Nowy Dzień was launched by the publishing company Agora SA, after its flagship publication Gazeta Wyborcza had come under increasing pressure from Fakt, a low-cost tabloid introduced by Axel Springer Polska in 2003.

Nowy Dzień was conceived as a "quality tabloid" with entertaining, but at the same time more serious journalism than that of typical tabloids such as Fakt's German "parent" product, Bild-Zeitung.

The paper's editorial staff consisted mainly of detached Gazeta Wyborcza employees.

The publisher envisaged an average circulation of 250,000 copies, but it remained continuously below that and had a downward trend.

Since then, Gazeta Wyborcza has had to continue its increasingly difficult effort to appeal to both upmarket and middle-market readerships.