You hold in your hands the end of an experiment.

On Nov. 1, 1939, The Minnesota Daily published the first of four tabloid demonstration editions and announced an unprecedented plan to ask readers to vote whether the Daily should adopt the new “experimental” size or keep its eight-column, full-broadsheet pages.

Just a few days later in a vote that drew almost five times as many participants as the campus government elections on the same ballot, students approved the change. The last full-broadsheet Daily rolled off the presses Nov. 10, 1939, and the Daily replaced its 16 3/4-inch-wide pages with the 11 1/2-inch pages the Daily uses for the last time today.

While the 1939 Daily hailed the tabloid format as “the newspaper of the future,” Basil Walters, then-editor of The Minneapolis Star-Journal, correctly predicted that future newspapers would settle on a page size between tabloid and full 16 3/4-inch broadsheets, and that color would play an increasing role.

“Newspapers have nothing to fear from radio and facsimile competition,” Walters wrote, “if they keep on the alert and up to date.”

During its 65-year reign, the tabloid-sized Daily published stories on some of the most monumental events in modern history. Extra editions focused on former University President Ken Keller’s misuse of University funds, then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s visit to Minnesota, the Gophers basketball academic scandal, the death of Sen. Paul Wellstone and other major University events. Meanwhile, the paper reported on almost every major local, state and national event since 1939.

A reader-driven change

As a broadsheet newspaper, the Daily will tell more visual stories with more photos and graphics, giving readers more ways to engage and enjoy the news. A front-page synopsis of the day’s biggest stories will give busy, commuting readers a bare-bones briefing of the vital information they need to know. The paper will be an easier, faster and more useful read.

To intensify our local news focus, we have added three reporters and an education desk to provide more in-depth coverage of the University.

Readers will also find all the other Daily features they have come to expect: our award-winning local news; a brief review of the day’s most important state, national and international stories; a comprehensive daily Sports section; editorials and opinions; and of course, Network.

Readers also can continue to look forward to an expanded edition of our critically acclaimed Monday Sports section and Thursday’s A&E section.

Augmented training

The student newspaper will also dramatically augment its ability to train and prepare its advertising and editorial staffers for careers in an industry dominated by broadsheet newspapers.

Finally, the newspaper will save money by eliminating some costs associated with adding separate sections, and it will gain flexibility in adding and reducing pages.

Although the Daily’s size will change, its spirit will remain enterprising, reader-driven and community oriented, as it has for the last 100-plus years. We are dedicated to covering life at this University, proud of our status as Minnesota’s only independent daily newspaper and committed to earning your readership with every edition.