He was a war hero and a brave newspaperman. Eric Mackay, who has died at the age of 83, was arguably the greatest editor of the Scotsman. He created a team that went on to win glittering prizes in Scottish and British journalism: Magnus Magnusson, Neal Ascherson, Gus MacDonald and James Naughtie.

He made his reputation with a series of exclusives – scoops in old-style newspaper language – exposing atrocities in Africa in the dying days of the British Empire. Fellow Scot and Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home begged him to relent. Mackay was outraged and redoubled his efforts.

As editor, Mackay steered the paper through the turbulent waters of 1970s Scottish politics, as nationalism and devolution unsettled the old certainties.

It’s hard to imagine Alec Mackay acting like today’s ego-driven, publicity-seeking editors. He trusted his journalists and executives to do their jobs. He was no control freak. As a result, the Scotsman achieved its highest ever circulation under his editorship – and his proteges scaled the heights.

Today’s editors could learn a lot from Eric Mackay.