Cut Down To Size
December 15, 2005In today’s SMH there is an article in the business liftout regarding the future of the Brisbane Courier Mail. Owned by News Ltd and the state’s only daily paper, this broadsheet has been scheduled to become a tabloid in the first half of next year. Oh the humanity! My old mate Beats (”the premier” as we called him at school) has put out a call for assistance to Fairfax to establish a “quality paper” in Queensland. As Queensland celebrates its 4 millionth member, Beats reckons that the state is now more than a one paper town.
Apparently News Ltd is doing this across its global network of print publications, similar actions having already taken place in London and somewhere in America. It has come about to counter dropping circulation figures. Curran (2002) in ‘Rival narratives of media history‘ wrote of how many view the media “primarily as a source of consumer pleasure”. Changing the entire format of a daily newspaper in response to the perceived wants of the public sits at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum as compared to the early days of the BBC radio programmes and their attempts at ‘cultural evangelism’ .
