Guardian newspaper could switch to a tabloid format and outsource its printing press
The Guardian newspaper is considering becoming tabloid size and outsourcing its print run, according to reports.
Last year, the media group revealed a "transformation programme" to make savings of 20 per cent in an attempt to stem widening losses.
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Sources close to the company told Morning Wire "all options are still on the table" and these included moving to an external printer, a decision that could spell the end of the Berliner mid-size format currently used by the Guardian and its Sunday sister paper the Observer.
The Guardian has not ruled out the possibility of sharing another company's printing press, including the plant used by Rupert Murdoch's News UK.
A Reuters report said rival publishers' presses are set up to print in broadsheet and tabloid formats. The Berliner format can still be produced using cutting equipment, although it would increase costs.
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With the industry hit by falling revenues, the Guardian, News UK, Trinity Mirror and Telegraph Media Group are working together on Project Rio, a plan to pool newspaper advertising sales.
The Guardian declined to comment on its printing plans.