With the new year comes a new look and a news size for the Whidbey News-Times.

Starting Wednesday, Jan. 7, the News-Times will switch from “broadsheet,” which is the size you are reading now, to “tabloid,” which is a broadsheet turned sideways. Pages will be roughly 14-inches high instead of 21-inches high.

The change was announced early last month by Lori Maxim, vice president of West Sound Newspaper Operations, Sound Publishing Inc., which owns a number of papers in the Puget Sound region, including the Whidbey News-Times and South Whidbey Record. The Record is also switching to the tabloid format on Jan. 7.

“Readers nowadays prefer tabloid newspapers because they are easier to carry and there are more visual images for readers to be engaged in with the reader-friendly design,” Maxim said in making the announcement Dec. 3. “Our newspapers will continue to provide high quality, local editorial content to readers.”

Marcia Van Dyke, publisher of both the News-Times and Record, has been overseeing the change to tabloid. She said she’s looking forward to the Jan. 7 editions of the papers when the tabloid format makes it debut.

“I’ve always liked the tabloid size newspaper ever since I was publisher of the Journal of the San Juans,” Van Dyke said. “It’s a much more manageable paper size to read. I also like it because of the additional color options this format provides our advertisers. As an added benefit, we use less paper making it a little easier on the environment. This is always a good thing.”

The size isn’t the only change readers will see Jan. 7. The News-Times will be sporting a new “flag,” on top of page one, featuring a new type style and the compass rose logo. The compass rose will be common to both the News-Times and Record flags.

“I hope everyone will enjoy our new flag,” Van Dyke said. “The addition of the compass rose was designed to invoke our boating communities and as an added bonus for Oak Harbor, it draws a correlation to our Navy heritage as well.”

Van Dyke encourages reader comments on the new format and design. Send comments and suggestions to mvandyke@whidbeynewstimes.com.