Creative Scotland has said it is open to pursuing funding to revive The Skinny, a longstanding Scottish arts and culture magazine, after its sudden closure.
Radge Media CIC, the publisher of The Skinny alongside magazines GNAW and Fest, announced it ceased operations on Thursday 10 September.
On Friday 11 September, the development body declared it was “open to discussing whether there are any available options through our funding routes.”
Editor-in-chief of The Skinny, Rosamund West, confirmed the magazine will “continue to pursue any and all avenues available to us to continue our work.”
Q Manivannan, MSP and Spokesperson for Culture for the Scottish Greens, submitted a motion to the Scottish Parliament immediately following the publication’s closure.
In a letter to Rosamund West and Cabinet Secretary for Culture Màiri McAllan, they expressed that they were “heartbroken.”
“I wanted to reach out urgently to ask if you would like us to pursue this with the Scottish Government, with Creative Scotland, and with the wider arts and culture sector to attempt to arrive at a solution of alternative funding for your essential work.
“Your work is an integral part of the cultural sector in Scotland and has highlighted Scottish arts and culture to the world in essential ways.”
Creative Scotland revealed that it had supplied Radge Media with £201,097 between 2011 and 2025. It funded almost £165,000 to facilitate its economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Addressing writers from The Skinny, Fest, and Gnaw, West said: “We’ve been unable to battle against the economic headwinds throughout the arts sector and the broader Scottish economy, and the situation has escalated to the point that we have been unable to find a way forward.
“We believed that the business was viable upon reviewing our position at the end of August and had begun a process of restructuring to reduce our costs, but when a key piece of potential funding fell through, the situation changed dramatically.”
Founded in 2005, The Skinny was a leading independent Scottish arts and culture magazine.
Having distributed 27,332 copies monthly across 581 Scottish locations, the free-sheet platformed grassroots acts and local arts venues.
Their recent features examined growing economic challenges faced by Scottish arts venues, including the January liquidation of Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) and the recent movement to save Dundee’s Cooper Gallery from closure.
Its sister magazine, Fest, published guides to the Edinburgh festivals. In 2024, the publisher launched The Besties, festival awards which championed both international and Scottish artists.
In a statement shared to their website, The Skinny said:
“We have not been immune to the economic difficulties in the Scottish arts and despite our very best efforts, funding pressures across the sector, rising costs and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis have contributed to an increasingly challenging situation.
“Even in dark times, there is still a wealth of vibrant, creative and exciting art being created across Scotland, and dozens of scenes and movements worth championing.
“That drive and spirit has inspired and invigorated us at The Skinny so many times over the years – let’s all do what we can to help that continue.”
Illustration courtesy of Lydia Kempton
