Charles Apple

Last year, the Chicago Tribune company made changes at its regional papers — referred to in-house as the “T6 papers” — to have certain pages and parts of pages — called “modules” — produced in Chicago. As you can imagine, this was a huge labor-saving device for the Tribune. Many designers, copy editors and other journalists lost their jobs as a result.

The papers affected: the Orlando Sentinel, the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, the Baltimore Sun, the Hartford Courant, the Allentown, Pa., Morning Call and the Daily Press of Newport News, Va.

Monday, the Tribune took the next step toward further consolidation, Chicago Tribune columnist Phil Rosenthal reports:

Since last spring, the Chicago Tribune has been sending edited, formatted and headlined nonlocal stories to smaller Tribune Co. newspapers, which could then drop them onto their pages. This new plan, set to begin Tuesday, involves editing, formatting and producing whole pages for the Daily Press, including, in some cases, editing and inserting local content…

“Instead of sending out individual building blocks that are assembled at the local site, we’re essentially going to build the framework into which they will fit local modules,” said Chicago Tribune Editor Gerould Kern, who has led the centralization efforts. The Daily Press, Kern said, asked for the latest “iteration on this model” to maintain local reporting yet lower costs.

Tuesday’s Daily Press front page.
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“This is a model that, particularly in smaller markets, although I can see it in larger markets as well, can change the economics of the newspaper business the same way Clear Channel changed the economics of … the radio business,” Digby Solomon, president and chief executive of the Daily Press, said by phone.

The comparison to Clear Channel isn’t surprising, given the background of Tribune managers. But the downside should be obvious, as well. The kind of homogenization brought forth by Clear Channel and its ilk is one reason I bought an iPod adapter for my car.

Make no mistake about it. This is not good news for journalism, print newspapers or for readers.

Find the story here.

Find my story about the Tribune’s module system here.

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UPDATE

My old friend Phil Walzer of the Virginian-Pilot reports today:

The Daily Press in Newport News will eliminate most of its positions for copy editors and designers and move their functions to The Chicago Tribune, the newspaper’s publisher, Digby Solomon, said today.

Read the story here.

Readers of the Los Angeles Times picked up their papers today, only to find Johnny Depp peering at them from the top of the fold of page one:

It’s a wrap, of course. When readers turn the page, they see the true page one. Note the ad — for the same movie — across the bottom of the page:

A press release from the Times seems to suggest that this is something new:

The Los Angeles Times breaks new ground today, translating the “homepage” take-over concept from the Web to print and deliver Disney’s Mad Hatter to readers’s doorsteps, driveways and city street corners.

But, of course, it isn’t. Just last month, two papers in Vancover, Canada, ran ads that wrapped around page one on the day the Winter Olympics opened:

Spadea ads have wrapped around the front of the Virginian-Pilot and the Chicago Tribune. I’ve blogged about obtrusive ads on A1 and the rest of the paper here and here and here and here and here.

And, of course, who can forget this somewhat questionable ad venture just 11 months ago, on page one of the Los Angeles Times itself?:

The press release continues:

“The Times is thrilled to work with Disney to create a truly exceptional and distinctive way in which to let L.A. know Alice in Wonderland is now in theatres,” said John T. O’Loughlin, Executive Vice President, Advertising and Chief Revenue Office [of the L.A. Times]. “We knew this was an unusual opportunity to stretch traditional boundaries and deliver an innovative ad unit designed to create buzz … and further extend the film’s brilliant marketing campaign.”

Read the press release here.

Go here for a column about this by Sharon Waxman of the Hollywood Wrap.

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UPDATE: Monday, March 8, 3:30 p.m.

Richard Pérez-Pena of the New York Times today reported a few more aspects to this story…

Pérez-Pina reports:

The top editor of The Times, Russ Stanton, and several of his deputies vigorously opposed the ad before it was published, but they were overruled by the paper’s business executives, according to people with direct knowledge of the dispute, who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Mr. Stanton said only, “Obviously, it was not my decision.”

Pérez-Pina also reports that last July — not long after the infamous Southland front-page ad — the Times ran an ad for the HBO series True Blood that wrapped around the paper. The difference then was: The ad didn’t include the Times logo at the top.

The Times story also included a look at the entire ad, which we didn’t have before:

Find the NYT story here.

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UPDATE: Monday, March 8, 9 p.m.

Heh. First of all, here’s the First Blood wrap ad from last summer. You’ll note that it does indeed have the nameplate across the top:

Here’s a story published at the time in the Huffington Post about the ad.

And Sharon Waxman of the Wrap reports today that the Times sold the Depp wrap ad for $700,000.

The Onion sounds off of the decline of the industry.

Enjoy.

How Will The End Of Print Journalism Affect Old Loons Who Hoard Newspapers?

The football coach at Texas A&M-Commerce said he was proud of his team for hoarding copies of the school’s student newspaper last week, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

Coach Guy Morriss is quoted as saying:

I’m proud of my players for doing that. This was the best team building exercise we have ever done.

A student gazes longingly into an empty student newspaper
rack last Thursday. Photo from the East Texan web site.
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The East Texan of Texas A&M-Commerce reported that Lt. Jason BoneBryan Vaughn and assistant chief of the University Police Department interviewed coach Morriss on Friday, the day after the papers disappeared.

Bone asked Morriss if he had seen the most recent issue of the paper. Morriss replied with negative comments regarding The East Texan.

“I don’t read that crap,” he said.

Bone said he then showed Morriss the top headline on the front page of the edition, which read, “Football players arrested in drug bust.” To this Morriss responded he did not pay any attention to that crap. Morriss then asked for clarification on how taking a free paper was considered theft.

Attorney Advocate for the Student Press Law Center Adam Goldstein said the actions taken by members of the football team are illegal.

Find the East Texan’s story about the missing papers here. Go here to read the original story about the drug bust.

Photographed recently on a D.C. street:

Ouch!

This was posted Wednesday by Dave Stroup on the Why I Hate DC blog. Thanks to Kevin Cobb for the tip.