Ordinary Gweilo

The Times is to launch a tabloid (sorry, compact) version of the newspaper, initially in the London area. I can just about remember when The Times was resolutely elitist and prided itself on employing the likes of Bernard Levin to write high-minded opinion pieces. Now they have hired Julie Burchill and are going tabloid – what is happening to the world!

The fact is that Rupert Murdoch has totally transformed The Times since he bought the paper, and it has a much wider appeal these days. So it makes a lot of sense to try to compete with the mid-market (tabloid) Daily Mail, many of whose readers should find themselves quite at home with a tabloid Times.

It’s easy to forget that up until the early 70’s the Daily Mail was also a broadsheet newspaper, and although the change to tabloid format must have seem like a big risk at the time, it was a huge success. I loathe the Daily Mail for its Middle England viewpoint and its xenophobic and racist outpourings, but you can’t help admiring what they have achieved. I’m not a big fan of Rupert Murdoch either, especially if he thinks that he can influence the outcome of the next General Election through his newspapers.