Richmond's reaction

This seems like well-thought out, well-meaning triage to me. I just hope they can save the patient.

 

I don't like the idea of a spadea around the sports section every day at all. I can just see people just letting the section hang by two fingernails and just letting the sports fall out of it and having them never look at or see the spadea content, or any of the ads therein.

I think they'd be better served, perhaps, by cutting down the Fun & Games and back-page spadea content and just adding, say, two pages, to the back of the sports section directly, and incorporating any ads throughout.

And it could be just my tastes, but I think I'd go smaller on the Food/Lifestyle section, too.

Otherwise, this seems like a pretty good, well thought-out attempt to save some money and still trying to take away from the paper and hurting the staff as little as possible.

 

I'll agree with the majority, when I say that this feels like a company doing the best job it can to make necessary cuts as painless as possible.

 

"Hi kids. Your mom and dad are forcing you to read something that will be extinct by the time you're an adult. When you're their age, you'll get your news on a hand-held device, or just by reading BLOGS!!! And if you want to work in media, we recommend further education so that you can land a job that is both relevant and paying."

See? Newspapers in education!

 

I'm a subscriber, and from this point of view, the T_D has never seemed like a "light" when you pick it up. Even on Monday mornings. You always "feel" like you are getting your money's worth.

I hope everyone understands what I was saying there.

I'm not crazy about pulling something away to find the sports page, but I will see how that looks.

Moddy, is circulation decreasing in Richmond?

The T_D is the only game in town, right?

Hanover and Goochland have papers, but they are not serious competition, right?

 

Many of the non-dailies in the region are owned by MG. They have weeklies in Hanover, Goochland, Powhatan and Midlothian. The only daily competition they have in their main area is Petersburg, and that's not a lot north of Colonial Whites Heights.

It's a valiant effort, but it's probably too little, too late at this point. Their publisher said he thought the daily print product would be finished there by 2017 -- nothing but Sunday edition and the website. At first, I wasn't buying it. Now I wonder if it'll take that long.

 

I'm optimistic. As said - by few - it seems like a move meant to prevent further job cuts later on.

Our paper has a spadea on several Sunday sections. It's only annoying in that the whole thing is an ad. If it had content, I don't think it would be a problem.

 

Random thought: whenever I see the word "spadea" (even though I know what it is), I immediately think of Vince Spadea, a middling at best pro tennis player who won one tournament and apparently wrote a book (according to Wikipedia). Maybe this means I'm in the right business. I doubt it.

 

little better than middling

spadea has been ranked as high as 19 and had final 2003 ranking of 30. two-time olympian

very good player when he's healthy