[guardian] Guardian Rejects Tabloid — the Guardian won’t be producting a tabloid edition of the newspaper. Alan Rusbridger: ‘We’re still in the phoney war stage, with millions being ploughed into marketing a dual strategy which is, ultimately, unaffordable. No one I know believes that the Independent intends to keep publishing in two sizes. It will drop the broadsheet as soon as it can – and the Times is also trying to push its readers towards the tabloid.’ [via Words of Waldman]
The Guardian Won’t Be Changing Size
This entry was posted on Monday, February 16th, 2004 at 8:00 am and is filed under Guardian, Press.
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So if the other papers are doing it to increase circulation and cut costs, why does the Guardian not do the same? Are they not driven by shareholders, just like the rest of newspaperdom?
Besides, everyone I know thinks the mini-Indy is brilliant. therefore it must be true.
Yes, but the Indy was always a bit on the thin side so my guess is that they can adapt easily. The Guardian, on the other hand, can be a bit chunky even in broadsheet form and I would be surprised if they could fit everything into a tabloid version (unedited at least). Also, isn’t the Guardian owned by a trust or some such body…?
It’s owned by the Scott Trust and so isn’t worried about shareholders and can therefore hold back and let the Times and Indy fight it out.
I think it’s also one of the reasons Guardian Online’s web site is so good — the profits are going on free access to excellent archives. :)
BTW, it probably suprises nobody who reads LMG that I’m a regular reader of the Guardian!
Clearly the trustees of the Guardian just enjoy standing on trains and watching their fellow passengers being elbowed in the face by readers of that paper as they struggle to open it in a crowded carriage.
Actually I think this is pretty cool. They didn’t reduce the price during the wars in the 90s for much the same reason. I’m sure they will produce one eventually but they’ll let everyone else make the mistakes first. The Guardian’s unique and for now it’s staying that way.
Be honest. This is has so little to do with utility and so much to do with snobbery. Tabloid equals down-market so The Guardian is just resisting until that perception is changed by more pioneering papers.
PS I read The Guardian website but have now started occasionally buying the Indy tabloid. My preference has yet to crystallise.
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