Ooh the excitement! A new national newspaper. This morning made me feel as frothy as when I bought the launch issues of Today and The Independent.

The latter’s new 20p spin-off, i (presumably a nod to the digital age rather than Ali G), is an attempt to package content in a friendlier format. Here’s a quick and rudimentary review of what the publishers are calling a new kind of newspaper:

Format
First thought, it looks like Metro. Which is unsurprising, and no bad thing, given Metro’s success. A good, clear and practical format for commuting in particular, given readers are often peering at columns from beneath a fellow traveller’s armpit. The bags of news snippets approach works pretty well, but does for me represent a dive into canteen journalism – simple fare simply served, with a certain monotony assured. Personally I miss the headlines and am left feeling a bit uninspired, even if ‘everything’ is there.

News content
Well, it’s all there. i draws on The Independent’s existing editorial content and serves it up in bite-sized chunks. The only problem is that nibbled can leave the consumer feeling a bit hungry. Plus the editorial potency seems a little watered down – many of the single-paragraph newsbites seem like the rather bland first paragraphs of Press Association or Associated Press news copy – intended to satisfy the needs of all media, but in need of some jazzing up.

Features/analysis
Actually pretty good, and the one thing that sets this apart from Metro for me (and could make i worth paying for). A good range of topics and the iQ section is pretty well written. But again, Metro has done much to inspire in recent times with its features formula and analysis.

Sport
This is where, for me, the canteen format doesn’t work. If you’re a sports fan, you’ll doubtless know last night’s results already, so a single-par list isn’t really helpful. It’d be better to lead with analysis and interviews, which it seems to have packaged well.

Business
Pretty lightweight, and nothing that can’t be accessed easily elsewhere for free.

Whether it’s worth 20p when Metro is free, much online is free and other papers don’t cost much more
Is it worth the money? I’d say yes. Does it do enough format-wise to make it an intriguing or even invaluable new way to ‘consume’ printed editorial quickly in the morning? Not really; more of an interesting approach, but evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Overall, it’s a decent read. But it left me thinking that quality editorial in the more detailed conventional press is worth paying for, which is probably not the intention. It’s not the future of journalism, but given many other publishers still seem to be tugging their beards at least it’s an attempt to innovate.