Inaworldwherebiggeroftenmeansbetter,newspapersinsteadaretakingapagefromtheelectronicsindustry,pursuingaquestforsmallnessandconvenienceinanefforttoretainanincreasinglyscarcecommodity:readers.FromChiletoBritainandFinlandtoMalaysia,newspapersthatoncepublishedinthetraditionalbroadsheetsizeareswitchingtothesmallertabloid,orcompact,layout.Thetrendisblurringadistinctionbetweentraditionallystaidandseriousbroadsheetsandraciertabloidsandcouldfuelanaccelerationinthenumberofnewspapersmakingtheswitch,expertssay.Whetherthisturnsouttobeanythingmorethanashort-termfix-attractingenoughnewreadersandadvertiserstoimprovetheindustry'sfortunes-remainsunclear.WithsalesfallinginmostdevelopedeconomiesasreadersturntotheInternetandothersourcesfornews,newspaperpublishersseemeagertoembraceanystrategythatwillshoreupcirculation.Studiesshowthatreadersliketabloidsbecausetheyareeasiertohandlethanbroadsheets,particularlyonawindyparkbenchoracrowdedtrain."Peoplewantthingsinmoreconvenientpackages-whetherit'smotorcarsoriPodsornewspapers,"saidNeilHurman,managingdirectoratManningGottliebOMD,aLondon-basedfirmthatbuysadvertisingspaceinnewspapersandothermedia."Thenewspapersarejustgoingalongwiththat."TheWallStreetJournalbecamethelatestnewspapertoannounceaphysicaldownsizing,sayinglastweekthatitplannedtostartprintingitsEuropeanandAsianeditionsastabloidsinOctober,whilekeepingitsmainU.S.editionasabroadsheet.Lastmonth,theNewStraitsTimes,anEnglish-languagenewspaperinMalaysia,wententirelytabloid,afterintroducingsuchapaperasatestalongsideitsmaineditioninSeptember.AclusterofnewspapersinScandinaviaaremakingthechangethisyear,followingsimilarmoveslastyearbycompetitors.NewspapersinSwitzerland,FranceandBulgariaareshrinkingtheirpagesizes,too.JimChisholm,aconsultantandstrategyadvisertotheParis-basedWorldAssociationof用心爱心专心Newspapers,estimatesthatbytheendofthisyear,morethan40percentofnewspapersworldwidewillbetabloids,upfromaroundone-thirdin1999.Therecentwaveofconversionswaspromptedinpartbythehigh-profiledecisionbyTheIndependent,aBritishbroadsheetwhosecirculationhadfallentonearly200,000frommorethan400,000in1990,tointroduceatabloidin2003.ThemovewassoonfollowedbyTheTimesofLondon."Everybody'sbeengettingveryexcitedsincetheIndependent'smove,"Chisholmsaid,"butinfactthisissomethingthathasbeengoingonfordecades."数字化时代各大报纸瘦身求生存在人们的意识中，更大往往意味着更好，不过在报纸业界这种概念却并不完全正确。现在，报业公司也开始了它们的瘦身计划，为了保留住日渐稀少的读者，报纸正在向着更小更方便的目标前进。据《国际先驱论坛报》5月15日报道，从智利到英国，从芬兰到马来西亚，报纸出版的传统尺寸正在逐渐转换为面积更小的“小报”形式。专家表示，这一趋势将传统严肃报纸和传媒小报之间的区别模糊化了，并且也加速了进行尺寸转换的报纸数量的变化。不过，尺寸的转换究竟是一种短期的修正，还是能够吸引足够的新读者和广告商加入，以此带动报纸产业的收益，如今还不得而知。在经济发达的国家，随着越来越多的读者转投向互联网或其它媒体资源，报纸的销量每况愈下。因此，报纸出版商们必须采取某种策略以刺激销量。研究表明，因为携带方便，小报更为适合在公园长椅或者拥挤的地铁等环境里阅读，因此也得到了更多读者的青睐。“人们希望产品能够更加便于使用，无论是汽车、iPod播放器还是报纸”，伦敦一家公司的负责人尼尔·赫曼用心爱心专心表示，“如今的报纸只不过在顺应形式而已”。上周，《华尔街日报》表示计划于今年10月开始在欧洲和亚洲市场上发布小报版本，与此同时保持美国版本的原始尺寸不变。上个月，马...
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