Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various
newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages (typically 22 inches or more).
Other newspaper formats include:
*
Tabloid*
BerlinerMany broadsheets measure roughly 29½ by 23½
inches (74.9
cm × 59.7 cm) per full broadsheet spread, twice the size of a standard tabloid.
Australian and
New Zealand broadsheets always have a paper size of
A1 per spread (84.1cm by 59.4cm).
In the United States the traditional dimensions for the front page half of a broadsheet are 15 inches wide by 22 3/4 inches long. However in efforts to save
newsprint costs many U.S. newspapers (including
The Wall Street Journal) are downsizing to 12 inches wide by 22 3/4 inches long for a folded page.
The two versions of the broadsheet are:
*
Full broadsheet - The full broadsheet typically is folded vertically in half so that it forms four pages (the front page front and back and the back page front and back). The four pages are called a spread. Inside broadsheets are nested accordingly.
*
Half broadsheet - The half broadsheet is usually an inside page that is not folded vertically and just includes a front and back.
In uncommon instances an entire newspaper can be a two-page half broadsheet or four-page full broadsheet. Totally self-contained advertising circulars inserted in a newspaper in the same format are referred to as broadsheets.
Broadsheets typically are also folded horizontally in half to accommodate newstand display space. The horizontal fold however does not affect the page numbers and the content remains vertical. The most important newspaper stories are placed "above the (horizontal) fold." This contrasts with tabloids which typically do not have a horizontal fold (although tabloids usually have the four page to a sheet spread format).
Historically, broadsheets were developed when in
1712 a
tax was placed on
British newspapers based on the number of their pages.
The broadsheet has since emerged as the most popular format for the dissemination of printed news. The world's most widely circulated
English language daily broadsheet is
The Times of India, a leading English language daily
newspaper from
India, followed closely by
The New York Times from the
United States, according to the
Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Modern printing facilities most efficiently print broadsheet sections in multiples of eight pages (with four front pages and four back pages). The broadsheet is then cut in half during the process. Thus the newsprint rolls used are defined by the width necessary to print four front pages. The width of a newsprint roll is called its
web. Thus the new 12 inch wide frontpage broadsheet newspapers in the United States use a
48-inch web newsprint roll.
With profit margins narrowing for newspapers in the wake of competition from broadcast, cable television, and the internet, newspapers are looking to standardize the size of the newsprint roll. The Wall Street Journal with its 15-inch wide frontpage was printed on
60-inch web newsprint. Early adopters in the downsizing of broadsheets initially used a
50-inch web (12 1/2 inch front pages). However the
48-inch web is now rapidly becoming the definitive standard in the U.S. The
New York Times held out on the downsizing until July 2006, saying it would stick to its
54-inch web (13 1/2 inch front page). However, the paper has now announced it will adopt the narrower format starting in April 2008.
The smaller newspapers also have the advantage of being easier to handle particularly among commuters.
Broadsheet newspapers are commonly perceived to be more intellectual in content than their tabloid counterparts, using their greater size to examine stories in more depth, while less often carrying
sensationalist and
celebrity material. This distinction is most obvious on the front page: whereas tabloids tend to have a single story dominated by a headline, broadsheets allow two or more stories to be displayed, the most important at the top of the page - "above the fold."
However, while this distinction is widely used it is at best a generalization, and the term "tabloid" technically refers only to the paper's size. Some tabloid papers (particularly the
Daily Mail and
Daily Express) often use phrases such as "broadsheet quality in a tabloid format" to distinguish themselves from the "tabloid" reputation. In addition, broadsheets often publish
supplements, such as sports reviews and less news-oriented content (e.g. the
Guardian's "G2" (formerly) or the
Times's "Times 2"), in tabloid format.
In the
UK, one major daily broadsheet is distributed nationwide, and three on a Sunday; of the four major broadsheet quality papers, two are generally on the
right wing politically, and two more
left wing:
*
The Daily Telegraph/
Sunday Telegraph; broadly right-wing
*
The Sunday Times (
The Times is now a tabloid /
compact); both are broadly centre-right
*
The Guardian and
The Observer (its Sunday paper) are both now printed in
Berliner format; broadly centre-left leaning
*
The Independent on Sunday (
The Independent is now a compact); broadly liberal
Other prominent UK broadsheets include
The Herald and
The Scotsman, which are not true national newspapers, as they are mostly distributed in
Scotland. The
Financial Times is also printed and sold in other countries; as the British equivalent of the
Wall Street Journal, it lends its most detailed attention to financial news.
The average circulation of the
Times is around 656,000 and the
Telegraph sells 908,000 copies daily, while the circulations of the
Guardian and
Independent are more approximately 380,000 and 240,000. The
Financial Times sells over 440,000 copies, the
Scotsman maybe 70,000 (all figures
July 2006).
In
2003 The Independent started concurrent production of both broadsheet and tabloid ("
compact") editions, carrying exactly the same content.
The Times did likewise, but with less apparent success, with readers vocally opposing the change. The daily
Independent ceased to be available in broadsheet format in
May 2004, and
The Times followed suit from November
2004;
The Scotsman is also now published only in tabloid format.
The Guardian switched to the "
Berliner" or "
midi" format found in some other
European countries (slightly larger than a traditional tabloid) on
12 September,
2005.
The Courier-Mail, the only daily newspaper in
Brisbane,
Australia, also changed from broadsheet to tabloid format on
March 13,
2006. The only
Malaysian broadsheet,
New Straits Times, also changed to tabloid in
March 2005The main motivation cited for this shift is that
commuters prefer papers which they can hold easily on
public transport, and it is presumably hoped that other readers will also find the smaller formats more convenient. It remains to be seen how this shake-up will affect the usage of the term "broadsheet".
Argentina
La Nación, the only broadsheet in the country
Australia
The Age,
MelbourneThe Australian, a national newspaper
The Canberra TimesThe Sydney Morning HeraldBrazil
Almost all Brazilian newspapers are broadsheets, including major publications like:
O Globo,
Rio de JaneiroJornal do Brasil,
Rio de Janeiro (subscribers' edition-only since
April 16th 2006, when the newsstand edition switched to
Berliner)
Folha de S. Paulo,
São PauloO Estado de São Paulo,
São PauloCanada
The Globe and MailThe National PostThe Toronto StarThe Gazette,
MontrealLa Presse,
MontrealLe Devoir,
MontrealWinnipeg Free Press,
WinnipegChile
*''
El MercurioDenmark
Morgenavisen Jyllands-PostenPolitikenBerlingske TidendeFinland
Helsingin SanomatTurun SanomatGermany
Die ZeitDie WeltSüddeutsche ZeitungFrankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungGreece (Hellas)
KathimeriniIndia
The HinduThe Times of IndiaThe Indian ExpressThe Hindustan TimesThe DNAIreland
The Irish TimesItaly
Corriere della Sera,
MilanThe Netherlands
de VolkskrantNRC HandelsbladNew Zealand
The New Zealand Herald,
AucklandPeru
El Comercio,
LimaPhilippines
Philippine Daily Inquirer
*The Philippine StarManila Bulletin
*The Daily Tribune (The most controversial Broadsheet, because of carrying more Anti-
Arroyo Stories.
Portugal
Expresso,
LisboaRussia
IzvestiaUnited Kingdom
The Financial TimesThe Daily Telegraph (
The Sunday Telegraph)
United States
Almost all major U.S. newspapers are broadsheets, including major publications like:
The Chicago TribuneThe San Diego Union-TribuneLos Angeles Times
*The New York Times
*USA Today
*The Wall Street Journal
*The Washington Post''
Switzerland
*''
NZZ*
List of newspapers
