Trinity Mirror developing new paper, reports say

Trinity Mirror has begun working on the launch of a new national newspaper format, reported to be akin to The Independent's i title.

The company confirmed it was “exploring several alternative revenue streams” but did not deny reports in the Press Gazette that a team of Mirror journalists was developing the new title under Sunday editor Alison Phillips.

According to the source cited by in the report, this new title would have a cheap cover price or might be distributed for free.

The Gazette suggested the move was in response to the success of the i newspaper, which has with its 40p price, since reduced to 20p, built an average daily circulation of more than 250,000, which dwarfs that of the Independent.

At 60p, the Daily Mirror is the same price as the Daily Mail, both of which have been recently undercut by the Star's reduction to 20p, which saw its average circulation jump around 50,000 to 450,045 in the two months to November last year.