The stately oak is being trimmed to a flowering ornamental as the dead tree version of The Columbus Dispatch is converted to a compact tabloid beginning this fall.
The paper will be the first in the world to utilize new press technology which which not only allows the paper to be printed faster, but also saves newsprint. The new format will shrink the current print edition from a 11.5 by 22-inch page to a much leaner 10.5 by 14.6-inch page.
In their marketing of the new format they say, “It’s Smart”.
You might think of it as the iPaper.
Focus group readers have praised the new format for being easier to handle and find content. Publishers will praise the savings in newsprint. If the format is the success with readers and advertisers as deep thinkers hope, presses converted to the new technology will be busy.
The Dispatch has already signed agreements to print Gannett’s Cincinnati Enquirer and Kentucky Enquirer which will also switch to the new format later this year.