Herald's new look a nod to the future

The New Zealand Herald's reinvention in compact form today is being seen as something of a bridge to the future.

Along with the smaller size, it's re-vamped its website, and introduced some other technology-savvy moves for those who don't rely on a trip to the letterbox every morning for their daily dose of news.

AUT acting head of journalism Greg Treadwell says it can't just ditch newsprint.

"We're in a transitional stage and if you move too fast into the future you're going to leave a whole lot of people behind and the Herald's very aware of that and yet it has an obligation to start trying to attract younger readers, and I think this is what it's all about."

Mr Treadwell is impressed by what he's seen today.

He says this isn't just about the newspaper re-inventing itself from a layout and format point of view.

"This is very much a response to readers moving online and newspapers having to reinvent themselves as something else, and I think what the Herald's done is a very clever reinvention."

Mr Treadwell says it's managed to go to tabloid size without adopting tabloid content.

"It's sharp, it's clean, it's a very good looking compact newspaper to be honest. The font families are all modern and yet they have a traditional kind of angle to them as well."

But he says the stories aren't jumping off the page as hugely different - the paper's still covered in crime.

The editor of the New Zealand Herald is hoping the new look paper will provide a greater link between the print and online versions.

It will have QR codes, which people will be able to scan with their smartphone or iPad to access online content.

Shayne Currie says they'll take people to the website so they can see videos, more photos and full .pdf documents.

"We'll be pushing and pulling readers to and from each platform and just making sure that overall experience is fulfilling and enjoyable."

Mr Currie says it will be digitally-based content, not a repeat of what's in the printed newspaper.