First Print Exclusive U.K. Daily Newspaper Launched in 30 Years

 

Trinity Mirror (London, U.K.) publication, The New Day, will be available Monday to Friday from February 29 across the U.K. and will be given away free from more than 40,000 retailers on its first day. After that, it will trial at £25 for two weeks before going up to £50.

 

The initial giveaway print run will be two million copies, with subsequent print runs to be decided in response to factors including circulation, price points, and distribution. 

 

 

 

In contrast to rivals, it will be print only. A spokesman said that "people can interact with the publication through Facebook and Twitter but we will not be posting news and other content online. There are lots of other sites doing that really well, so that is not the space we are going to compete in." 

 

The 40-page tabloid format The New Day will be printed on 54 gsm SCA Grapholnvent paper, which the publisher said is brighter and thicker than most newspaper grades.

 

Most of the production will be at Trinity Mirror Printing’s Watford facility, with additional printing at Trinity's Oldham and Birmingham sites. It will go to press at 7:00 pm and will slot into existing print production capacity. There are no changes to production staffing. 

 

Trinity Mirror said that The New Day will be an entirely new newspaper, not a sister title or light version of The Daily Mirror. It will cover news and topical content but with what the company calls "a modern style and tone, aimed at a wide audience of women and men who want something different from what is currently available." This includes an "upbeat, optimistic approach" and a politically neutral editorial stance.

 

Editor Alison Phillips noted that "there are many people who aren’t currently buying a newspaper, not because they have fallen out of love with newspapers as a format, but because what is currently available on the newsstand is not meeting their needs. This paper has been created as a result of customer insight and is the first newspaper designed for people’s modern lifestyles."

 

Trinity Mirror CEO Simon Fox said the publisher believed a large number of the million-plus newspaper readers lost over the past two years could be tempted back to print with the right product. "Revitalizing print is a core part of our strategy in parallel with digital transformation and there doesn’t have to be a choice between the two – newspapers can live in the digital age if they have been designed to offer something different," he said.