The venerable Times newspaper of London ended more than two centuries of tradition on Saturday when its last edition in broadsheet format appeared, to be replaced by a smaller, narrower newspaper that does not want to be called a tabloid.
From Monday, “The Thunderer” — as it has traditionally sometimes been known — will appear in a form that the management prefers to call “compact”.
“Monday November 1 2004 will mark another important date in The Times‘s long and extraordinary history,” editor Robert Thompson wrote in a special message to readers in Saturday’s edition.
“From Monday November 1, The Times will be a compact newspaper.”
The newspaper, owned by international media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, has already tested the water and found the new format helped sales.
It first introduced the compact version last November and this has co-existed until now with the broadsheet.
“We tested the market, and our sales in Northern Ireland, Scotland and the West Country rose significantly when we became a compact-only newspaper in those areas,” said Paul Hayes, Times chief executive.
“The move is a response to clear reader demand and we look forward to a compact future.”
The Times appeared as a broadsheet for 216 years, but it was only in the mid-1960s that news first appeared on its front page, which had hitherto been covered in small advertisements.
The Times now follows in the footsteps of another London newspaper, the Independent, which changed to a compact format last May 17.
A national daily newspaper whose sales stood at 661 000 daily last June, The Times is part of the News Corporation group, controlled by Murdoch.
Traditionally it was regarded as the unrivalled newspaper of record for Britain and played an influential role in politics and forming public opinion.
More recently, it has been seen as tending more to reflect the owner’s conservative political views.
The publishers prefer the word “compact” to describe their new product because the word “tabloid” smacks of the sensationalism of mass circulation dailies such as The Sun — another Murdoch product. — Sapa-AFP