rss feedTabloid Wars: Is Bigger Always Better?
Posted by Heather Muse at 12:00 PM, April 22, 2008
If you're reading today's Daily News, you'll notice several mentions of how "big" the paper is. Strip heads at the bottom of several pages remind you, "THE DAILY NEWS! YOU'LL NEVER NEED A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO READ US!" and "DON'T BE FOOLED BY THAT INCREDIBLE SHRINKING TABLOID! WE'RE BIGGER." Heck, even the front page proclaims the paper is "THE BIGGEST TABLOID IN NEW YORK!"
Why all the braggadocio about size? Because the Post has shrunk its pages in time for Earth Day. Gawker notes that the new dimensions mirror those of the Wall Street Journal folded in half. This allows the recent News Corporation acquisition to be printed on the same presses as the Post.
The News declarations aren't the only ones in town. The Post goes into overkill with its self-promoting strips: "Peyser, Peters, Malkin, Taheri/Post columnists who pull no punches and tell it like it is" and "Up to the minute news, business, weather & sports/Log on to nypost.com" litter the bottom of each page like a glut of Burma Shave signs on a two-lane highway.
It's times like these that I love living in a two-tabloid town. New York is big enough for the both of them!
