L.A. Times downsizes its weather map
Los Angeles Times‘ reader representative Jamie Gold wrote Sunday about the Times‘ new, downsized weather map.
Mark Fitzgerald and Jennifer Saba of Editor & Publisher’s Fitz & Jen blog say the project was…
…a fascinating and conscientious process that other newspapers would do well to emulate.
On the left: The previous weather page. On the right: The new one.
As is the case with any such revision, the real task isn’t to produce a better page. You can hardly do that with half the space. The real task is to produce a smaller page that’s effective and easy to use.
Gold writes:
A decision was made to keep the focus on California. The lists of temperatures and conditions continues for 73 California cities (four were deleted); cuts were made mostly in the lists of U.S. cities (77 U.S. will be listed, down from 93) and international cities (37 remain; 43 were dropped). Some other features, including diving conditions and phases of the moon, were eliminated.
All of the deleted material is available online, Gold notes.
A closer look at the new weather page (click for a larger view):
She goes into detail about how decisions were made to keep or delete various cities. The graphics team consulted census data and checked the latest migration patterns. Gold notes:
That’s one reason a larger percentage of Asian cities than Canadian cities remains.
Graphics editor Les Dunseith tells us most of the heavy lifting on the new page was done by senior artist Lorena Iniguez Elebee and assistant graphics editor Thomas Lauder.
The changes went into effect this past Sunday.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Does anyone really rely on newspapers for the weather in this era? With the Weather Channel, weather.com and all sorts of more immediate sources for weather information, isn’t this an anachronism we could get rid off? I’m merely asking, not advocating.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I think you have an excellent point, John.
I’m a weather nut — I have an interest in the subject that goes back to when our house was hit by a tornado when I was 11 years old.
But I rarely look at newspaper weather reports because, frankly, they’re so old. Because of how rapidly conditions change, a report more than two or three hours old is simply TOO old. Yet, anything you see in the newspaper is at least 12 — and possibly as much as 24 — hours old.
If I ran a newspaper, weather would be one of the first things I’d cut back on. Instead, I’d spend those resources — in print, anyway — on weather pictures, weather stories, talking to forecasters and local trends like rainfall and such. Weather is a big topic for many of our readers. So it’s good to address it.
Yet, it seems like many editors shy away from weather stories. Many reporters groan when they’re asked to write them. I don’t get it.
At the Pilot, we usually ran a nice weather story every Friday. We’d also run numerous photos of the region — admittedly, this is a resort area — focusing on what’s happening outside. I think those efforts were well-received by readers.
But the huge, 1980s-style weather page? It’s outlived its usefulness, I think.
What say the rest of you?
July 7th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
At the News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), we’re down to a quarter-page weather map, as of earlier this week. It previously was a half page.
There are still some people who don’t have Internet access — or cable TV — so I think a small forecast area is still important. But a whole page? Which newspaper has that luxury anymore?
Good thoughts on repurposing the space for other weather-related content. We often ran national and local weather stories when we had the room. Unfortunately, tomorrow’s extra space will be used for jumps from the metro front.
July 8th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I haven’t looked at a newspaper’s weather map in probably 10 years. That’s one of those things that I think newspapers should do away with completely. Just run today’s predicted high & low and forecast for the area for those who don’t get their weather from the Internet, TV, or radio. That space can go toward much more useful things.
July 17th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Au contraire, mes freres! The day that The NY Times downsizes/alters/eliminates its terrific weather feature (and I have a feeling that it is going to be soon) will be the straw that breaks this camel’s back, and I will cancel my paper subscription…..