I don't know if you guys have seen a lot of the print product recently, but they recently went through some templating changes that make 95 percent of the pages look like complete ****. The section fronts can be semi-decent, but everything else is a cookie-cutter approach, with pancaked stories and jumps stacked up on the inside pages. I've seen lots of 4-column, 2-deck heds, even some 6-column, 2-deck heds, lots of gray and nothing attractive.
Can't fault the Design Studio people, as they have a ****-ton of work to do (and even more now) and it's a matter of survival. They have to do the designs, the story trimming (finishing), wire work, and I think they got loaded on their plate things that the local papers used to do, like weather maps and temperatures and busy work like that.
There have been deadline changes that have gone along with the templating at most of the papers, done solely with the goal of killing print and forcing the sites to be digitally focused. It's a ****ty decision, to give up things like council meetings, late-breaking news, and any sports event that happens after 2 p.m. I'd have more respect if they just killed the print product and completely waved the white flag.
But the ****-sticks still realize most of their revenue comes from print. So they will whittle away, alienate more and more of their customers, then whenever the time comes, throw up their hands and say, "We can't compete."
