More changes coming at the Sun-Sentinel

The six Tribune papers (Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Hartford, Baltimore, Allentown, Newport News) are running pages designed and edited by Tribune staffers. These pages are in the Tribune design but are not running in Chicago.
All the papers have CCI. Stories can be swapped out but the design styles are not changed because that would be time consuming.
For the half pages, local ads are used. Also, if there is additional space on the page, like a one column hole, non-Chicago staffers edit the copy and it's presented in Tribune style.
One of the Tribune papers is splitting the full page into two halves.
Tribune papers ran portions of Chicago's inauguration preview in its design.
Wouldn't be surprised other newspaper chains start doing this, especially Gannett with its 80 or so papers. And it will spread to other sections. Like all papers running the same national baseball page. Entire sections could be picked up.

 

A paper like Orlando could eliminate at least one shift per night by not having somebody working inside-A copy.

 

And running a Gannett or Tribune wire baseball page each night would certainly eliminate one position in the sports dept.

Realistically, all you would need to do is sub out your local team (if you have one) from the roundup and you're good to go.

 

It sucks and I don't like it but I can understand it.

If the inside national-international wire copy is not being localized, the story used in Chicago is the same as Lauderdale and Orlando. Package that page or two and ship it out.

Edit the pages, change the fonts if necessary and move along.

 

The wire-story pecking order wouldn't necessarily be the same in cities a couple thousand miles apart, nor would the choice of news and how it is written and presented. Unless you are just throwing shit into the paper, which hasn't been the case on papers that size, the desk is customizing wire content to its readers' particular interests and needs. No one runs the entire wire, and which national/international stories get selected, and how they are edited, should vary from town to town.

 

I understand your point, Frank. Lauderdale obviously would might more about South American interests than someone in Chicago.

It appears someone in their management believes

will get the job done for them so they can shuttle off pages and 'streamline.'

 

My banker this morning heard from a 30+-year S-S employee that cuts may come today.

I still put the reliability at 50-50, but who's to doubt it?

Chrissakes

 

The last Friday of the month seems like a logical time to do it. Sun-Sentinel mangers talked just a couple of weeks ago about more axings to come.

 

We are already there.

I believe the shift away from strong reporting in the early 2000s helped mOe things crumble quicker. Newspapers give readers more reasons to turn away every day.

Less quality and editing. Fewer staffed events. Higher price.

In my circulation area, more and more readers have grown tired of the large newspaper company pocketing any profit made by the local newspaper while our product is left to die. The savings are passed on to the suits.

If the business ideology doesn't change, I don't want to see things get better. That greed should not be rewarded. Instead I pray we can all find different jobs with better pay, less stress, fewer hours and more time with family.

 

It's interesting. Every time there are rumored changes at the S-S, someone PMs me (a different person each time) telling me a certain writer is gone. That writer is still there and hopefully will continue to be there.

 

I have heard that they are targeting copy editors and designers as opposed to writers.

 

With the growing number of pages that seem to be coming from the Tribune -- and look completely different than the paper they're in, the whole thing is so strange -- that would make unfortunate sense.