Johnston Press is revamping the Scotsman, its Edinburgh-based flagship daily title. The changes affect the newspaper itself and its website.
The redesigned paper and its online platform will appear on Tuesday (29 September). At the same time, there will be a new app.
The most significant change will be to the website, Scotsman.com. Having seen a preview of the beta version I was struck by its resemblance to the Guardian’s website (and none the worse for that, of course).
According to a press release issued by the company, it will be a fully-responsive site, meaning that it will adapt to whatever device - desktop, tablet or smartphone - people use.
I understand that the newspaper will also seek to be more national in outlook in terms of its editorial content. There will be less UK news. Instead, it will concentrate on what is happening in Scotland and in the wider world outside the UK.
Ian Stewart, the Scotsman’s editor is quoted in the press release as saying that his newspaper “is part of the fabric of Scotland”, adding: “Never has it been more important to be at the heart of what’s going on - fuelling passion whilst driving discussion and debate.”
Eagle-eyed readers may also notice a subtle tweaking of the Scotsman’s masthead.
Johnston Press’s chief executive, Ashley Highfield, is hosting a relaunch party at the paper’s headquarters at lunchtime on Tuesday with rumours of bagpipers and poetry.
The Scotsman’s new-look website will act as template to be rolled out to other Johnston Press titles in the coming months.
