More changes coming at the Sun-Sentinel

Sigh.

Posting these kinds of things to keep everybody up to date is what we do here, but geez, it's getting depressing. So I apologize to those this further depresses.

Some more changes coming at the Sun-Sentinel. They're going to start importing "pods" of news pages from the Tribune directly into the Sun-Sentinel news pages, mostly on national and international news. So, according to this, the Sentinel will be running pages with Tribune typefaces. This after a big redesign.

They're doing away with the "Fit" section because it isn't making money. It hasn't been around all that long. It's going to fold into sports.

Other changes coming, too. Believe it or not, I'm glad they're keeping the awards. A bright spot in the gloom, as far as I'm concerned.

Again, sorry. If we've reached the point where we really don't need all this kind of thing here, I understand:

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2009/02/party_on_sun-sentinel.php

 

An editing peer says she read the Sunday Sun-Sentinel and noticed lots of shared content, including a "new administration" section with stories from the Tribune's Washington bureau. Using collective copy is one thing, but importing templates with another paper's typeface sounds a little jarring.

 

Yeah, one has been around for a while. The other -- I don't think I'm going to like it.

I'm sure I've got a renewal notice coming -- this might be it for me.

 

Their Sunday section used to be among the best in the business. I haven't seen it in a couple years, but I'm guessing it's not even close to what it used to be.

It will be interesting to see what other changes happen, especially if The Herald folds as many fear it will.

 

"Earl also stressed that the future is LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL, even moreso than we already are."

Great, more original ideas.

One commenter gets an A+ in reading comprehension: "Let's recap: there's going to be less space, less design initiative, more pre-packaged (expletive) shared across the nation and fewer reporters covering municipalities -- but the future is 'local, local, local' and we need interns! If you can save one copyeditor's job by not subjecting a college boy or girl to this (expletive) maze, you'll be doing a real public service."

 

I want to work for that reader.

 

At what point does "local, local, local" become too much?

The next step is, literally, covering the little leagues and garden club meetings and things weekly newspapers do. Are the daily papers becoming grander weeklies?

What a sad state of affairs.

 

Don't know if it's true, can only go visually, but I believe my A section today had a page that might have been from the Tribune. The typefaces certainly looked subtlely different.

Anybody who can confirm or deny this is the case, I'd be interested to know.

 

They're doing this at the Baltimore Sun as well.

 

This is the Clear Channel-ization of newspaper content, thanks to Zell's radio mongols.

 

Three Tribune pages in today's Sun-Sentinel A section. All "Nation/World"

While many typeface changes are subtle, the quote outs aren't even close to the same style. Gee, so much for those 358 memos we got from Design Director making sure that we use the proper style and spacing for cutlines and quote outs.

And, of course, any errors spotted cannot be fixed.

 

How'd that work out for Clear Channel? [/rhetorical]