[5] Founded by an award-winning magazine designer, Mickey Gibbons, The Stool Pigeon had a strong print identity that was modelled on Victorian tabloids.

"[2] As for its editorial philosophy, Hebblethwaite has said, "It will never follow hype, shake the oily hands of those who wish to influence her, lick the arses of musicians, or print top 10 lists.

"[4] The Stool Pigeon also contained a pull-out comics section, which featured early work by Luke Pearson, Ben Jennings, and Krent Able.

Michael Hann, writing for The Guardian, said that what set the paper apart was its unconventional presentation style, with word plays in headlines such as "Wet Paint dripping in confidence at dry run for Bloc Party tour" or "Wolf People as good as a bit of howl's your father".

[5] A 2011 article in Music Week reported that The Stool Pigeon had an average readership in excess of 50,000 readers in the UK and Ireland, putting it ahead of titles like Kerrang!