View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Comment
October 19, 2010

The Portuguese newspaper which may have inspired new UK daily ‘i’

By Dominic Ponsford1

The little we have seen so far of the new daily newspaper being launched by the Independent next week – ‘i’ – suggests it may have drawn inspiration from the Portuguese newspaper of the same name.

From what we can see (in this ad from yesterday’s Evening Standard) the design will be radical, with a vertical masthead going down the left of the front page – rather than across the top.

Portugal’s ‘i’ launched in May 2009 and by the end of the year claimed to be the third biggest selling daily in the country.

It is radically different design wise from a conventional newspaper, looking and reading more like a magazine.

Instead of the usual news, features, comment and sport sections it is divided into Opinion, Radar, Zoom, and More.

(Then) editor Martim Avillez Figueiredo gave an interview which appeared in Press Gazette magazine in January this year.

He said: “Readers felt they needed a newspaper that gave a hierarchy to information that was dispersed in several platforms, and that gave them what many newspapers don’t give, which has rigorous editing (to highlight) that which deserves to be analyzed in depth…

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

“This is the way people nowadays relate to information, and we think this is the reason why the newspaper (i) has a high circulation, because it meets with the mind of the reader.”

According to the paper’s own research, 25 per cent of its readers generally never read newspapers before.

Looking at all the other UK national newspapers, they haven’t changed that much design wise in a century. They still follow typographical conventions from the age of hot-metal, direct descendants of Gutenberg’s 15th century moveable type printing press.

The Independent’s new ‘i’ could be a chance to follow the example of its Portuguese namesake and create a radically different kind of newspaper.

Topics in this article : , ,

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network