Newspapers lose some weight

In an industry-wide effort to maintain ad revenue and cut costs, newspapers are downsizing to a new 12-inch width. Decreased circulation, declining ad revenue and increased competitiveness from the internet-as-news-source has required that the industry evolve. On Friday, the Chicago Tribune followed the big dogs: Wall Street Journal (lost three inches) and New York Times (lost an inch and a half).

In a Forbes article, industry spokespeople assure us that a new design will not make the compromise too drastic:

“The change will result in the space for news being reduced by about 10 percent, but the paper will make up for about half of that decline by adding extra pages. Additional pages may also be added from time to time to accommodate major news stories.”

Newspapers are making an effort to compete in a time of changing reader habits to other mediums with bigger advertising messages: magazines, TV, outdoor, etc. The reduced newspaper size will not reduce the advertising size, making it seem bigger. Scott Smith, president, publisher and CEO of the Chicago Tribune Company calls this an “enhanced advertising environment.”

Forbes: Chicago Tribune to Cut Page Size