Gannett Blog: Shrink ‘n’ spin: Papers drop sections this week

The Cincinnati Enquirer got a little bit smaller this week. Did anyone notice? Does anyone care? I certainly do – for a lot of reasons.

Here’s what Gannett Blog had to say about The Enquirer’s change (and others):

Shrink ‘n’ spin: Papers drop sections this week

In the latest phase of the current big budget cut, many Gannett newspapers are rolling out thinner papers, starting tomorrow. Sections are being combined, features moved around — or eliminated altogether.

Cincinnati Enquirer Publisher Margaret Buchanan offers the best spin so far. After reeling off a litany of changes in a nearly 600-word note to readers on page one today, M.B. writes: “These changes are not because we have an audience problem, but rather are to meet the revenue challenges we, like many other businesses and families, face.”

via Gannett Blog: Shrink ‘n’ spin: Papers drop sections this week.

The opninon page is now shrunk to a single page in the front section and the features section – called “Tempo” for generations but changed to “Life” a few years ago – is now, get this, part of the “Local” section (called “Metro” for generations until a couple years ago). It’s called “Local Life.”

Besides a love for politics – local and national – and a desire for inner-ring and urban communities to be revitalized, I am obsessed with the hunt for a practical new business model for media. Why? Because we need good, competent, thorough local reporting. Otherwise that whole First Amendment thing about “freedom of the press” really doesn’t mean squat. And I do not mean that we need to find a way to fix the print edition (though I still like to read my news printed on paper, but do it other ways (like on a computer screen of varying sizes and resolutions and portablity) all the time. The whole business model is a joke and I believe strongly that our society – the American way of life – is suffering immeasurably, albeit subtly for now, as a result.