Published: Thursday, 2nd April, 2009 1:30pm

Verdicts on your new Chronicle

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Feedback has been pouring into the Chronicle's offices on our new shape. Here is a selection.

Reading West MP Martin Salter: "I think the newspaper industry is clearly going through a tough time with local papers going out of press almost weekly across the country. This is a bold move by The Chronicle to depart from years of broadsheet tradition and move to the smaller compact format, but I think it is going to be a winning formula.

"It is convenient, snappy, but at the same time a comprehensive digest of the week's local news. And at the end of the day, if it keeps local people buying local news-papers then that is good news for local democracy."

Reading East MP Rob Wilson: "The Chronicle has been part of the Reading scene for a very long time and it is great to see that it is modern-ising so that it can continue well into the future.

"It is a great paper which locally we all love and I am absol-utely delighted with this new compact, very readable, style."

Newbury MP Richard Benyon: "Congratulations must go to The Chronicle on producing such a readable paper. I really like the new format and wish the Chronicle every success."

Wokingham MP John Redwood: "I was delighted to see the new Woodley and Earley Chronicle - easier to handle but just as friendly. I wish the paper every success now it is smaller on the outside and bigger on the inside."

Bracknell MP Andrew MacKay: "This is an exciting new format and I wish The Reading Chronicle well in the future."

THE CHRONICLE JURY

THE BUS DRIVER

Anthony Polden:

"I actually think it's much better than the broadsheet because it's easier to handle and because of that it's easier to read. It also seemed to have just as many stories in it which is great because it is always a worry that when a paper becomes smaller, the content suffers. But I think it has too much advertising in it, particularly the property section, but I suppose that's how a paper makes its money and is able to survive."

THE MOTHER

ANGIE BURNISH: "It takes up a lot less room on the dining room table when I am trying to read it, which means someone is less likely to come along and move it or spill something on it! But as well as it being much more manageable and easier to read, it is still the same Chronicle. You can see a lot of work has gone into it and there are just as many interesting stories which, when it comes down to it, is all I'm really interested in."

THE VICAR

ADAM CARLILL: "I think when broadsheets are made smaller it is much nicer, not least because sitting on a crowded train it is easier to handle. But I think a paper should really be judged on it's column inches, that is crucial. Plus I think if it helps the paper survive in what is a very tough climate then that's a good thing. Local democracy depends on a local media so anything that keeps the Chronicle going has to good for Reading."

THE PENSIONER

Tony Waring: "It is more comfortable to read and it was nice to have the news condensed onto a smaller page so you are not scrabbling around trying to find what you're looking for.

"It has also managed to retained its style and so is definitely an improvement. I used to have to spread it all over the room in order to get to the news I wanted, so without doubt it is a change of great convenience."

A SELECTION OF LETTERS:

Thank you for the new look Chronicle.

So much easier to manage. Everything one expects from a local paper.

Tremendous - cannot wait for the next issue.

P M SMITH, Ambrook Road, Reading

The new Chronicle: Go back to identifiable sections which can be discarded.

A H GILL, River Road, Caversham

The new format looks good, and is a better size for fitting in a recycling box! I'm glad to see that, unlike some of the national papers, you don't start stories on the front page and have to continue them elsewhere in the paper to do them justice. One quibble: it may be psychological, but the new paper seems much heavier than the old version.

J HACKETT, Earley