It was founded and edited for the first three and half years of its existence by Matt Kelly, who formerly worked at the Daily Mirror and Local World. The newspaper's owners stated that The New European was to have an initial lifespan of just four issues, beyond which publication would be reviewed on a week-by-week basis. By the eve of the third edition the paper revealed it had broken even and sold around 40,000 copies. It continued to publish beyond its fourth issue, and claimed in July 2019 that it continued to be profitable. The circulation was reported in November 2016 to be "about 25,000" and, in February 2017, to be 20,000. In March 2017 Alastair Campbell became the newspaper's editor-at-large months after it won the serial rights to the fifth volume of his diaries about the Blair government, which it serialised over three weeks. In May 2017 it said it only had one permanent staff member and around 40 contributors. The paper announced it was changing from Berliner to Compact format in July 2017. In May 2018 the newspaper devoted a whole issue to feminism, rebranding as The New Feminist, edited by Caroline Criado-Perez with contributions from Helen Lewis, Samira Ahmed, and Konnie Huq. On 29 March 2019, the date the UK was expected to leave the European Union under Theresa May, the newspaper devoted a whole edition to the writings of Will Self. The 25,000-word essay was illustrated by Martin Rowson. In September 2019, Kelly announced he was promoting Jasper Copping, previously the paper’s deputy editor, to the role of editor, while taking the role of publisher himself. Regular contributors include Howard Jacobson, Bonnie Greer, Miranda Sawyer, Jonathan Freedland, Victor Lewis-Smith, Alastair Campbell and Mitch Benn.
Digital
The paper announced in November 2016 that it was moving to become more digitally focussed. In May 2017 it launched its first podcast which now attracts between 10,000 and 15,000 listeners each week. The website, which combines contributions from the newspaper with unique online-only content, reportedly attracts more than two million page views a month.
Reception
Awards
In March 2017 the Society of Editors awarded the New European the Chairman's award. In May 2017, the New European won prizes at the annual British Media awards for Launch of the Year, Print Product of the Year Content Team of the Year and Pioneer of the Year for the editor Matt Kelly. In July 2017, the Archant Group won the Professional Publishers Association Chairman's award with the launch of the New European cited.
Criticism
In July 2016, just a week after the launch of the paper, Vice News described The New European as a newspaper for the "sore loser" that is "not united by a love for Europe, but rather a disdain for the 52%". In April 2017, The New European sent out a press release of its cover story titled "Skegness: The seaside town that Brexit could close down". In the press release it also mentioned that the story was "unlikely to go down well, locally, and there is an opportunity to stir up some controversy locally". The New European had claimed the press release had been sent out in error and issued another copy without the commentary. The Spectator ran a piece titled "The New European reveals its plan to troll Skegness". It said "Although the pro-EU paper claims it is an advocate for unity and tolerance, it seems they hold no qualms about stirring up division in UK towns". The cartoon image on the cover of that issue, was a play on the The Jolly Fisherman originally commissioned by the Great Northern Railways, and received heavy criticism. The i newspaper reported that the people of Skegness are “hurt and offended” that the town’s mascot, the Jolly Fisherman, has been “exploited” on the front cover of the New European magazine. On his website, Member of Parliament for Boston and SkegnessMatt Warman said it "is not only fundamentally wrong but also a fundamentally daft way of trying to think this country can move forward… We are all leaving the European Union people need to get over that rather than campaign to try and stop it which is what this newspaper is trying to do.”
