The current Enquirer page size, left, compared with approximate dimensions
of the ‘super compact’ canvas, right. The design is expected to change substantially.
Originally published December 2011; see update as of May, 2012, at bottom.
[CINCINNATI, Ohio] I’ve just returned from an invigorating three days helping to advise the staff of The Cincinnati Enquirer on the paper’s conversion (around October 2012) to a smaller format called “three around/ super compact.” It will be among the first U.S. papers to make the change. (See links to Poynter below for background.) The Columbus Dispatch, on whose presses the Enquirer will be printed, will convert to the smaller shape a bit sooner.
The first question posed by U.S. journalists in particular is: What size is this, exactly? The answer: about 10.5 by 14.5 inches. The second question is often: Will there be a reduction in news hole? None planned here – an increase in page count can provide the same number of column inches. That said, the paper will look and feel quite different, so we grapple with questions like this: How will space be reordered? How can navigation be improved? How can advertising be integrated in a smarter way?
I also call the three around/ super compact a “tall tab” format, as distinct from the square, squatty tab size now adopted by the majority of U.S. tabloids. It’s somewhere between the current U.S. standards for broadsheet and tab, and will be folded but still multi-sectioned. (Traditional/older readers still like to share sections, on that we can all agree.) The illustration above shows the current Enquirer, on left, compared with the approximate real estate afforded by the new format, highlighted on the right. It’s a big difference in size that suggests possibilities for a big difference in spirit, perhaps similar to some U.K. and European newspapers.
The easy answer in a conversion like this might be to cram the contents of the current broadsheet into the smaller shape, increase the page count by 20% so as to keep the same number of column inches, and call it a day. Some newspapers do approach re-formatting in this way, and it’s almost always a big mistake. Think of Kirstie Alley trying to fit into her old fat wardrobe, after slimming down for “Dancing With the Stars.” Doesn’t make sense and wouldn’t make anyone look appealing!
Luckily, Enquirer editor Carolyn Washburn sees the challenge, and opportunity, of the reformatting, and wants to approach this redesign from a comprehensive, and what I call a “diagnostic,” sense. Read the full post »
newsroom training. Yes, our march continues into the digital future, including tablet-land, but in an industry where many still see 80-90% of their revenue coming from the print side, the era of print redesign, reinvention and reinvigoration remains alive.
