Today, the Bangor Daily News joins a majority of the daily newspapers in the country in moving to a narrower format.

By compressing the width of our standard pages, we expect to use less paper, which reduces consumption and expenses. It also provides readers and advertisers with a publication that is more convenient, easier to handle, and is in step with the newspaper industry as it modernizes to become more efficient.

Other papers in New England that already have made the transition include the Boston Globe, the Providence Journal, the Bath-Brunswick Times Record and the Lewiston Sun Journal.

In announcing the new format last week, NEWS Publisher Richard J. Warren said, “The important elements haven’t changed. We’re still committed to covering our region as thoroughly, objectively and thoughtfully as ever, while offering advertisers the best vehicle and medium to reach their audience.”