EVERY newspaper must evolve, finding fresh ways to meet the expectations of established readers, devising the editorial sparks which will ignite the interest of new generations. At a time when Scotland is poised to enter a challenging constitutional era, in a world about to engage with its next millennium, the pace of that natural evolution inevitably quickens. The Herald has already introduced a series of innovations in the past year, from a different typographical look, to the Saturday and Monday Commentator sports sections, a redesigned weekend magazine to Scotgeist. Today we embark on the next phase of that process. You will already have detected that our face looks a little different this morning, with our front-page layout further refined to enhance that daily invitation to all who encounter us on a supermarket shelf or newsagent's counter to read a little further.

We are determined to create a well-written, well-crafted newspaper, each and every day, which is the natural choice of everyone who cares about the part Scotland will play in this brave

era. Our aspiration is to inform and entertain, to offer intelligent and incisive comment about every aspect of modern life. We made it explicitly clear during September's referendum that we approve of the devolutionary journey on which Scotland is embarked. But The Herald does not owe allegiance to any political party or faction. Our ambition, simply put, is to be the newspaper that best reflects every nuance of the exciting era that is unfolding here in Scotland.

At the end of this month, we are sponsoring an exhaustive weekend of discussion about the new Scotland, being organised by the Centre for Scottish Public Policy which will include contributions from the main party leaders. We will shortly be announcing details of a national competition to find Scotland a song of its own. And The Herald Forum, which recently invited anyone with something constructive to say about the policy priorities of the Home Rule Parliament to voice themselves through our columns, is about to reveal its first fruits. Our promise is to make The Herald your indispensable guide to the new Scotland.