Alasdair Ferguson

Alasdair Ferguson is a multimedia journalist at The National, covering finance alongside a strong focus on culture and heritage. His reporting is distinguished by the way he uses historical detail, archives and cultural institutions to tell contemporary stories, rather than concentrating on narrow, technical finance coverage. Across news, features and multimedia work, he connects the past to present-day Scotland through concrete episodes and accessible storytelling.

Culture and heritage as a reporting lens

Culture and heritage sit at the centre of Ferguson’s work, shaping both subject choice and angle. He reports on how places and institutions are formally recognised for their historical importance, such as coverage of a study that identifies Stirling as one of the most historically significant areas in Scotland through an analysis of historic conflicts. He uses museum and archive material to build narratives, for example reporting on 100-year-old photographs released for the first time by the National Museum of Rural Life from the Scottish Life Archive as free downloadable images. His coverage of a fragment of “lost” music discovered in Scotland’s first full-length printed book shows his interest in how scholarly findings can illuminate what music sounded like 500 years ago, turning specialist research into a story with clear public relevance. Even when the topic is a straightforward news update, such as warnings of heavy rain, he keeps the focus on how events affect daily life and the wider picture of Scotland’s environment.

History, archives and untold stories

A recurring theme in Ferguson’s reporting is the recovery and retelling of “untold” or overlooked stories from Scottish history. He has covered the “remarkable untold story” of the world’s first black international footballer, who captained Scotland to a historic 6-1 win over England, framing the piece around both the individual’s achievement and the way a new film brings that narrative to light. Stories about historic photographs, lost music and conflict mapping similarly rely on archives, books and specialist collections. Taken together, these pieces show a reporter who repeatedly goes to libraries, museums and scholarly works to find material, then translates it into concise news and features that foreground why these discoveries matter now. That historical and archival emphasis distinguishes his coverage from a generic finance or general news reporter, whose work is less likely to be built around such primary source material.

Sport, travel and national identity

Ferguson also uses sport and travel as entry points into questions of national identity and collective experience. He has written about the large-scale movement of football supporters, such as thousands of Tartan Army fans flying from Edinburgh to Boston, treating the story as both a logistical and cultural moment around a major match. In his piece on Scotland’s first black international footballer, he connects sporting history to questions of representation and recognition, showing how a single figure can reshape how the national team’s past is understood. These stories rely less on match reports and more on context — who is travelling, why the journey matters, and how historic games fit into longer narratives about Scotland. This approach makes his sport-related coverage relevant beyond dedicated sports readers, aligning it with his broader interest in culture and heritage.

Arts, literature and screen industries

Ferguson’s work frequently crosses into arts and creative industries, where he combines interview formats with cultural commentary. He has conducted structured interviews with prominent authors, such as a feature in which award-winning novelist Louise Welsh talks through “the 10 things that changed her life,” from classic books like “Treasure Island” to other formative influences. His role extends into multimedia, hosting conversations on The National’s podcast and YouTube channels with figures from the television sector. In one discussion with the chief executive of the Glasgow TV Festival, he explores the implications of the Edinburgh TV Festival moving to Manchester, bringing in perspectives from organisations such as Screen Scotland and Sgrin Alba. These pieces show a journalist comfortable moving between written features and broadcast-style interviews, maintaining a focus on how decisions in the arts and screen world affect Scotland’s cultural ecosystem.

Independence campaigns and civic life

Alongside culture and heritage, Ferguson reports on civic campaigns and political projects when they intersect with national identity. His coverage of a new grassroots independence campaign launched by a major political party focuses on organising efforts, messaging and the movement’s place within the broader independence debate. He treats such stories as part of Scotland’s ongoing constitutional conversation, linking activism and campaigning to the themes that run through his historical and cultural reporting. In combination with his finance beat, this civic coverage positions him to tell stories where public money, political choices and cultural identity meet, even when the immediate hook is a campaign launch or community initiative.

Across these strands — finance, culture, heritage, sport, arts and civic campaigns — Ferguson’s work is marked by its use of concrete historical material and institutional sources to explain how Scotland’s past continues to shape its present. Communications teams can expect that when he takes on a story, he looks for archival depth, cultural context and clear public stakes rather than treating subjects as isolated news events.