The Islands’ Weekly will be converting to a new, smaller-sized format beginning with the January 7, 2009 edition. The size will be identical to that of the Weekly’s award-winning sister paper, The Journal of the San Juan Islands.

“The decision to change to a smaller size was based on a number of factors, not the least of which is how well it has worked for the Journal,” said Weekly publisher Elyse Van den Bosch. “Using smaller paper means using less paper and that’s good for the environment and for the Weekly.” The Weekly’s other sister paper, the Islands’ Sounder, will also be converting starting with the January 7 edition.

Research has shown that newspaper readers prefer the compact, easier-to-handle size of tabloids to the larger, broadsheet style. Many community newspapers are already utilizing a tabloid format, and those that aren’t seem to be moving in that direction.