Trinity Mirror has confirmed it is to launch the first new standalone newspaper for 30 years - and said it will be an "optimistic" and "politically neutral" title.
The paper, to be called The New Day, will hit news stands next Monday.
The publisher said the newspaper "will cover important stories in a balanced way, without telling the reader what to think", and stressed that it will be a standalone paper and "not a sister title" to The Daily Mirror.
The move comes despite a sharp decline in newspaper sales as readers switch to online websites. The Independent and The Independent on Sunday newspapers are to close next month and go digital-only.
But Trinity Mirror insists there is still an appetite for the printed word, and The New Day will appeal to new readers.
It will run to 40 pages every day and be available free from more than 40,000 retailers on its first day, Monday February 29. It will trial at 25p for two weeks and sell for 50p after that.
Alison Phillips, The Mirror's weekend editor, will also edit The New Day.
She said: "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 news stand 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."
Simon Fox, chief executive of Trinity Mirror, said: "Over a million people have stopped buying a newspaper in the past two years but we believe a large number of them can be tempted back with the right product.
"Revitalising 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."
Mr Fox told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme the launch of The New Day has nothing to do with the imminent closure of The Independent as a print title.
He said: "The very sad demise of The Independent and Independent on Sunday had nothing to do with the timing of this launch."
And he suggested the newspaper will aim to appeal to women, saying it is "targeting a demographic of women and men, others might say men and women - there is a slight nuance".
Mr Fox said the long-term slump in newspaper sales is because "there has been no innovation in the product" and insisted the new paper can buck the trend.
He also revealed that, while the newspaper will have a presence on social media, it will not have a website.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel