The Edinburgh Evening News is to become the Edinburgh Evening Good News later this week, when it dedicates an entire issue to happy, positive and uplifting stories.

Editor John McLellan has designated Thursday, June 28 as ‘Good News Day’ and plans to use that day’s paper to celebrate the good things about Edinburgh and the Lothians.

The issue will feature a special masthead on the front page, renaming the paper The Edinburgh Evening Good News, and the feel-good factor will extend to news, business, features and sport.

John said: “Newspapers are always accused of being harbingers of doom and gloom. And although it’s true to say that the biggest stories usually involve some element of human tragedy or failings, newspapers do not focus entirely on the negative aspects of life.

“So we thought it would be worthwhile to celebrate the good things about Edinburgh and the Lothians and to ensure that every single story in one day’s paper was positive about life here.

“After all, Edinburgh has an incredible amount going for it – a beautiful city with low crime, low unemployment, fantastic entertainment, top class sports, great schools and universities and a manageable size.”

John told HoldtheFrontPage that the city had been experiencing a “period of uncertainty” following changes in power for the local council and Parliament, resulting in a difficult atmosphere, and he hoped the unique issue would “give people something a little bit different and cheer them up”.

He said June 28 would be the ideal day as it was the day before Scotland’s traditional holiday period and the end of term for schoolchildren there, meaning many people would be feeling “demob happy”.

He also made reference to Tony Blair’s comments earlier this month, when the Prime Minister accused the media of being a “feral beast” that focuses on scandal and controversy, adding: “The fact that it’s also the first full day Tony Blair is not Prime Minister has nothing to do with it!”

The Evening News will be promoting its good news plans in-paper ahead of Thursday, and has said it will go ahead pending no major disasters.

John said: “If something happened on the scale of 9/11 that was difficult to ignore then we would put our plans on hold.

“Anything below that we will simply find a positive angle or not cover it at all.

“We will be able to follow up stories and this is only one day out of 300 publishing days a year.”