Finally, rumours of Mint turning to broadsheet become reality

Mint, the compact business newspaper from the HT Media stable, turned broadsheet today. Unlike the crowded design that dominates most templates among Indian newspapers, the new Mint (designed by Garcia Media) looks clean and uncluttered, thanks to the clever use of white space.

Explaining the change in format, in an editorial titled “A newspaper for the digital era”, Mint editor Sukumar Ranganathan wrote,

“Circa 2016, readers are demanding more of more… To achieve this, Mint has had to transcend the limits of the Berliner format it popularized in India and become a broadsheet, albeit one with the navigational aids, wraps, long-form narratives, and data stories that in many ways define what a newspaper should be in the digital era.”

Ranganathan added that this was not “just a cosmetic change”, but a “fundamental rethink of a print product”. He added that the newspaper and its digital platform Livemint.com will complement each other. There’s also promise of “many other changes in Mint – all tailored to help our readers stay informed in a rapidly changing world”.

Rumours of Mint going broadsheet have been circulating for the past few months. Launched in 2007, Mint was printed in the compact, Berliner format. Starting off at number six among Indian business newspapers, Mint became the second-most read paper in the segment after Economic Times, according to the 2014 Indian Readership Survey (IRS).

The transition to broadsheet means more stories and also more space for advertisements, which is possibly why Ranganathan stressed upon how intelligently Mint has presented native advertising.

“It’s disclosure standards on native advertising (created by the advertiser or the marketing department of Mint) are among the best in the business and have been adopted by several others.”

With the dramatic rise in readership that Mint has achieved, it’s no wonder HT Media hopes to capitalise on this with an increase in advertising.