Did I mention that almost every college newspaper in the country is a tabloid? They have been for years. And isn’t pretty much every alternative weekly in the country a tabloid size? And aren’t all those popular, free newspapers being launched around the world mostly tabloids? So tell me again, why isn’t any American newspaper switching to tabloid size?

No, almost every college newspaper is *not* tabloid. In fact, if you look at the Best of Collegiate Design book every year, you'll find that many of the top papers are still broadsheet. There are a few who have moved to "tall tab" in recent years, but the number of broadsheets is much higher than you think. I'll try to dig up some concrete numbers.

Also, there's a reason why college students read their college newspaper that might not translate to the local daily. Perhaps I'll expand on that at some point as well.

happy holidays.

If you won't accept my perhaps overbroad generalization as fact, then perhaps consider the idea that the percentage of tabloids among college media is significantly higher than among regular local dailies.

That is indisputable, without having to count every college paper in the country.

In a related point, the fact that broadsheet design is still the most honored among college media doesn't necessarily mean it's the most used.

Would be interesting if someone conducted an actual count so we could be certain what format is preferred in college.

I could swear I read a study somewhere that shows that switching formats or even undergoing a redesign generally causes a spike in newspaper sales but that over the course of a several months, sales revert back to their previously established trend.

Also, college students are a bit more of a captive audience than other readership groups. First, there are generally no other publications that cover straight news on the campus. Often that publication has to be subsidized by the school, as opposed to the few independently owned publications. Secondly --and it sounds horrible to say but it's true-- students often want something else to do in class. Eliminating the crossword puzzle and Sudoku from the college newspaper, at least at UF, would be its death knell!