It is claimed that the tabloid form is easier to read on trains and buses. What drivel!

65 pages on the “New Age,” or so we are told. Sometimes the tabloid newspaper has over 100 pages. Try turning pages over sitting in a chair impossible without disturbing the paper. In my opinion it can only be achieved using a table to support the darned thing.

Then added to the mess are a number of unwanted extras; wrap around, insertion pages of all sorts, fly sheets, small advertising cards and god knows what else. All this is supposed to make easy reading on a train! What rubbish! What a source of litter!

As for quality, in the mid-20th century and earlier the “London Times” were known as the “mighty thunderer.” Why it was even said Governments quaked and trembled over an adverse editorial column. Alas no more!

The debate about tabloid vs broadsheet is largely a phony one. Two things in particular stand out about modern newspapers. The first is that in this country at least they do not meet the information needs of an educated public. Hence the huge increase in Internet use to be able to keep reasonably well informed, being able to draw upon a diverse range of sources. Several sites such as information clearing house have grown precisely to meet this demand.

The second point is that the mainstream media, irrespective of size/format essentially serves the interests of a small class of powerful people and institutions. The gossip pages, crosswords, sport etc are essentially the equivalent of ancient bread and circuses to keep the masses from getting restless.

It is not just a question of lies, half truths and disinformation that are fed to us on a daily basis by print, radio and tv journalism. It is what we are not told that is arguably even more important. Google Project Censored to see an ongoing brilliant analysis of the stories the mainstream choose not to highlight or even tell us about at all.

This is far more important that whether the pap is served up in either broadsheet or tabloid format.

Oh I don't know James, I find size is quite important.

I used to buy the Saturday Courier Mail, but I found the pages were a bit large & wasteful, so I switched to the Gold Coast Bulletin.

It's pages are about the right size, & there are more of them, so it's more economic.

With the extra pages, I can even miss the odd Saturday, with out running out of rubbish wrapping paper, ever.

Once again those who think they are better are whining about drivel. Fairfax is nigh on broke and the move to a customer friendly format is treated much as the Devil quoting Scripture. I understand sales are up, you know money not extorted from citizens by coercion of the state to pay for it (unlike their ABC).

Maybe the Left's love affair with broadsheet was a social marker that they were in a such a cushy situation (Public teat), that practicality matters not?