News & Tech
Gannett’s Burlington Free Press has announced that it will begin publishing in a new compact format by the end of June. The paper will be 11″ by 15″ and divided into sections, which will be stitched. The shape is taller and more tapered than a squarish tabloid and offers increased color capacity and large savings on paper and pressroom time. It requires a major retrofitting of existing presses but does not require buying new ones. The vendor, Pressline, sold a similar system (without the stitching element) last year to the Columbus Dispatch, which will print its own resized paper and a new “three-around” Cincinnati Enquirer, also a Gannett paper. The Enquirer is scheduled to switch formats later this year, while the Dispatch transition will not be completed until early next year. Poynter previously covered the new press system and its first sale as an example of an innovation that took a long time — three years — to find its first buyer.
Correction: This post originally referred to the Burlington Free Press’ new format as “three-around.” It is not. It is also not the first in the U.S. to use a compact size.
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