Good News Thursday: New Scottish Paper a Hit with Pro-independence Readers

The National photo courtesy of The Guardian/UK

We are always smiling when a new print product does well.

In Scotland, the media company Newsquest’s new tabloid, which runs with the banner “The newspaper that supports an independent Scotland”, launched on Monday and the print run has now been increased to as much as 100,000 to match reader demand for the title.

The National will run as a five-day pilot to gauge whether the 32-page title could be commercially viable.

Early results are encouraging! The National's editors are confident too. “Now that we have passed this initial test period, we have exciting plans for developing the National into a mainstay of the Scottish media landscape,” says editor Richard Walker.

More information:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/nov/25/national-double-print-newsquest-pro-independence-scottish The National to double print run after selling out launch issue

Also great news at WaPo

Bezos on ‘the thing we’re changing’ at The Washington Post

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2014/12/8557644/bezos-thing-were-changing-emthe-washington-postem

Highlight:

Amazon chairman and C.E.O. Jeff Bezos is optimistic about the future of The Washington Post, which he bought last year, because the Beltway news institution is growing its digital audience while repositioning itself as a national and global brand.
"The Post was always, even though it had a national and global reputation, the product was local and that was by design," Bezos said Tuesday during an interview with Henry Blodget at Business Insider's 2014 Ignition conference.
"For a time, it was a good strategy, and as a business it was super successful for decades, but that is what we're changing," Bezos continued. "The Post has the good fortune of being the newspaper of the capital city of the United States of America, and that's a good starting point to be a national and even global publication, so that's the thing that's changing."