The Guardian’s Berliner debut on September 12

The Guardian’s Berliner debut on September 12

	Published : Sun, 04 Sep 2005 19:05 By : Phil Bateman Print this Story

LONDON - The Guardian is all set to shift from its staid broadsheet shape to an all-color version come September 12. This marks the biggest change since the paper moved from Manchester to London in 1964. The new format called Berliner has been instituted at a cost of £80 million.

Analysts say that this move could be a sign of desperation since the paper's sales stood at 358,345 in July. This happens to be the lowest figure since 1978. However, Paul Thomas, managing partner of the media agency Mindshare is not writing the move off, "I have seen it and I think the prospects are good. It has full color throughout and the layout is refreshing. It is a brave decision to do something different, but the newspaper market in general is not at its most healthy and this will give them stand-out appeal," he predicted.

With the move to an all-color version, The Guardian becomes the only national newspaper in the country to have such a format.

Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian was optimistic that the new-look version would hit off well among customers, "The challenge for us was to remain true to our journalism, now attracting a record worldwide audience online, while at the same time finding a modern print format for a new generation of readers in this country," he said adding that the Berliner format was zeroed-in since it was a mixture of "portability of a tabloid with the sensibility of a broadsheet."

So from September 12 only the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times would be available in a broadsheet pattern since the Independent and the Times have already been relaunched as tabloid newspapers.

Carolyn McCall, the chief executive of Guardian Newspapers said, "No other newspaper is so well placed to address the print and Internet needs of both readers and advertisers." She added that they hoped the move would herald-in a modern newspaper "alongside the best online newspaper in the world."

The non-profit Scott Trust owns the Guardian Media Group. The new version of the paper will be available in Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Marseilles and New York.