Following an industry-wide trend aimed at trimming operating costs, a smaller Chicago Sun-Times hit the streets today.

The tabloid is now about an inch shorter, at about 12-inches tall, and is part of the company's efforts to cut operating costs by $50 million in 2008, said Tammy Chase, Sun-Times spokeswoman.

Tabloids aren't the only ones opting for smaller sizes. Broadsheet publications in the United States are trimming width, as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times are all adopting a 12-inch-wide format. As the Sun-Times is a tabloid, its height is comparable to the width of a broadsheet, the Associated Press reported.

Standardizing sizes also makes it easier to sell ads, which is also increasingly important to the Sun-Times, as executives announced earlier this month plans to lay off 35 newsroom staff.

The Sun-Times is Chicago's second-largest daily newspaper, after the Chicago Tribune.