Format of Newspapers

Broadsheet

Many broadsheets measure roughly 74.9 cm by 59.7 cm per spread, twice the size of a standard tabloid. Broadsheets were developed when in 1712 when a tax was placed on British newspapers based on the number of their pages. Broadsheet newspapers are perceived to be more intellectual in content than tabloids and are associated with higher-quality journalism. They look at stories in more depth and do not contain sensationalist and celebrity stories that often.

In the UK, one major daily broadsheet is distributed nationwide, and four on a Sunday: two generally on the right wing politically, and two more left wing:
• The Daily Telegraph/Sunday Telegraph (right-wing)
• The Sunday Times (The Times is now a tabloid / compact, both are centre-right)
• The Independent on Sunday (The Independent is now a tabloid / compact, both are centre-left)
• The Observer (The Guardian is now printed in Berliner format, both are left-wing)

The average circulation of the Times is around 661,000 and the Telegraph sells 908,000 copies daily, while the circulations of the Guardian and Independent are more approximately 380,000 and 265,000.

Tabloid

A tabloid format newspaper is roughly 597 mm by 375 mm per spread. The term red top is also used in Britain for tabloid newspapers because of the red mastheads used by most of them. These newspapers focus on less "serious" content, such as celebrities, the British Royal Family, sports, and shocking crime stories. However, in recent years several broadsheet newspapers have started to print in the tabloid format.

In October 2003, The Independent, which was traditionally a broadsheet, began
producing a tabloid-sized edition with the same content as the main paper. The Times then followed the month after. Since 17 May 2004, The Independent has been published in tabloid format only, and since 1 November 2004, The Times also stopped the broadsheet format completely.

The main motivation for this change in format is so commuters can read the smaller paper more easily on public transport, and it is also hoped that other readers will also find the smaller formats more convenient. Subsequently, on 12 September 2005 The Guardian changed to a "Berliner" or "midi" format. This is a format new to the UK, The Guardian needed to buy and install completely new printing presses from MAN Roland of Germany.

Examples of daily tabloids:
• The Sun
• Daily Express
• Daily Mirror
• Daily Mail
• Daily Record
• Daily Star
• Metro
• Daily Sport

Examples of Sunday tabloids:
• The Mail on Sunday
• Sunday Express
• News of the World
• Sunday Mirror
• The People

Berliner

A Berliner or "midi" normally measures about 470 mm by 315 mm. It is slightly larger than the British tabloid. It is used by lots of European newspapers, including dailies such as Le Monde in France, La Vanguardia in Spain, La Repubblica in Italy, and now The Guardian in the UK.