The habit of reading the newspaper with morning tea is common among many people. Some prefer to study world and national news first, while others immediately open sections dedicated to sports, entertainment, or work. However, many wonder why newspapers are so large and why they are not published in book or magazine format, especially in an era when all information is available on mobile phone screens.
Interestingly, the large size of newspapers is not due to the choice of one person or a design decision. There are many factors involved, including outdated printing methods, paper costs, a specific tax in Britain, and the need to fit the maximum amount of news on one page. The history of modern large-format newspapers spans about 300 years.
In the early period, unlike today's multi-page publications, news was published on a single large sheet of paper called a broadside in Europe. These sheets printed important information: rulers' announcements, military reports, government decrees, and political events. These sheets were distributed among the population and sometimes posted in public places.
At that time, the printing process was labor-intensive. Every letter had to be manually assembled on the printing press, after which ink was applied and pressed onto the paper. Thus, printing even a single page required significant effort and time. Therefore, it was more practical for printers to place more information on one large sheet than to print many small pages.
The year 1712 became critically important in the history of newspaper size because a tax on newspapers, known as the 'knowledge tax,' was introduced in Great Britain. This tax was calculated based on the number of pages in the newspaper; the more pages, the higher the tax amount could be for the publisher. Faced with this problem, publishers faced a dilemma: they needed to convey as much news to readers as possible while minimizing tax expenses.
A solution was found: instead of using many small sheets, large paper formats began to be used. By folding one sheet, a large area could be obtained while reducing the total number of pages. This is when the broadsheet format began to develop, and the British tax system played a significant role in this process.
One might ask why newspapers did not remain small if printing small sheets was also possible. The answer lies in the printing technology of that time. In old times, wooden and metal printing machines were used, which printed paper one by one. Preparing each page and subsequently binding them was a very tiring process. It was much simpler to take a large sheet, print on both sides, and then fold it in half to get four pages.
This offered three advantages: reduced need for constant preparation of individual sheets, more news could be placed on one piece of paper, and less effort was spent assembling the finished publication. Thus, the large size of the newspaper was not just an aesthetic choice but a practical solution corresponding to the production capabilities of that era.
Significant changes occurred in printing technology in the 19th century. If newspapers were previously printed on manual machines, steam engines gradually began to appear. A crucial moment was 1814, when Frederick Koenig and Andreas Bauer developed a machine that changed newspaper printing methods. On November 29, 1814, The Times in London first used this steam-powered printing machine, capable of printing about 1100 sheets per hour, which was unheard of at the time.
This was followed by the development of the Rotary Printing Press, which used rotating cylinders to apply images to paper, sharply increasing printing speed. In 1865, William Buck created a rotary machine that allowed for the use of large rolls of paper. The machine continuously fed paper, printed on both sides, and could cut it as needed. This technology simplified mass newspaper production, allowing news to reach more people in less time.
The large format was also necessary to accommodate a greater volume of news and advertising. As the number of readers grew, the amount of published news increased. Initially, newspapers contained mainly political summaries, military reports, and government announcements, but later they began to include information about business and...
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