago the papers have never been the same. A good friend of mine worked as an intern at The Herald over the summer and now no longer wants to be a journalist. Given that he worked hard at university to achieve this goal this really does highlight how bad things must be here. Reports of a small army (up to 12 at one time) working away for no pay, or even travel expenses, reflect a dire state of affairs. You can buy the Herald (80p) Monday - Friday, the Glasgow Evening Times (45p) Monday - Saturday and the Sunday Herald (£1) on a... well take a wild guess!

The four stars are for The Herald newspaper, not for the state of the business. I too have heard…read morebad things about the working conditions, but this has not stopped the staff from producing a splendid daily paper that is Scottish in reach but Glaswegian in identity. What most impresses me about The Herald is that it manages to support artists far more directly than the English magazines: the criticism is healthy and robust, and far more resources are put into covering emerging artists than in other papers. I avoid the sports pages- a bit more speedway would be nice- but enjoy the comment. That is not to say I ever endorse the opinions...

The Clydebank Post may be many things, but boring is not one of them…read more While other local papers are afraid to go against the grain and tend to concentrate on more family-friendly stories, the Post pokes and prods local organisations and has remained an entertaining read despite the undeniable shifting of the goalposts in local media. Being honest, the most popular pages are undoubtedly the court reports, which allow local gossips to see which of their acquaintances are in the dock this week. As my fellow Yelper said, an appearance in these pages is regarded as a badge of honour for some folks.

The print media is dead apparently. However, I'm willing to bet the Clydebank Post will outlive us…read moreall, along with cockroaches. It's a very popular local newspaper due to the amount of really bad stuff that happens in the Clydebank Area. For example, here's a quick overview of headlines in the past two weeks * Anger over beast's visits: A SEX offender fighting deportation has been spotted regularly in a Clydebank estate, sparking fury from an angry resident. * Our tots are not cash cows': FURIOUS parents - protesting against a hike in childcare charges - are dressing their children up as COWS to lobby councillors tonight. * Racists attacked shopkeeper wearing Klan hoods: A PAIR of thugs dressed up like members of the Ku Klux Klan before slashing an Asian shopkeeper's face. * Mother of evil: A MUM'S evil nature has been blamed for breeding the violence that led to the murder of a man in a brutal street attack. Bear in mind these are only stories from the newspaper in the last two weeks! I am mystified as to how to post is allowed to get away with taking photos of criminals as they leave the court. And I am even more mystified as to why many of the criminals pose for the photographer. I guess they must just see their photo in the Clydebank Post.

Really just the national newspaper with a bias towards Scottish news, this is not really a distinct…read moreentity from the editions that come out in England. It has the same political slant, the same balance between tabloid and broadsheet style, and the same coverage of arts, celebrity and football. It does well to pitch itself as a Scottish magazine, but I am not sure it has its finger on the pulse of Glasgow- or at least, not the Glasgow I inhabit. Better to go for the Herald if you fancy a bit of real Glasgow news.

I've recently moved onto reading the broadsheets as papers like The Sun, while convenient, don't…read morenecessarily offer too much insightful journalism. They are however, quite entertaining. Unlike The Daily Record who hides it's sleazy gossip behind a family-friendly veil, or The Daily Star which features little more than reality TV news and pages upon pages of celebrity upskirt shots, The Sun can be genuinely good fun. From a photoshopped image of a puffin dropping it's muck on Berti Vogts after the 2002 Scotland - Faroe Islands debacle to the consistently offensive TV column by Ally Ross, it never fails to entertain, even if it doesn't educate. To that end, it's probably got a hand to play in the dumbing down of everything from politics to TV that's occured over the past few decades, but as long as it keeps giving the public their fix of sport, gossip and nudity, few will complain.

I must concur with my fellow Yelper, while there are many things to detest about the Sun newspaper,…read moreat least it's 100% unashamedly sleazy. Good journalism isn't completely missing but it's rare. Instead the Sun excels with its sports coverage, particularly of the lower football leagues, and its reliability when it comes to fantastic headlines. Super Caley Go Ballistic etc... was obviously its finest moment, but even when John Terry was caught being a naughty boy as recently as last week, it was the only paper which stepped up to the mark. "Surely some paper must use "A Bridge Too Far"", a friend of mine quipped. And alas, there it was. In the Sun. It's not big and it's not clever, but it does tend to raise a few more chuckles than its fellow comics.

A bit more intelligent than the tits and telly of The Sun or The Daily Star, The Metro is fairly…read moredecent read, and enough to make you forget the depressing fact that you're travelling by bus. Their music / film sections concentrate on less mainstream releases, and some sections, particularly the letters, have a very "quirky" feel, for want of a better word, which I'm sure some people like but i just find a bit annoying. The sport section is far weaker than the other daily rags. Still, it's free though, so can't grumble.

The Metro is the highlight of any commuting experience in Glasgow. Indeed, when I step on a…read moretrain/bus/subway to find there are none left, I descend into a rage which never quite abates for the rest of the day. The news articles are nothing special; pretty much a rewrite of the wires. But it's the features where The Metro truly shines; as well as the daily "Guilty Pleasures" section, a celebrity gossip update which delivers pretty much what is says on the tin, the newspaper regularly publishes indepth and interesting interview with top film directors, writers and actors; recent interviewees have been Clint Eastwood, Christian Slater and Ricky Gervais. And whoever came up with the 60 Second Interview deserves a knighthood as far as I am concerned.

The Glasgow Guardian is the independent student newspaper for the University of Glasgow. This…read moreplucky little paper is one of the longest running in Scotland and it has a great reputation in student media circles. It is regularly awarded the Best Student Newspaper at the Herald's annual Scottish Student Media Awards and has been nominated for Best Student Newspaper at the Guardian's British Student Press Awards. If you're a student at the University of Glasgow then you can contribute and meetings usually take place in the Williams Room of the John Macintyre Building on Campus. Copies of the paper can be found across campus and in many places in the West End of the City, particularly in the shops and bars of Byers Road and Gibson Street. Their website has recently had a major facelift and is looking pretty darn good- check it out.

During my time at Glasgow I'd often look out for the new copies of this freebie arriving at the…read morelibrary or reading room. I found it far more opinionated and cleverly written than you'd expect, and managed to bypass the cliched "stop the war" and "make poverty history" articles that often clog up student journalism. If I'm walking by the GUU I'll still occasionally dive in and nick a copy, though it does make me feel a bit old now. I even managed to get a couple of music reviews printed here in the bygone days, though unfortunately the same year they let a complete dobber from my Sociology class have his own opinion column, where he'd use flowery language and make meaningless statements such as "The ipod generation is all about the fetishisation of information." Tosser. Thankfully, he's long gone from the pages. So enjoy.

i-on Glasgow is the sister magazine of i-on Edinburgh. It's a lovely glossy lifestyle magazine that…read moreyou can pick up for FREE in various bars, restaurants and shops around the city. Inside the magazine you'll find a great selection of well written articles and glossy photographs documenting fashion, interior design, culture and local Glasgow events. You'll also find interviews with celebs (emphasis on Glaswegians). Businesses such as Mr Ben Vintage and Boudiche advertise with i-on, as it's a great way in which to reach the culture vultures of the city. Definitely pick up this little gem next time you see it sitting in the magazine rack at your local cafe!

The Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter reports the news from, guess what, the Dumbarton and Vale…read moreof Leven areas. The newspaper covers some poverty stricken areas so it is not a "cats up trees" kind of publication. The newspaper shares an office with the Clydebank Post; both are owned by Clyde and Forth Press media group. The distance from Clydebank to Dumbarton means locals can't just pop in with the news or a photo of their grandson for the birthday section. The Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter also has a Twitter account with 100 followers.

Like all Clyde & Forth newspapers, you can expect the Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter to be a…read morelittle bit grittier than your average local rag. Rather than err on the side of caution, this paper thrives on the court watch scene which makes it a particularly good read for local gossips. The only problem is the fact it shares its office with the Clydebank Post, meaning it lacks a regular local presence on the streets of Dumbarton.