Selective call message formatting

A selective call system comprising:

• a base site processor comprising:
• an encoder that generates a selective call signal comprising an address corresponding with a selective call device, a formatting message, and a related message;
• a transmitter that broadcasts the selective call signal to a plurality of selective call devices subscribing to an information service provider;
• and
• a selective call device comprising:
• a receiver for receiving the selective call signal;
• a processor for correlating a recovered address with a predetermined address in the selective call device to determine selection of the selective call device;
• a decoder that decodes the formatting message and the related message contained in the selective call signal in response to the processor determining selection of the selective call device;
• and
• an information display that presents at least a portion of the related message in accordance with a format determined at least in part by the formatting message, wherein the formatting message comprises a horizontal screen size in display units and wherein the format further comprises projecting related message into a virtual display space corresponding with an actual horizontal display unit density of the information display associated with the selective call device by dividing a display density contained in the formatting message by the actual horizontal display unit density of the information display associated with the selective call device, thus preserving an intended vertical alignment between proximate horizontally arranged display rows.