A
compact newspaper is a
broadsheet-quality newspaper printed in a
tabloid format, especially one in the
United Kingdom. The term came into use in its current use when
The Independent began producing a smaller format edition for London's
commuters, designed to be easier to read on the
train/
tube/
bus.
Readers from other parts of the country liked the new format,[citation needed] with the result that The Independent introduced it nationally. Other newspapers (The Times and The Scotsman) copied the format as The Independent increased sales. All three newspapers are now printed exclusively in compact format following trial periods during which both broadsheet and compact version were produced simultaneously.
The term “compact” was coined in the 1970s by the Daily Mail when that newspaper went tabloid, although the Mail now calls itself a tabloid. It is often used to differentiate newspapers with more traditional content from those with a flamboyant or salacious publishing style, even though they may share the same size.
>The Courier-Mail, the only daily newspaper in Brisbane, Australia, refers to itself as a “compact” since its change from a broadsheet format to the standard Australian tabloid size in 2006.
