A new weekly newspaper is launching on Friday to give a voice to “dismayed” EU Referendum ‘Remain’ voters.
The New European is aimed at the 48% of people who it says feel disenfranchised and a “real sense of loss” after voting for Britain to stay in the European Union.
The paper has been conceived, designed and printed in just nine days and claims to be the fastest-created British newspaper in history.
The New European believes the mainstream press does not reflect Remain voters’ views, after it was revealed that Britain’s newspapers overwhelmingly backed Brexit before the referendum.
The ‘pop-up’ paper will cost £2 and is committed to run for four weeks. Most copies will be on sale in ‘Remain’ heartlands like London, Liverpool and Manchester, but will also be in newsagents in pro-Leave areas like Wales and can also be ordered online.
It plans to offer “in-depth analysis of the Brexit process, its implications and progress as well as a celebration of European life and culture”, after huge protests in London against the result of the vote.
“It’s not a political group, it’s an attitude.”
The New European will print 200,000 copies of its first issue - more than the Guardian prints daily. It will adjust that number based on sales, saying each edition will be a “referendum on the next”.
Its publishers hope it will be carried by readers “like a badge of honour”.
Writers include the Guardian’s Jonathan Friedland and ex-Loaded and GQ editor James Brown, broadcaster Miranda Sawyer and Tanit Koch, the editor of Europe’s most-read newspaper Bild - but politicians are banned.
Matt Kelly, the paper’s editor, told The Huffington Post UK it would cater to the “broad spectrum” who voted Remain. “It’s not a political group, it’s an attitude,” he said.
“It’s an attitude of expansiveness and connection to Europe. And so I think our newspaper is a not a political newspaper, it’s a newspaper that tries to provide a platform for encouraging discussion and delight in many things that we love about Europe in the first place.”
The paper is published by Archant, the company behind papers including the East Anglian daily Times, The Norwich Evening News and Ipswich Star.
The paper says it is “not aligned with old political divisions but with an enthusiasm and love for Europe; a new quality newspaper that gives voice to the values of the 48%”.
Editor Kelly said: “We are currently in an extraordinary period of time in the UK, with all of society seemingly in a state of flux and turmoil.
“I believe the 48% who voted to Remain are not well served by the traditional press and that there is a clear opportunity for a newspaper like The New European that people will want to read and carry like a badge of honour.
“It will upset Michael Gove to hear that we value expertise and have some of the world’s best brains in their areas writing for us. And it is also a politician-free zone.
“They are banned.”
“We’re only putting it out with the expectation it will last four weeks,” he explained to HuffPost UK. “We call it pop-up publishing. If people like it we’ll carry on. The reason we’re doing four weeks is that it’s a very timely, zeitgeisty kind of publications, so we think the market is now, that’s why we’re rushed it out within a week.
“We don’t think that you necessarily have to invest millions in market research and television ads and marketing campaigns to launch a new newspaper, we think that print still has a valuable part to play in people’s lives but maybe the are new ways of doing that.”
The team came up with the idea for the paper last Tuesday, made a business plan for it a day later, and it hits newsagents on Friday.
It was designed by Archant’s in-house designers, while most writers were commissioned from outside the publisher. “They’ve done an amazing job on what is effectively the first go,” said Kelly. “We had one shot at getting this right.”
Other writers in The New European include:
- Saul Klein, leading European VC and partner with LocalGlobe
- Wolfgang Blau, ex editor of Zeit Online and former digital director of The Guardian
- Simon Calver, partner with BGF Ventures and former CEO of Mothercare and LoveFilm
- Annabelle Dickson, leader of the Westminster political lobby for regional newspapers
- Football writers Steve Anglesey and Paddy Davitt
- Peter Bale, CEO of the of the Centre for Public Integrity who broke the Panama Papers story
- Ahmed Osman, European fashion writer