[Akira]

After this, how far behind can a tougher stand on Saudi Arabia be?

[RightWhale]

A huge step. Next they might agree on map scales and projections.

[TheBigB]

I don't see an "Onion" byline, but this has gotta be the most ridiculous thing I've seen in, well, hours. :)

[theDentist]

Whew! For a while there I thought we'd remain behind the Times forever!

[byteback]

Smart move. Memogate will be dead because they are no longer "official documents".

[Salo]

They should be moving to a smaller font to save disk space. ;-)

[anonymous_user]

Next, they'll give up those exploding tape recorders...  
"This is your mission, Jim, should you choose to accept it."

[OrioleFan]

I would have thought they would have gone with a Dingbats font - nobody can understand them anyway.

[In_25_words_or_less]

after February 1 "only Times New Roman 14 will be accepted."

I guess to them sans serif fonts are just grotesque.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I think this superceeds the previous memo on memo format.

[Sam Cree]

Times New Roman is a very nice typeface, one of my favorites, very readable.

Ironically, since they call it modern, it is based on the beautiful styles used by the Romans 2,000 years ago.

[Hank Rearden]

This memo's been in the works since the Nixon administration. Takes a while for a matter of such import to get all signed off. Many, many lunches and dinners were required.

[Incorrigible]

There was someone on FR at one time with a nice font for them...

[KarlInOhio]

First they came for Courier, but I didn't speak out because I didn't use Courier...

How soon will it be before Courier inspectors are searching through Foggy Bottom for illegal stockpiles of Selectric typewriter balls?

[Condor51]

About time!
I'm sick of reading "Courier New 12".
I much prefer "Times New Roman 14"!

But my favorite is still City Blueprint.

Anyway, now that State has this problem solved, maybe they could look into how to stop Arab terrorists from getting visas?

[templar]

Wonder what font the edict was written in?

[Arthalion]

LOL! It may be humorous to see the State Department occupied with such menial tasks, but there are actually good reasons for this: Courier uses a single point line for the characters, while TNR used a two point line, making it much easier to read. TNR also has more consistent letter spacing and emphasized character flourishes making it easier to scan documents into a computer for editing.

So why the memo? So everyone will be on the same standard.

[Cicero]

Well, frankly, Courier went out with the mechanical typewriter, about 15 or 20 years ago. Times New Roman is the standard.

But it's a bit bizarre to decree that everyone should use font size 14 rather than 12. They will waste a lot of ink and paper--not that that is likely to bother federal bureaucrats.

[1Old Pro]

I always use Arial 14 when I want something to be easy to read.

[southernnorthcarolina]

Font sizes as measured in points (12, 14, etc.) don't translate to computer screens, since monitor sizes vary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is Courier New.

This is Times Roman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looks to me as if they'll use more ink and less paper. Personally, I find Times Roman to be much more legible, particularly in long passages as one might encounter in bureaucratese.

Now, it's time for Free Republic to reconsider its fonts. Why not something conservative, like Old English Text?

[mrsmith]

Oh these radicals in the State Department!

Next they'll be allowing hemi-demi-semi-formal jackets at demi-semi-formal table-shape negotiation get-together luncheons!