Neil McIntosh Editor of The Scotsman

Hello Voornaam,

I hope you're having a good week.

First, I wanted to flag a great subscriber-only event - the chance to join an exclusive group of 50 Scotsman readers in a Q&A with Scottish violinist and new Edinburgh International Festival Director Nicola Benedetti, as she discusses her plans for the Festival. The event is on Thursday 4 May at 6pm at The Hub in Edinburgh, and there's a maximum of two tickets each. Tickets become available at midday tomorrow (Saturday 22 April) so set an alarm. I hope to see you there.

Secondly... of course, a journalist at The Scotsman has only one commitment: to you, our readers. Your needs are what motivate us every day.

But we wouldn't be human if we weren't also buoyed by recognition from our industry, especially through Scotland's foremost journalism awards - The Scottish Press Awards, now in their 44th year.

So I'm very proud indeed that our team of journalists have reaped an unusually strong haul of nominations for this year's Awards, to be presented in June in Glasgow.

The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday have a total of 18 nominations, highlighting the titles' quality across a range of topics, and even mediums - scotsman.com is nominated for website of the year, while our podcast How to be an Independent Country is in Podcast of the Year.

Martyn McLaughlin's investigations have earned him a place in the shortlist for reporter of the year and specialist of the year, and Martyn is also featured in the Financial & Business reporter shortlist. Aidan Smith is recognised in both the sport feature writer, and sports columnist, categories.

Susan Dalgety and Euan McColm make the final six names for columnist of the year for their work in the Saturday Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday, respectively.

Conor Matchett is shortlisted in the political reporter of the year category, while Janet Christie and Brian Ferguson feature in the Arts and Entertainment Journalist category. Rosalind Erskine and Catriona Thomson are shortlisted for their Food and Drink writing.

I'm also very proud of the team awards, which recognise the efforts across some of the biggest stories of the year: The Scotsman is nominated for front page of the year, and Journalism Team of the Year for coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

This is not all an entirely idle boast: it is also a note of thanks, because without you, our loyal - and growing - community of Scotsman readers, we couldn't do our work. So thank you. Our focus will remain on your needs, and a determination to invest in our unique Scottish journalism... even as we raise a glass to recognition from our peers.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Neil McIntosh

Editor, The Scotsman