The Asian Wall Street Journal will switch to a tabloid format on 17 October. China Business published an interview with editor Cai Xiangqi, who speaks about his paper and about the English-language Asian press in general.

Though it seems unbelievable to say so, Cai Xiangqi was unaware of the cover price of the new reduced-size Asian Wall Street Journal set to be launched on 17 October. "Don't be surprised. At this newspaper, I'm responsible for the content. On matters of advertising operations I can't give you any answers because I know nearly nothing at all."

When Cai Xiangqi spoke of his opinion that newspapers are in a chaotic state, he seemed a bit melancholy. This is understandable, since the Far East Economic Review's decline from a weekly to a monthly format set off shockwaves of pain and awkwardness through the English language media in Asia. Will its peer Asian Wall Street Journal be able to pull through easily?

CB: Starting on 17 October, AWSJ will be a "small newspaper," and during this period you have made some relevant layoffs. As I understand it, during the past few years, English language papers' share of the Asian marketplace have dropped severely. At the same time, Asia and the world's publishing sector is experiencing serious trials. Does AWSJ feel the chill of winter?

Cai: I must admit, this is a difficult time for the newspapers - it is an era of challenges. Today, a state of chaos has formed in the newspaper industry: opportunities and pressures exist together for us all. This era is turbulent because our readers' habits are changing quickly, and our business model has been turned upsides-down. Newspapers have endured the assaults of radio and television, but in today's era of the Internet, we need to adapt ourselves to the new environment more resourcefully and agilely than in the past. In the US, over the past decades, newspaper circulation and readership has experienced a continuous decline. A recent survey of American news included a shocking figure: a survey of readers under 30 showed that only 23% of them had read a newspaper the previous day. And even more surprising, at least on the surface, was the finding that time spent watching TV among this age group had dropped 16% over the last decade.

In Asia, the situation is not that bad yet. In 2004, newspaper circulation increased 4.1%. But global media is continuously changing, including the emergence of non-traditional forms of media, which shows means that any individual media entity is having a harder and harder time attracting those readers of interest to advertisers. But looking back, at the founding of the AWSJ, the Vietnam War had just ended and Asia was in turmoil, full of uncertainty. This is not the first time for us to see innovation and breakthroughs, and it certainly won't be the last.

CB: In my understanding, this change in format was done without a strict investigation of the readership; what it relied on was merely the results of a survey company's market survey. Is there room for error here? Is there a loss-cutting, cost-control aspect of this format change?

Cai: No. We have no cost pressure. In this difficult period, not all newspapers will survive. What makes a newspaper unique is that it can increase its quality and the value of its news at any time. We also did not think of increasing readership through this change in format. We want this new format to take a step to make the newspaper provide readers with a closer reading experience in this wired era. Many of the things that made up this decision are connected to current reading habits. Our eyes are now accustomed to reading a concise, condensed page area, an area coincidentally just about as large as a computer screen. The small format, then, can help readers absorb news more easily. Format reduction may be a new trend, and we should go with the flow. There are layout artists who say that the newspaper of the future will be the size of a piece of A4 copy-paper - who knows? I'm not sure if that day has arrived yet.

Establishing a close relationship with readers does not mean that you must ask them about everything. We didn't actually go out on the street to ask the readers about their requirements for the paper format. At the beginning of this year, we had a professional company do a survey, and the results showed that readers preferred smaller formats. Sometimes you need to guide readers, not just give them a "small paper." A newspaper is not merely a media format. Newspapers serve the public, represent the public's trust, and are an important part of the normal running of the market and society. If a newspaper is to succeed, it must gain the respect and trust of its readers, and this is a long process.