What’s the biggest frustration about reading a newspaper in Seoul?
Many might find the large size of the paper unwieldy, particularly when flipping the pages on an overcrowded subway.
Starting with the first issue of 2008, the JoongAng Sunday on Jan. 6, the large format will be history.
Although the size of the paper will be smaller, the number of pages will increase.
The JoongAng Sunday is the only Sunday newspaper in Korea. It has been published by the JoongAng Ilbo since March 18. Like the JoongAng Daily, it is part of the JoongAng family of newspapers.
According to JoongAng Ilbo management, the JoongAng Sunday aims to serve readers with a newspaper that is more convenient to read and easier to carry around, while improving the high quality of its contents during a time when the media environment is rapidly changing.
The change in size will not reduce the contents of the Sunday paper or the text size. Instead, the font size has been adjusted along with the increase in pages. The new format lends itself to much stronger visuals and images.
There are three different formats used by newspapers worldwide. The large format used by Korean papers, including the JoongAng Daily, is called a broadsheet. Another format is the tabloid, which is much smaller than the broadsheet. The third format, the “Berliner” will debut in Korea with the JoongAng Sunday.
The Berliner format is smaller than a broadsheet but slightly bigger than a tabloid. It is the format adopted by France’s Le Monde and England’s The Guardian.
The Guardian, in its own survey, saw a 15 percent readership increase when it changed to the new format.
The JoongAng Ilbo is naming this new format “Shin JoongAng,” instead of Berliner. Literally, it means “New JoongAng.”
The JoongAng Ilbo has made a huge investment in the new format, including a printing machine manufactured in Japan and assembled in Korea.
It has been on trial operation for a year.
The JoongAng Ilbo is also planning to adopt the new format in 2009 after it purchases a new printing machine.