The Incredible Shrinking Paper!

And I was just happy we went to a 50-inch web so that we didn't look like a paper from the 1920s.

 

Yeah, what the heck, candy bars have been getting smaller for years, while charging as much or more than ever. And no one has cancelled their daily subscription to those.

 

JW:
With all due respect, that's the problem. Consumers will by candy, cigs, gas no matter what. Newspapers need READERS not CONSUMERS.

 

I'd agree. Most days this paper is bigger than other dailies, so a few pages off of 100 or more in the paper won't sound the alarms.

 

With you on that, Sock Puppet. Just neglected the blue font.

Still waiting on the newspaper that commits itself to improving, enhancing and growing the product as a way of cultivating more readership and, presumably, better ad rates.

This industry seems determined to cut its way to better journalism and higher readership.

How's that working out for us?

 

So is that going to be in the editorial part of the paper or the classifieds? Maybe they're anticipating less classified ad (real estate, autos, jobs, etc.) and are budgeting that much less space?
Maybe a part of it is a reduced news hole for business on certain days - for instance I know of at least one paper that doesn't have a business section on Mondays anymore to cut back on the newsprint costs.

 

My paper shrank the web width (and height) like you're talking about a few years ago and didn't lay anyone off until 2-3 years later when there was a huge production merger and buyouts to trim staff. I turned down the buyout (which was based on time at the paper).

Joe

 

It's 1000 pages of editorial space; 3 pages a day. And of course the readers won't notice. They're idiots.