Updated Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 03:21 EST
TAKEAWAY: Return to the tabloid format, online only Saturday edition and early posting of the next morning’s edition: all changes in store for France’s financial daily, La Tribune. AND: Our greater tolerance for change
It’s a tab—-again—-for La Tribune
Important dates in the graphic history of La Tribune: (2006) Redesigns as Tabloid; (2008) Becomes a Berliner; (2010) Returns to Tabloid Format
Overlapping the prototype of the new tabloid La Tribune over the existing Berliner version shows the difference in sizes, mostly height
La Tribune: lots is happening at this French financial daily, and the year 2010 marks a year of innovation and transformation.
1. The printed newspaper, which converted to the Berliner format in 2008, returns to the more economical tabloid format in early January. “We will save money and we will save paper and be more ecologically minded,” says Valerie Decamp, La Tribune’s general manager.
2. The Saturday edition becomes digital only—-no more printing of this edition for La Tribune. The weekend readers will find the same features and commentaries they are used to, but with more of a multimedia approach.
3. Each night at 9 o’clock online readers of latribune.fr can find the content of the next day’s edition online—-that is the entire newspaper, which will allos business people to get a leg up on financial news just after dinner and before they retire for the night.
“These are some of the ways that we are showing that we are innovative and that we are tuned in to the needs and the lifestyle of our busy readers,” Valerie says.
I have accompanied La Tribune in various projects since 2006, when it became a tabloid; we at Garcia Media were there again in 2008 for the conversion to Berliner, then working with La Tribune art director Eric Beziat, with whom I am now working diligently on the necessary adjustments to take La Tribune back to the tabloid format.
“The changes are more in the size than in the design,” Eric says. “We are keeping all the features and visual elements that our readers have come to like very much.”
Adjustments
As Eric says, we have done for this conversion to Berliner to tabloid a series of adjustments in head sizes, proportions of headers to adjust to a smaller page, and an overall review of all visual details, especially for supplements and special editions.
“Some texts will have to be cut, but the editors are aware of that, and it will not hurt to write a little more concisely,” Eric said.
Audiences more accustomed to constant change
The Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad changed the traditional logo it had had since 1943 to the simple “fd” in September 2009: no major complaints from readers
Someone asked me today in Paris what I thought of La Tribune’s reverting to a format I had abandoned in 2008. The reporter posing the question asked:
Don’t you think that this is too soon to go back to the same format of a 14 months ago? Will this hit the readers the wrong way?
There is always the chance of this happening, of course. However, as someone who has been in this business almost 40 years, I can attest to people’s ability to adjust and to move on with changes in products they consume.
I am also aware that the changes that we can now effect—-such as this one of La Tribune, or the more dramatic change last September when Holland’s financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad abandoned its 1943 logo for a modern one limited to two letters——more dramatic and sudden changes, and users stay with us, realize that we live in a world that is constantly changing, and simply accept what is presented to them, as long as they understand why the change is made. Read more about the “fd” here.
In the case of La Tribune, readers of the financial daily are themselves quite aware of what the recession has done to the economy, so with that comes a greater acceptance to what Valerie Decamp calls “necessary measures” to make sure that the newspaper continues to be viable economically speaking.
No question about it: audiences have come a long way (have we pushed them that way?) in their abilities to absorb and to accept changes. A good thing.
Unfortunately, sometimes it is editors and publishers who fear the changes. Not such a good thing.
In India: a new newspaper design contest
When most news designers think of entering their work in a contest, two main events come to mind, the Society for News Design contest, or the European Newspaper Awards, both renowned and respected.
Now, in India, a new newspaper design contest is announced to recognize the best of newspaper design in 2009.
To celebrate the first-year anniversary of the website www.newspaperdesign.ning.com, its creator Sajeev Kumar T.K, visual editor of Kerala Kaumudi, of Kerala, is conducting the first ever Indian newsdesign competition.
Those interested may contact him directly at: tksajeev@gmail.com
TheMarioBlog post #441