Next: A new Sunday
Shawn McIntosh, Public editor
Whew… what a busy week.
Tuesday we launched the redesigned AJC. We knew some readers would take to it right away – and many did. We knew others would need time to adjust – and they are telling us the new design is getting more familiar and comfortable. And we expected to hear from many readers who don’t like the change at all. It won’t surprise you to learn that they have not been shy about telling us what they don’t like.
Thanks for all the feedback. We are listening and responding.
The biggest group of complaints related to readability: type too small, or too densely packed, print too light on the page, concerns about eye strain. So we’re already making adjustments. The main body text has been tracked out, with letters moved further apart, on most pages. The secondary sans serif font used for items like The Vent and obituaries has been updated from a light to a medium weight. And we’ve added boldness and improved spacing in some places. We’re still looking at how to adjust the agate typeface we use for things like sports scores.
We ran a lot of tests before the Tuesday launch but there’s nothing quite like cranking up the presses and distributing hundreds of thousands of newspapers for a real test. We found out this week that our new design is not as crisp as we’d like. That’s because we are using new paper, with more recycled content, environmentally friendlier soy ink and of course, new color capacity on the presses. So we’ll continue to work on reproduction and inking issues.
Our editors are confident we can improve the type readability and legibility of the new design.
Now, what about those who want us to return to the old AJC font or design? It just wouldn’t work on the new narrower page width. The old design included a typeface that was, in the words of typesetters, extremely loose. Keeping it would cause us to cut the news and the Page One story count significantly and our research showed that most readers would be disappointed with that approach.
So why make the page narrower? It was one of the difficult decisions that we’ve made, including eliminating delivery in some counties, and cutting staff and sections, in response to an extremely challenging economic situation. We’ve used a lot of reader research to decide what we needed to keep and what we could let go in order to reduce costs and continue to bring you a daily newspaper. In this case, our senior leadership decided that since other newspapers have introduced the smaller format successfully and we expected many readers to prefer it, it was a reasonable choice to make.
We hope you appreciate the results of that decision when the new Sunday AJC debuts this weekend, packed with in-depth local content. The new Sunday mission includes explaining the “why” behind the week’s headlines, holding officials accountable with more watchdog reporting, providing an in-depth cover story in every section and providing readers with a relaxing weekend experience.
This Sunday’s newspaper delivers on that promise. I hope the adjustments we’ve made to the new design and typography will improve your reading enjoyment.
Whatever your reaction, please let us know. Your feedback makes us better.
Our Sunday editor, Charles Gay, will be on this blog Sunday at ajc.com/conversation taking comments and questions about the Sunday mission and content. If you prefer, you can e-mail your thoughts to tellus@ajc.com.
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34 comments Add your comment
Kathy Giannini
May 2nd, 2009
8:07 am
I guess my comments are like the rest, the print is too small and too compact. I would imagine that in this time of electronic everything, the majority of the people subscribing to a print copy of the newspaper are middle agers and up. In our home we get our news in many forms, I subscribe to the paper for a few things, local news, the daily puzzles, the food section and coupons.
So, what happened to the food section this week? I couldn’t believe it was so small, with so little information. What a shame, I looked forward to all the information this section held and have a folder full of clipped information and recipies.
Also,I would like to address the blocks on the Sunday large Sudoku. For years I have been complaining to myself about the size. The daily Sudoku is large enough, and then the Sunday puzzle is so small I can hardly write the number in. After ten or fifteen minutes, my eyes tear like crazy and I just have to stop. It would be my dream to finish the puzzle. Would you consider making it as large as the daily puzzle?
I know no one likes change, but I feel I have the opportunity now to let you know what I think. Perhaps there are more people who want the same thing.
One more thing, you made the paper narrower, that’s fine, but could you make it shorter, more like a magazine. You see, besides being visually impaired (reading glasses only), I am vertically challenged (short), so a magazine format would be ideal.
Do you sell a large print newspaper?
Thanks for listening.
Dr.R
May 2nd, 2009
10:48 am
I don’t want to pile on, ‘cuz Lord knows this has been hard on y’all. I just wonder how you test a font like the sans serif for weeks or months ahead of time, only to find out when you print it that folks can’t read it. I suggest testing older readers next time and not just the 20-somethings in your newsroom who have good eyes. Because as we know, older folks are much more loyal and regular readers of the paper. I’m only middle aged and my eyes are only somewhat weak but I had a lot of trouble with it. I do appreciate you bumping up the font a bit to make it easier. Hang in there; Atlanta needs its newspaper so don’t give up the fight.
Thomas
May 2nd, 2009
11:20 am
No mention that you intend to become a balanced newspaper instead of the spokesman for all things “liberal”. I will check with a newstand purchase once in a while before I re-subscribe.
Chuck Lana
May 2nd, 2009
11:22 am
So far, so good!
The new AJC look is visually striking. Great job on making this venerable publication look like it was birthed in the 21st century. Now, what are the chances you continue the migration from newsprint to electronic version by a redesign of AJC.com to look like the paper?
After all, by most experts’ estimation, the newspaper industry will have to migrate to paid web versions in the next five years or face oblivion. Young readers haven’t taken up the habit of grabbing the ol’ fishwrap with a cup of joe in the morning: they would much rather click on their bookmark in their browser while sipping a tall mocha latte at their favorite coffee emporium, or at work.
You’ve already made the transition in your blogs (like Peach Buzz), take the next step and ad the rest.
If you lead in the push to 70% Web, 30% print revenue, you might just get to see the AJC banner in 2100… Here’s hoping y’all do.
Dr. Chuck
May 2nd, 2009
12:09 pm
There is a complete online version of the paper @ ajcprint.com and costs $5 per month. Not bad at all.
Shawn McIntosh, AJC Public Editor
May 2nd, 2009
12:32 pm
Dr. Chuck, I like the e-print edition myself so I’m glad you are recommending it. Just want to note it does’t include the Sunday comics or ad inserts; only stuff we print on site.
BJ
May 2nd, 2009
12:41 pm
I still love print newspapers though I constantly use website news sites all the time, for work and personal interest. I was shocked when I saw the new AJC print edition. To me it feels like going back in time, largely because of colors and layout, and like moving to a tabloid newspaper such as USA Today. Neither of these are positive points. It will be interesting tomorrow when I get the first Sunday edition. I’m sure I won’t cancel my subscription, but at this point I have to say the new format definitely doesn’t win me over. Like most changes, I guess I’ll get used to it. Sigh!
Shawn McIntosh, AJC Public Editor
May 2nd, 2009
12:57 pm
BJ, I’m not expecting this to make you like the new AJC design any better, but it’s got some pretty strong differences from USA TODAY. USA TODAY uses big visuals and not that many stories on the front and is a much looser design. The AJC new design has high word-to-visual ratio, high story count, and is pretty dense in design, in some ways similar to the Wall Street Journal.
I know folks see similarities to USA TODAY because of the color navigation (colored section headers) but the design philosophies are very different.
BJ
May 2nd, 2009
1:20 pm
Shawn, thank god you’re going the “high word-to-visual” route. Too many “news” options (print, web-based, TV, …) only feed us “snippets” of information, barely skimming the surface of what is happening. And some TV news has even done away with snippets in favor of
“news” that is just endless freakouts and arguments, ie Headline News’ Nancy Grace. Some of us still have enough attention spans to want to dig deeper into what’s going on in the world. I hope the print AJC continues to give its readers some depth. I know your business, especially the print side of it, is undergoing massive changes due to lower ad sales and lower circulations. Overall your readers want you to succeed even though we may whine a lot about how you have to get there.
Keith
May 2nd, 2009
2:01 pm
There are lots of little things that keep disappearing after each “improvement” such as the daily Celebrity Birthdays and the Genealogy column that used to appear on Sunday. These are the types of things that round out a paper. The hard news is old and has already been read online by the time the paper hits. Tthe little things used to make subscribing worthwhile.
Shawn McIntosh, AJC Public Editor
May 2nd, 2009
2:38 pm
Keith, I think you just correctly identified one of the challenges of modern newspapering. When nearly everyone read a paper, and it was the only “mass medium,” it was easy to have something for just about everyone. Some people loved the bridge column, others turned each day to celebrity birthdays, and some couldn’t get out of bed without Dear Abby. As readers and advertisers moved to the Internet, most newspapers had to get smaller. And start choosing what to leave in and what to take out.
Any newpaper company making bad choices about what to keep and especially what to take out can cause even more readers to leave. So newspaper edtiors need to know what thier readers like best and be sure to choose wisely.
We’ve discovered that most of our 7-day readers are not reading the news online, and they really want and need to get the day’s news in the weekday newspapers. That doesn’t mean there aren’t still a lot of “little things” to round out the daily paper, but news is the main mission.
On weekends, we have two kinds of readers, those who read mostly a newspaper for their news all week, and those who read online during weekdays but still want the experience of a Sunday paper. That’s why you will find our new Sunday edition loaded up with those kinds of “little things” that can make reading a newspaper such a pleasure. In additon to the old standards, we’ve added some new destination features. When you pick up the paper tomorrow be sure to check out Page 2 of Metro, Business and Sports and check out the “Milestones” feature in Sunday Living and Arts.
Good reading and I hope you find the “little things” still make a big difference.
Newspaper enthusiast
May 2nd, 2009
3:39 pm
Thought the Sunday paper looked good … wish I could buy a copy without all of the ad inserts … don’t read ‘em, hate to fill up the landfill.
Tim
May 2nd, 2009
4:27 pm
“So why make the page narrower? It was one of the difficult decisions that we’ve made, including eliminating delivery in some counties, and cutting staff and sections, in response to an extremely challenging economic situation. We’ve used a lot of reader research to decide what we needed to keep and what we could let go in order to reduce costs and continue to bring you a daily newspaper.”
–Well, the difficult decision was a horrible one. It’s a shame that people around Georgia cannot read the capital city newspaper. I don’t know who these readers are you claim to have consulted. I could understand the staff and section cutback if the newspaper was all that Cox owned. But Cox Enterprises owns cable systems, radio stations, television stations, Autotrader.com, digital telephone, high-speed internet, and on and on. With Cox Enterprises profiting from all these other sources, it is unacceptable to gut the only daily Atlanta newspaper like this. It’s just sheer greed.
They have ended the @Issue section on Sunday, AccessAtlanta, Movies and More, CityLife, Thursday Homefinder, Atlanta and the World, Horizon, and Home & Garden. They discontinued the stand alone Arts, Travel, Business, and Better Health sections. The Food Section, Sunday AJC Homes, and AJC Jobs are all super thin now. That’s all I can remember, I know there’s more.
All options should have been exhausted before narrowing the newspaper AGAIN. A daily paper this narrow can’t even be respected, it’s almost a sick joke. The other day the Front Page (A) section was only eight pages, with the Business section included. Who are these mythical readers who claim to want a “less comprehensive” paper during the week? Why would someone want to pay 75 cents and get a smaller paper? Do you really think people are going to “get used” to this new design? Seriously? I desperately want to see the paper survive, but with these types of cuts I can’t envision people continuing to renew their subscriptions.
Shawn McIntosh, AJC Public Editor
May 2nd, 2009
5:20 pm
Tim, I understand your frustration with cuts in content. We don’t like them either.
Just for background, here’s an exerpt from a letter our publisher, Doug Franklin, wrote to readers in February:
“We can only be a strong, free press — beholden to no one — if we are profitable. Right now, the AJC — and other newspapers across the country — are struggling financially.
For years, the AJC was sustained by classified and retail advertising. This revenue allowed us to deliver the newspaper to you 365 days a year at a very reasonable price. But as people turned to the Internet, classified listings declined. Our retail advertisers have been forced by current significant economic challenges to reduce their ad spending.
This is our challenge. We know you depend on us more than ever. The latest data from the research firm Scarborough shows that about 2 million people in Atlanta read the AJC every week. We provide more in-depth local news and information than any other source. We also know you continue to rely on us for the best shopping information from our advertisers. In these tough economic times, you want to spend your money wisely, and our advertisers help you do so.
So … how do we face these financial challenges? It won’t be easy. Just like you, we have to live within our limited means.
No business can lose money for long, and we are working day and night to turn this around. We are making difficult decisions: we have cut staff, frozen pay, reduced our circulation area and taken a sharp pencil to all our business costs.
We’re listening to you more than ever. In the past year we heard from thousands of readers — through surveys, focus groups and other feedback channels — who have guided the changes we’ve made so far. We know that we’re at our best when we act on what we learn from our readers.
We can’t do everything we want or everything you want.”
As for whether people will continue to subscribe, I certainly hope so. The newspaper remains an incredible value. For 7-day subscribers, it arrives every day on the driveway at a cost of about 60 cents. You can’t even get a cup of coffee for 60 cents these days, and you certainly can’t get a cup delivered each morning.
rondell
May 2nd, 2009
5:54 pm
Eager with anticipation, I picked up the early Sunday AJC which is distributed on Saturday. What a disappointment! What in the world did you do to the Sports section? Eight pages only and full of adds:
Page C1 – large banner ad at bottom for upcoming Hawks game
Page C2 – full page car ad
Page C3 – half page tires ad
Page C4 – 7/8ths of the page is ads
Page C5 – 3/4ths of the page is ads
Page C6 – half page of ads
Page C7 – full page ad
Page C8 – full page ad
What’s going on? Did all the sports writers call in sick with swine flu or something? Looks like the AJC used an extremely high ads-to-content ratio in this section. Anyone looking for a “relaxing experience” reading Sunday’s Sports is going to be sorely disappointed.
Shawn McIntosh, AJC Public Editor
May 2nd, 2009
6:31 pm
Rondell, the early edition has less news because it’s put together Friday night, roughly the same time as the Saturday edition and there’s little news at that point that hasn’t already been in the Saturday newspaper. Folks who buy it usually want an early jump on coupons or to read feature content rather than news content.
Newspaper enthusiast
May 2nd, 2009
9:39 pm
In reviewing the comments from Shawn, I’m not really seeing the role of an ombudsman…
Tom
May 3rd, 2009
12:33 am
I agree with BJ: the new look seems to mimic USA Today, only the writing in AJC has deteriorated to the point where it is about as bad as USA Today. My wife and I were just discussing what we should do and we will probably start getting the New York Times delivered and cancel the AJC. The NYTimes has many in-depth articles on many relevant topics. This isn’t about a liberal paper vs. a conservative paper. It is all about what is a GOOD newspaper with good journalism, true investigative journalism, detailed stories, AND a wide range of editorial opinion. I’m sorry to say it, but AJC just doesn’t come close.
Sharecropper
May 3rd, 2009
11:18 am
Wow. You are “listening” and as a result you will have bigger type. Bolder type. That is impressive. You have discovered “watchdog” journalism on the way through the jail house door? Goodness.A narrower page because the readers will prefer it? Did you ask? Bulletin: A narrower page MEANS LESS NEWS!. Reminds me of my days as an editor when the m.e. of the Las Vegas Sun said he used to run a showgirl — as undressed as possible — on the front page every day, with the lead headline in red. He got complaints. The big guys sat down and made changes.
They made the lead headline blue.
Next for the fast-disappearing AJC, blue headlines.
Michael H. Smith
May 3rd, 2009
1:33 pm
A belated comment to the public editor: I hope we will never always agree entirely. That would probably mean I’ve got to change immediately and for a conservative, even for a progressive populist conservative that would be like having to re-build Rome within a day.
Simon
May 3rd, 2009
3:30 pm
So Tim…let me get this straight. You demand that the people who make the AJC confirm to your requirements even if they lose money because in your opinion, they can afford it. Where I come from that is just theft. You want to steal their money for your use.
I would much rather that the AJC keep changing until they find a model and structure that makes money. That would mean that the people in Atlanta find enough value in the paper to pay more than what it costs to produce it. If the AJC had been following that approach for the last decade, they would be in much better shape today…and we would all have a better paper too.
Mark
May 4th, 2009
7:15 am
Can’t say the Sunday paper changed my mind from what I thought during the week. The colors, I can take them or leave them. The new font isn’t good. Some of the adjustments have been good, there’s less long column stories than Tuesday. But the Sunday paper is small compared tot he past years and coupled with how extremely!!! thin the weekday papers are, especially with so much content moved to Sunday, I feel like I’m not getting what I should for my money.
Ernest
May 4th, 2009
9:30 am
I can definitely see you’ve applied some of the feedback to the paper. In the 5/4 AJC, I visually noticed a difference in some of the font sets and colors. I like the change in color for the Sports section however I believe the Living section should have a more contrasting color. Side by side, initially they both are similar. FWIW, I do like the darker color used for the Sports this week over the initial copy from last week.
Tair
May 5th, 2009
10:50 am
A radio advertisement this morning mentioned a coupon to try the new Sunday paper but I don’t see that available.
Lisa M
May 6th, 2009
1:55 pm
Where is the coupon to try the “new” Sunday paper? Just a prank?
Sandee
May 6th, 2009
1:57 pm
I heard on the radio that there would be a coupon to try the “new” Sunday AJC. Where can I find that?
Mark
May 7th, 2009
6:54 am
The web address is:
http://media.ajc.com/unplugsunday/
Longtime AJC Reader
May 8th, 2009
5:01 pm
Shawn, a clarification: Is your job to represent the AJC or represent the readers? That’s an honest question. I know that public editors at papers like the NYT are expected to criticize their own newspaper when they disagree with its decisions. Does the AJC allow you to criticize it? If so, why have you been so supportive of this redesign when the overwhelming majority of online responses have been negative? Do you actually like this redesign? Please explain. Thanks.
Darryl Brooks
May 11th, 2009
9:07 pm
Note two things on the coupon. First, it’s for $1, not a free paper. Second, If you print it to a color printer, it will use up a dollar’s worth of ink. You don’t get to see or format the coupon. You hit print and it produces a full page four color coupon.
Debra King
May 13th, 2009
9:17 pm
I am a long-time (over 20 years) weekends-only subscriber. I have resisted the online edition, favoring the feel of the paper in my hands. My family has always known better than to bother me until I read the Sunday paper, and most Sundays the Living section was held as a afternoon treat. Well, no more. I was optimistic about the new format – change is good, right? Not in this case. For the second week now the ad papers well outweigh the newspaper. Where’s my AJC? Now I can quickly thumb through what’s left of my dear Sunday paper in just a few minutes. Every section is a mere shadow of its former self. The look of the banner is awful, the font is hard to read, and the articles are shallow. I actually saw a typo in the long-planned first new version. So much for careful planning and attention to detail. I can’t help but see this as the beginning of the end.
Kathy Giannini
May 14th, 2009
10:23 am
No pun intended, but you have really cut the meat out of the Food Section. One page does not a section make.
So, so sad!
Debra King
May 15th, 2009
9:42 pm
Last year I won a AJC contest for long-time subscribers and got 2 free tickets to the Braves game. We had a wonderful time watching the game from the AJC box with yummy snacks, drinks, hats, t-shirts and nice gift bags. I felt like a valued customer. What I remember most is the young woman from AJC subscriber services who wanted to hear from all the winners about how much we love our newspapers. The message of the day was that AJC was concerned about the decline in subscribers in favor of the online edition. Well, I’m no longer feeling the love – the new paper doesn’t deliver any bang for the buck. maybe the online edition won’t be so bad after all.
Darry Brooks
May 17th, 2009
10:30 am
Another comment on the coupon that has been advertised so heavily. Guess what? Kroger doesn’t know anything about so good luck using it.
Notable Ideas
May 25th, 2009
11:58 am
Atlanta is quite a comfortable place to call home, but it is a little on the dull side. So it’s probably difficult to have a paper that is more interesting than the city it serves. You probably can’t be too innovative with the content, or the freedom-fries crowd will want to boycott you for being “too dang liberal.”
So you’re in a bit of a pickle really. The paper is comfortably dull. Unfortunately that isn’t going to appeal to many people that have lived outside of the southeast for any significant period of time but are now living here.
Maybe you should put the AJC out only three or four times a week. Maybe you should have a Spanish version widely available. Put a Korean section in the Sunday paper, possibly. Do you have an AJC video channel? If not, do that. Pair up with some reporters from another city and cover each others beat for a couple of weeks. Maybe we’ll all realize we don’t have it so bad, or maybe we’ll get some new ideas. Maybe you should turn some of your reporters into blogging referees. Put a reporter in an isolation tank for a week, with air holes of course, and see what kind of article they write. What are their observations?