That was the week that was - without AP

You can be sure the wire service will be watching closely, and maybe nervously, next week as Tribune papers do without as much AP content as possible.

As Phil Rosenthal, the Chicago Tribune's media watcher put it on his blog:

Some newspapers have determined that shared wire content that is available to readers from many other outlets is worth less to them than unique, proprietary content, especially online. Coupled with reductions in the space allocated for news in print, papers are weighing whether there’s the same need for Associated Press content as in the past.

Or to put it another way, once AP sells it to Google, why does anyone else need to buy it?

This just goes to highlight the tough spot AP really finds itself in. Don't forget, it was not that long ago, in August, that I was quoting Cleveland Plain Dealer Editor Susan Goldberg on her view of what the wire service should do. Unique content was not part of her vision:

Goldberg, asked if the Plain Dealer and similar papers might go without AP someday, said "it's possible." There's a basic disconnect, she said: "I want them to cover the really boring meeting at the Statehouse so my people don't have to." But, she said, AP wants to do bigger projects and enterprise "that I have neither the desire nor the room to publish."

I think we'll all be interested to see what conclusions Tribune reaches.

Trib Modules

In case you missed it in the past couple of weeks, all the carnage at the Tribune papers' desks appears traceable back to the modules the Trib is starting to roll out among all its papers.

PDFs of national, international and business pages have started rolling out of Chicago. In a bit of irony, as one memo notes, after all the redesign work done at some of the Trib papers to establish their local identity, they're being forced to run Trib typefaces.

Not surprising, all this. Members of the Suburban Newspaper Association returned from a trip to Scandanavia last year all a ga-ga over template-driven editing, also known as "layout-driven editing."(Here's more from a Canadian Newspaper Association story, and you can request a copy of the SNA report for free.)

Most interesting from that memo:

Templated newspaper -- Rather than the current, standard arrangement whereby the ad folks sell as many ads as they can and we fill in the newshole that's left, the paper is going to have a set ad layout depending on the day of the week, so in theory we would be able to plan a paper days or weeks ahead knowing exactly what it is going to look like.

Anyone told the ad boys and girls yet? Seems like that's a potentially serious crimp in their income.

Lest you be surprised, this has been evolving for more than a decade. There's a reason all those 10 a.m. editorial meetings started in the 1980 and '90s. It's called preplanning a much as possible. Accounting hates breaking news.

From Steve Yelvington at Morris: Read my lips: This is not a temporary maneuver in response to an economic cycle. This is permanent structural change.

Chi Trib protypes out

The Chicago Tribune's redesign prototypes are out. They keep the old nameplate typeface, despite the earlier flirtation with changing it.

Judging from the comments in Crain's ChicagoBusiness, however, the readers who are writing don't like it much.

More on Chicago Trib

Robb Montgomery at Visual Editors has a video that gives another look at some of the Chicago Tribune's redesign ideas.

Despite the brief dalliance with rethinking the Old English typeface of the paper's logo, what's seen here is in line with later word that the paper keeps the current nameplate but boxes it in blue and moves it to one side.

Design director Jonathon Berlin says expect combining some sections and a live feature section.

Chicago 'Trib' Redesign

Following up on the earlier post about Chicago Tribune execs pushing to change the Tribune's venerable nameplate, Editor & Publisher has come up with a prototype.


It emphasises "Trib" while still keeping, in small type, the Old English "Chicago Tribune." Stay tuned for more.

Update: Meanwhile, Crain's Chicago Business says another set of prototypes keeps the traditional nameplate lettering but puts it into a box format.

'Chicago Tribune' nameplate in Comic Sans?

It's no secret Chicago Tribune designers have been under the gun to get a redesign of the paper done by the end of this month.

But apparently more may be up -- a complete redesign of the Trib's venerable nameplate.

While I was in Chicago, my contacts in Trib Tower told me that Tribune COO Randy Michaels (aka Benjamin Homel) walked into the designers' nest one evening, pointed to the nameplate and said, to the effect, "Are we really tied to that tired old typeface?"

So, I'm told, several mock-ups with different typefaces (I couldn't find out which ones) have been prepared.

This is all very interesting since Scott C. Smith, then the publisher, and then-Editor Ann Marie Lipinski went to great lengths in January, after the last redesign (which, it would seem, was far less ranging than the one coming up) to assure people that while the blue streak had been removed from behind the Trib's nameplate, the venerable Old English font was secure.

So we are introducing a new nameplate that exudes a less brassy and more contemporary look. At the same time, we have preserved our distinctive font, drawn in the style of Old English, as well as the American flag and the color we fondly call "Tribune blue." We hope those attributes are reassuring reminders of the paper's values and heritage.

But Smith and Lipinski are gone, and new owner Sam Zell apparently has designs on turning Tribune Tower into condos (if you put any stock in the numerous times I was told that by those with current and former ties to the newsroom), so replacing that huge Old English "Chicago Tribune" on the side of the building should not be a problem.

The only question is whether Michaels/Homel was just funnin', as he's been known to do. But there are reasons to think he's not. Consider this from a recent interview with a Tribune blogger:

We should grieve for those who have been downsized. We should NOT be mourning the loss of anything else. Everything has its time. Do we want to look like the Tribune of June 10, 1847? How about 1900? 1910? 1970? This paper has changed with the times, and must continue to do so.

So what will it be? The Trib in a nice simple sans-serif?

Chicago Tribune

Or what about Planet Kosmos, since Zell et al., keep talking about looking forward, not to the past:

Or maybe Comic Sans? After all, they want to lighten up a bit.


What are your suggestions for Randy & Co.? (Typeface, folks. Nothing else - this is a family blog.)

In fact, what typeface do you think captures best your local paper's true being?

Put it in the comments. Even better is if you can put a screenshot up on something like Flickr and link to it so we can see it. (If you go to Font Seek, you can find hundreds of fonts. Many of the sites to which it points you have a free-try box - type in some text and it displays in that font. Then, it's as easy as taking a screenshot and posting it.)

Update: See new post with picture of prototype from E&P

Mutter on why NYT may have to go private

If you want the straight dope on the business end of media, Alan Mutter's Reflections of a Newsosaur blog is one place you have to stop regularly.

First, I recommend to you his latest post on why the New York Times may have to go private, even though it is likely to balloon the company's debt load. As Mutter notes: The more properties the company sells, the more it could reduce its debt and the less it would be forced to cut operating expenses at the New York Times. Thus, the future of the crown jewel of American journalism may well depend on how many other jewels the family is willing to sell.

Earlier he did a thorough job of dissecting the Tribune deal and the employee stock ownership plan to be created.

While you're at it, add Bob Garfield's Chaos Scenario 2.0 to your reading. Hey, you've gotta feel superior to the ad folks at some point, right. Yeah, right ...