'Compact' Age to keep tone
The publisher expects the redesign to result in a short-term lift in sales of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age during the launch period.
Amid unprecedented change sweeping the media industry, the publisher has released details of the switch of the Monday-to-Friday editions of the Herald and The Age from broadsheet to so-called "compacts" on March 4.
The Saturday editions of the two metropolitan newspapers will remain unchanged. However, Fairfax plans to switch them to compact formats within the next year when it closes its two biggest printing facilities at Chullora in Sydney and Tullamarine in Melbourne, and shifts the publishing of the newspapers to regional sites.
As part of the latest changes, new sections will appear in The Age, including Pulse - encompassing health, science and personal wellbeing - which will run on Mondays. The Shortlist will replace the EG section and appear on Fridays. One of the biggest changes will be the shift of the sports section to the back of The Age.
The size of the body type of stories will be increased slightly.
Garry Linnell, the editorial director of Fairfax Metro Media, said surveys had shown that readers' chief concern was that the redesign of the newspapers did not change their editorial tone.
"The size might be changing physically but the journalism that we pursue and practise is not going to change one bit," he said. "The tone remains the same."
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
Fairfax Media is switching the Monday-to-Friday editions of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age from broadsheet to compact-sized formats, with the change taking effect on March 4.
No. Fairfax's editorial director Garry Linnell says the journalism and editorial tone will remain the same despite the smaller physical size — surveys showed readers were most concerned about that.
Not immediately. Saturday editions will remain unchanged on launch, but Fairfax plans to switch them to compact formats within the next year when it closes key printing facilities and shifts publishing to regional sites.
Fairfax cites the broader, unprecedented change sweeping the media industry and expects the redesign to refresh the papers; it also plans operational changes like closing major printing facilities and moving some printing to regional sites.
Fairfax expects a short-term lift in sales of both papers during the launch period following the switch to compact formats.
The Age will introduce new sections including Pulse (covering health, science and personal wellbeing) on Mondays, The Shortlist replacing the EG section on Fridays, and it will move the sports section to the back of the paper; the body type size for stories will also be increased slightly.
Fairfax plans to close its two biggest printing facilities at Chullora in Sydney and Tullamarine in Melbourne and will shift publishing of the newspapers to regional printing sites as part of the rollout to compact formats.
The compact change for the Monday-to-Friday editions starts on March 4; initially it applies to weekdays only, with Saturday editions to be converted within the next year.
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