Guardian revamps weekday and weekend editions

The Guardian is revamping its weekday and weekend editions, which will include a redesigned Weekend magazine featuring new columnists on Saturdays, and a new Journal section with “long reads” during the week.

The design and content changes to the Guardian News & Media-owned newspaper will be introduced from Saturday. New features running in the Weekend magazine will include a weekly column by writer and commentator Sophie Heawood, a satirical “modern tribes” column by Catherine Bennett, and a regular food column by former MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers.

Musician Cerys Matthews will pen a Doctor Crotchety column, prescribing playlists for key moments in life, while Pretty in Pink actor Molly Ringwald is joining the magazine as an advice columnist.

Laura Barton is Weekend’s new motoring writer while US graphic novelist Chris Ware will also be writing for the magazine.

Melissa Denes, editor of Weekend, said: “We’ve added new voices and dip-in elements at the front of the magazine, and improved our back section, with stronger photography, sharper design and a new range of columnists. We’ve aimed to keep as much as we can of the things we know our readers love, and to squeeze in that little bit extra – to give them more inspiration and enjoyment alongside our in-depth features, interviews and great first-person writing.”

The Guardian’s weekday paper is being refreshed with the introduction of the new Journal section from 16 September. It will appear up to four times a week, and is being overseen by Jonathan Freedland, GNM’s executive editor, opinion.

Journal will include comment, leaders, letters and some reviews alongside regular longer features of 3,000 to 5,000 words. It will feature a range of guest contributors, along with some of the Guardian’s most popular journalists and columnists, writing about subject matters including politics, science and technology.

Freedland said: “The new Journal section will strengthen the heart of the Guardian newspaper, providing a new home for our most reflective journalism. We’re very excited about our plans for long reads, both in the paper and online, and I’m thrilled that Jonathan Shainin has joined us from the New Yorker to get this new venture off the ground.”

The revamp is being supported by a five-week marketing campaign, created by advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, which will include a 90-second film to be shown in cinemas along with print and outdoor advertising.

The cover prices of the weekday issue of the Guardian, £1.60, and weekend issue, £2.50, will remain the same. The GNM sister title, the Observer, is raising its price from £2.70 to £2.90 on Sunday.

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