A boss at the West Highland Free Press has said the newspaper “endured a tidal wave of criticism” following the departure of three of its columnists.
Brian Wilson was sacked after defending fellow columnist Donald Macleod who wrote a piece about the spread of Islam in the UK.
After the paper said the pair would no longer write for the Free Press, Maggie Cunningham withdrew her column.
In his statement, managing director Paul Wood apologised to readers.
He said: “This last week has seen the Free Press endure a tidal wave of criticism, much of it valid and deserved.
“The Free Press has always been unique, more so now that it is the only employee-owned newspaper in the United Kingdom.
“There is no manual on how to run a newspaper, there is certainly no precedent for how our employee-ownership fits with the enormously challenging nature of running a newspaper.
“We have made mistakes and if every business and newspaper could be run with the benefit of hindsight, we’d have nothing to learn from.”
Mr Wood added: “We can only apologise to our readers, our community and our friends. If the result of making mistakes seriously damages all the good the Free Press does, this would be a terrible pity.”
The newspaper’s editor is to make a further statement in this week’s print edition.
Mr Wilson, the founding editor of the Free Press and a former Labour minister, was a long-established columnist for the Skye-based publication.
In his last column on 22 May, Donald Macleod, a Free Church professor of theology, wrote: “All minorities prefer to keep a low profile and avoid trouble.
“Generations of British Muslims have done exactly that, many have made an invaluable contribution to British society, and many are perfectly prepared to listen quietly while Christians ‘witness’ to them.
“But when minorities become majorities, things change... in the event of Islamic dominance in Britain our friendly Muslim shopkeepers will have little option but to march behind the radicals.”
In response, Mr Wilson wrote in his column last week that Mr Macleod’s piece was “leading on to wider questions about Islamic influence within Europe, including implications for democracy and freedom”.
In last week statement, the Free press said: “We note there has been some speculation around Professor Donald Macleod and founding editor Brian Wilson no longer writing columns for the West Highland Free Press and confirm they will both be no longer writing for us.
“We thank both Brian Wilson and Professor Macleod for their immense contribution to the paper over many years.
“They have rightly earned their reputation as erudite, passionate and respected writers and their regular offerings in the West Highland Free Press will be missed by some readers. Further than this, we have no comment to make.”