London Times goes tabloid after 216 years

Ha'aretz, Israel ^ | October 31, 2004 | AP

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The venerable Times of London published its final edition as a broadsheet newspaper yesterday. Tomorrow, it relaunches as a tabloid. The Times is the second British newspaper to move to a smaller, more commuter-friendly format in a bid to reverse slumping sales. "This is a significant moment in the 216-year history of The Times," editor Robert Thomson said Friday. Sales for Britain's broadsheet newspapers have been falling over the past few years. The Independent switched to the smaller format in September 2003 and has seen its sales grow by almost 20 percent.

[xp38]

Nothing the New York Times has done has ever equaled the headline the Post put out in the 1980s...Headless body found in Topless bar :)

[mewzilla]

I loved that one. There was a good one in Britain back in the mid-80's, too. Not sure if it was a Murdoch pub, though I bet it was. The Bug That Ate My Face in big block headlines, if I recall correctly. LOL.

[marshmallow]

The Times is the second British newspaper to move to a smaller, more commuter-friendly format in a bid to reverse slumping sales

I doubt that the format has anything to do with slumping sales. It's more likely due to the inroads of the internet and other electronic media combined with the ever diminishing interest of the British public in serious news, saturated as they are with pictures of bare-breasted women and never ending reports of the sexual peccadilloes of the rich and famous.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"They'll try anything to increase sales, short of honesty."

Huh? The London Times is a fabulous newspaper. Unlike other papers with "Times" in their name which come to mind...