Its interesting to read the these 2 "insightful" pieces. Charlie Crawford only briefly talks about the title itself, his article is more about the motivations behind the change, surely someone of his position within the media would engage with those at Newsquest and understand the motivations and considerations surrounding this change. Media and all its associated service providers have to get behind changes and push them positvely for the good of the industry and all concerned within. If these changes were driven by cost considerations, and the premuim feel of the publication v its competitors would limit those cost savings, are the management of this title any different to management of other businesses across the UK.

On the comment, I wish Mel well, personally ,I buy a newpaper for the strength of its editorial . Most families have dual purchase on a Sunday which would address this minor concern. Sunday Newspapers are for reflective journalism and analysis as well as setting the agenda for the week ahead. As Charlie said "the content itself is of the title’s usual high standard"........Lets get behind innovation in Scotland for a change. On the subject of advertisers , im sure , as with all media platforms there will be flexibility where required to accomodate and promote brands and their campaigns.

I like it. I like it fine. ( Informed Comment from Brian McNair, Professor of Journalism)

The new-look Sunday Herald can be pronounced a success. Its slimmed-down magazine format plays to the strengths of the print medium, and what continues to be the newspaper form’s unique selling proposition in the digital era - its tactility, its look, its convenience and efficiency as a technology. Its beautiful simplicity, upon which four centuries of cultural dominance were built.

I was rather sceptical when I read somewhere that the new-look SH was going to be printed on the ‘best possible’ paper, as if readers were expected to care more about the presentation than the content, but actually, it DOES look and feel quite luxurious, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

An article on the late Gerry Rafferty is illustrated with a previously unseen and very lovely piece of album cover art by John Byrne. An arresting (oops!) photograph of a grim-faced Tommy Sheridan takes up the entire front page. Inside, there is a solidity and clarity about the typeface which distinguishes the relaunched title from other Sunday newspapers. The layout of articles and headlines is strikingly original. It’s the Sunday Herald, Jim, but not as we’ve known it.

In my new life down under I have become almost entirely dependent on the tablet and lap top for access to Scottish journalism. Back in 'Weegieworld' for the festive season I’ve enjoyed once again thumbing through the pages of the local rag, rifling back and forth from one article to another, cutting and clipping something that might be useful for my research, sitting at the bar with a pint and a paper. The iPad is a revolutionary tool for a Glasgow boy in Brisbane, without which I would have had much less incentive to follow the trials of Tommy Sheridan or the ebb and flow of Scottish politics. But it will never replace the visceral pleasures of picking up a paper and immersing oneself for an hour or so in the understated miracle of ink on newsprint.

Fewer and fewer people share that view, of course, and newspapers find themselves in a desperate search for survival strategies in a world of proliferating alternatives to print. Our cultural infrastructure is being rebuilt from the ground up, and the print platform is being pushed to the periphery. Journalism isn’t dying out, but newspapers are in decline. Managers have to reimagine the form, and ask: what do readers want from a newspaper? What can the newspaper do that other more gimmicky technologies can’t? What can be jettisoned from the newspaper without damage being done to its core purpose as a delivery vehicle for journalism?

The Sunday Herald’s response to these questions is to abandon the multi-section format established in Britain by Andrew Neil and the Sunday Times in the 1980s, and which has been the default packaging for a ‘quality’ Sunday ever since. Supplements devoted to holidays, reviews, commentary and analysis; glossy magazine pull-outs full of fashion and style tips - no more. All that’s left is one 96-page section, easy to hold and navigate. Most of the regular writers are still there, and the editorial stance remains as was. Familiar elements have been rearranged but not abandoned.

"We stand or fall on the quality of our journalism", declares the streamlined Sunday Herald’s first editorial, and in the end that’s what will make the difference between survival and extinction. But substance isn’t everything, and style matters too. And the new Sunday Herald is a stylish little thing, worth £1.30 of your hard earned cash any day.

Brian McNair is a recent former Professor of Journalism at Strathclyde University. He now has a similar position at the Queensland University of Technology, in Australia. Read his blog - Kelvin Grove