The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers have ditched their traditional weekend layout for a more compact format.
The move comes a year after Fairfax weekday newspapers changed to a tabloid design, ending a tradition of more than a century-and-a-half.
"It's not purely about convenience for readers", said Professor of Journalism at the University of Canberra, Dr Matthew Ricketson. "If it was about that, they would have done it decades ago".
Dr Ricketson believes the decision is driven by dwindling revenue from advertising and classifieds, as well as a desire to cut printing costs.
The move coincides with the relaunch of the Daily Telegraph's Saturday edition.
"Most observers are still thinking it's a hard transition to make these businesses profitable in the new online environment", Dr Ricketson said.
But there are risk-takers, who are ready to prove the pessimists wrong.
25-year-old Erik Jensen is the new face of an old medium, as editor of publisher Morry Schwartz's latest venture, The Saturday Paper.
"I don't think it's a terrifying proposition" Mr Jensen said. "It seemed on the surface very bold 18 months ago, but where we are now, if you took the same case to a venture capitalist, they'd be just as impressed as we are".
Meanwhile 57 years after German language newspaper Die Woche was founded, it's being relaunched.
In December last year the paper, which targets Australia's German-speaking community, printed its final edition, due to dwindling circulation figures and the retirement of its long-term editor.
Journalist Nadine Halberkann has taken over as managing editor and has turned her bedroom in Sydney's eastern suburbs into a newsroom.
"At the last minute I was really sad to let it go like that, so I thought it was an opportunity I wouldn't get again", she said.
Ms Halberkann is pinning her hopes for Die Woche's future on its digital edition, aiming to target articles at German backpackers, with a low-cost paywall.
