The 46th Harry Brittain Fellowship
17 May to 24 June 2004
GEOFF COLLETT (New Zealand)
Compact or Tabloid
The British press is famously as lively as anything it reports on, and the
2004 Harry Brittain Fellows weren't deprived of seeing Fleet Street's
finest live up to that reputation.
Fellows arrived just in time to witness the fall-out from the Daily
Mirror's hoax photos of British soldiers "abusing" Iraqi prisoners,
culminating in the spectacular departure of Mirror editor Piers Morgan and
the massed told-you-so glee of his peers.
But it was rather less dramatic stuff which resonated with many of this
year's fellows from their meetings with various representatives of the
national media: the tabloidisation (or should that be the compacting) of
the quality broadsheets.
The struggling Independent had led the way to the new smaller format and
was boasting of astonishing circulation growth. Its marketing man
suggested the move was "the most ground-breaking initiative in the history
of British newspapers".
Fellows with CPU representatives, Lindsay Ross (middle back row), Jane Rangeley (right back row) and Jemima Giffard-Taylor (back row, on Lindsay's left). |
Overstatement or not, the Independent's experience was good enough for the
Times to follow suit, and while it says it is satisfied with its
performance, its numerous detractors, rivals and critics reckon the Times
has still to come to grips with tabloid/compact publishing.
The Guardian is meanwhile planning a compact of sorts, while the Daily
Telegraph has been watching from the sidelines, perhaps hamstrung by the
wrangle over its future in the latest Fleet Street ownership shake-up.
Various European papers are also following the trend. The Independent, at
least, is convinced that in a consumer age where small-and-smart rules,
there's only one way for newspapers to go - and that's compact.
For further information on the training programme,
contact
Jane Rangeley -
jane@cpu.org.uk
Tel: +44 20 7583 7733 Fax: +44 20 7583 6868.
