WHY are newspaper articles written in columns?

Weekly newspapers were first introduced in Europe in 1650. However, due to the high cost of publishing, publishers had to justify it by including as much information as possible in each edition. They used small font sizes but printed the text in columns to make it easy to read. This helped readers get lots of information from one publication. 

Today, weekly newspapers are still essential for people to stay informed. While the font sizes and layouts have improved, the main goal of providing readers with valuable information has remained unchanged.