Anyone else have their local paper ruined lately?
A couple of weeks ago the Chicago Tribune went through a thorough makeover, ostensibly aimed at attracting younger readers and reducing costs. Now it has been many a year since the Trib was really a good newspaper, but up until this recent redo it at least had its readable parts.
As I see it, their primary intention was to blur the line between news and ads. By adding graphics and pictures, and wrapping stories around ads (even on the front page), I often find myself skipping over stories mistaking them for ads.
They have drastically reduced content and depth - not that it was anything to write home about before. Most stories are extremely superficial and brief. And in the rare instance that an article continues to another page, there is no guarantee that it will be continued in the same section!
They apparently combined the front page, the local section, and business into 2 sections, with the result that you no longer know where to find what. Business generally gets a whopping 2 pages. Today I hit the obits, and thought I was done with the particular section, only to flip the page and notice the OpEd page. Who ever heard of such a thing?
It used to require a little effort to get through all of the parts of the Sunday paper I wanted to read. Now, it takes no more than a quick half-hour over coffee (not including the crossword).
They seem to be anticipating their own demise, as they continually direct readers to their on-line site for more info. Hell, if I wanted to read the paper on-line I would but I don’t!
Who knows where weather will be on any particular day. And they stopped printing the daily TV schedule.
Oh well, at least they brought back the horoscopes, and increased the size of the advise column! :rolleyes:
Sorry if this post is a tad mild for the chosen forum, but believe me, any comment about the new Trib DEFINITELY belongs in the Pit!