A compact newspaper is a
broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...
-quality newspaper printed in a
tabloid format, especially one in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. The term as used for this size came into use after ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' began producing a smaller format edition in 2003 for London's
commuter
Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...
s, designed to be easier to read when using
mass transit
Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...
.
Readers from other parts of the country liked the new format, and ''The Independent'' introduced it nationally. ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' and ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
'' copied the format as ''The Independent'' increased in sales. ''The Times'' and ''The Scotsman'' are now printed exclusively in compact format following trial periods during which both broadsheet and compact version were produced simultaneously. ''The Independent'' published its last paper edition on 20 March 2016 and now appears online only.
See also
*
Berliner (format)
Berliner is a newspaper format with pages normally measuring about . The Berliner format, or "midi", is slightly taller and marginally wider than the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid/Compact (newspaper), compact format, and is both narrower ...
*
List of newspapers
*
Paper size
Paper size refers to Technical standard, standardized dimensions for sheets of paper used globally in stationery, printing, and technical drawing. Most countries adhere to the ISO 216 standard, which includes the widely recognized A series ( ...
s
References
Newspaper formats
Paper
{{UK-newspaper-stub