Summary The National, a 32-page tabloid costing 50 pence ($0.80, 65 euro cents), was launched on Monday
LONDON (AFP) - Scotland s first pro-independence daily newspaper is to become a permanent fixture after a successful pilot week in which it sold 100,000 copies on a single day, its publishers said Friday.
The National, a 32-page tabloid costing 50 pence ($0.80, 65 euro cents), was launched on Monday and sold out its 60,000 print run.
Puslishers Newsquest made the move after their weekly, the Sunday Herald, saw a surge in sales after becoming the only Scottish paper to favour independence in the run-up to the September 18 referendum.
Scottish residents voted by 55 percent to 45 percent (two million to 1.6 million) to remain part of the United Kingdom.
The editorial in Friday s copy said: "Our first edition sold out. We printed 100,000 copies the following day, and sales stayed at a high level.
"They have slipped slightly since -- as sales inevitably do after a launch edition. But they remain beyond our wildest dreams and are bolstered by more than 11,000 digital subscriptions.
"It s been an incredible -- if challenging -- week."
The masthead describes the tabloid as "the newspaper that supports an independent Scotland".
However, the paper insists it will not be a "mouthpiece" for the pro-independence Scottish National Party of new First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, which runs the devolved government sitting in Edinburgh.
The Spectator news magazine said: "It remains a shoestring operation for now -- but its mere appearance is more significant than its quality. It is a reminder that the thirst for change in Scotland remains unquenched."
