Tribune May Become Morning Tabloid : Publishing: Staff is told that San Diego’s afternoon daily will consider prototypes of smaller format. The editor says no decision has yet been made.

San Diego Tribune staffers were told Friday morning that the afternoon paper may be converted into a morning tabloid.

Two prototypes of a tabloid will be developed and tested in house under the direction of representatives from Christine Urban & Associates, a Massachusetts-based newspaper consulting firm that has been working with the paper for several weeks, according to Tribune Editor Neil Morgan.

“No decision has been made,” Morgan said. “We will be testing prototypes and see how they fly.”

A switch to morning distribution would put the paper in direct competition with its sister paper, the San Diego Union. Although the editorial staffs of the papers operate independently, both are owned and operated by the Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

Competing against the Union would be “a captivating idea, because of the boldness,” Morgan said.

The announcement of the potential changes met with mixed reactions from Tribune staffers, according to reporters who attended the meeting.

“Before this morning, there really had not been any indication that we were thinking of this stuff,” said one reporter, who asked not to be identified.

Some reporters felt the announcement was good news, since it appeared to quash, at least temporarily, persistent rumors that the paper would fold or merge with the Union. At the meeting, reporters were told that one of the goals of any new strategy would be to make the paper as distinctly different from the Union as possible.

Staffers also were told that no layoffs are expected in the near future.

“We’re very excited about the prospect of some movement in a bold direction to get a bigger share of the market,” Morgan said.

The Tribune’s circulation has been declining in recent years, despite dramatic increases in the county’s population. Last year, the Tribune’s circulation dropped to 115,000, down from a high of 130,000 in 1979, according to a report by the Audit Bureau of Circulation.

“There’s a feeling that we need to do something different,” said one reporter.

Morgan said there is no timetable for developing the prototypes, or for making a final decision about the paper’s future.

“There are no deadlines, except to move with some dispatch and get the two prototypes done in the next couple of months,” Morgan said.