Posted on 08/29/2005 12:39:06 PM PDT by Pikamax
My opinion David Stoeffler: Opinion pages get a makeover
More words. More letters. No more Ann Coulter.
Since my arrival here nine weeks ago, we've been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work aimed at making the Arizona Daily Star a better newspaper.
Today, we unveil some visible changes to your Opinion pages. More changes will come here and throughout the paper over the coming weeks and months.
First, the highlights of changes to the Opinion pages. Then a little about the process we're using to arrive at our plans.
When I first wrote to you as I assumed my duties here, I invited your comments about the paper.
Of an estimated 300 e-mails and letters, I'd guess one third or so have dealt with some aspect of the Opinion pages and a recent redesign.
Very few said you loved it. Some of you said you could leave it.
It's true enough that for some readers, the only way to win their hearts would be to reverse the longstanding editorial position of the newspaper on political and social issues.
But readers of all political persuasions said a redesign launched earlier this year on the Opinion pages had simply gone too far in emphasis on design. While strong visuals, including cartoons, can help pull readers into the pages, people ultimately turn to these pages for the commentary - ours, that of our local and syndicated columnists and that of other readers.
Beginning today, we're shifting the balance back toward more words. We'll still have photos and cartoons, but they will consistently run smaller. No more full-body photos of the letter-writer of the week or of people who contribute to our weekly highlights from local blogs.
The cartoons of David Fitzsimmons and others will run smaller - more similar to their size prior to the redesign. This will free up room for our two daily syndicated columnists, adding about 100 words to the average length of each column.
Fitz's Sunday "Tucson Boulevard" cartoon strip will move to Page 2 of the section each week, replacing his regular cartoon spot there. That will free up room for another columnist on the cover most Sundays. Sometimes, I'll have a column in this spot, but we're considering a variety of local and syndicated options for most weeks.
The design changes on the page opposite our editorial will mean more room for your letters. This was probably the No. 1 request of people who wrote to me. We've been publishing additional letters online, but now we'll get more of them into print, too.
Finally, we've decided that syndicated columnist Ann Coulter has worn out her welcome. Many readers find her shrill, bombastic and mean-spirited. And those are the words used by readers who identified themselves as conservatives.
Taking her place on Saturdays will be Tony Snow, host of "The Tony Snow Show," syndicated nationally on Fox News Radio, and "Weekend Live with Tony Snow" on Fox News Channel. He has worked at a number of daily newspapers and is a former speechwriter for former President George H.W. Bush.
We're also making a lineup change to the staffing of our Opinion pages. With the return of writer Sam Negri following a lengthy medical leave, Sarah Garrecht Gassen will resume her duties as a reporter on our Metro desk. Sarah will continue to coordinate Young Voices, the Friday roundup of opinion by local teens and young adults.
These changes are part of an overall effort to better serve our readers and improve our journalism.
Running a newspaper is something like building a three-legged stool.
We need to understand and satisfy a broad audience. Through a combination of market research and regular contact, we come to know what readers want.
We need a staff of reporters, photographers, artists, copy editors and others to gather and produce the content that meets the needs of those readers. Like any group of professionals, they do their best when they are engaged and excited about the direction of the organization. I've spent most of my time these past few weeks listening to them and getting them involved in building our future.
My role, and that of other top editors, is to serve as a catalyst to bring those readers and journalists together, to provide leadership and an overall vision.
With more or less equal legs, the newspaper can stand taller and reach higher.
As we make further changes, we'll keep you posted. Sometimes, I will write to explain our efforts. Other times, Reader Advocate Debbie Kornmiller will provide a guide to the remodeling or new features.
At all times, we welcome your feedback. You can write to me at the address below (or you'll find me listed every day on Page A2 of the paper). You'll also find Debbie's contact information there each day or with her regular Sunday column (on page H3 today).
Please let us know what you think.
David Stoeffler is publisher and editor of the Star. Contact him at dstoeffler@azstarnet.com or at P.O. Box 26807, Tucson, AZ 85726.
I agree with you. I haven't read her books but I have read many of her articles and have watched her when she's talking on t.v. I agree with most of her points, but she is shrill, rude, arrogant and not exactly who I want as the poster-person for Conservatives. I just have to cringe sometimes when I hear her talking.
Taking her place on Saturdays will be Tony Snow, host of "The Tony Snow Show," syndicated nationally on Fox News Radio, and "Weekend Live with Tony Snow" on Fox News Channel.
Tony's great, and the more he's on, the better. But, trolls often identify themselves as conservatives and I don't know if dumping Ann was a good idea based on self identified "conservatives".
Have you noticed the drop off in number of calls starting with "I'm a lifelong Republican, and I've always backed Bush but this time I'm really mad at him"... ?
Now the fake calls go like this: "I served in the Army for x number of years" or "I'm a Navy Seal..." and then it ends with the same old stuff that use to end the "I'm a lifelong Republican but" calls. It's hard for me to believe the liberal "war room" boys would sink that low, but the sounds and cadence are the same... There are earmarks to their fakery, and they're all over the new "military" calls.
The paper should leave Ann's words out of their paper and just include the obligatory pictures. LOL
Their problem is that their readership is exclusively liberal now. The conservatives are so fed up with them that they don't bother.
It is not a mystery, here at free republic, that you find Ann thin. What is a mystery is why that matters to you so much.
Looks like the phony's are cleaning house to pave the way for McCain, as I'm sure Ann Coulter would have been a 'problem'.
But readers of all political persuasions said a redesign launched earlier this year on the Opinion pages had simply gone too far in emphasis on design. While strong visuals, including cartoons, can help pull readers into the pages, people ultimately turn to these pages for the commentary …
Finally, we've decided that syndicated columnist Ann Coulter has worn out her welcome. Many readers find her shrill, bombastic and mean-spirited. And those are the words used by readers who identified themselves as conservatives.
I don't know how that's ultimately going to play in Arizona.
Tony Snow works for me. I agree with him, but for different reasons. Tony Snow is also on the right and more a voice of reason. Liberals will be more apt to read his column than Ann's. The points will still be the same, but worded differently.
Reading Ann Coulter is like hitting a liberal on the head with a ballpeen hammer. Hurts like hell and won't leave any visible marks.
ah, I know the kind - it sounds like the milwaukee journal / sentintel. Cicrulation keeps dropping, they keep adding liberal columinsts and journalists, they run specials, and they can't figure out why fewer and fewer people subscribe to their trash.
That is true...
Sounds to me like this rag of a so called newspaper should be used for lining a puppy crate!
Ditto! Ditto! Ditto!
I sometimes believe there are people on this site who absolutely think of themselves as smarter than anyone. Unfortunately, they are only fooling themselves.
The rules. You know, the rules!
That she is deluged with praise for her looks on the beloved boards of Free Republic, is an enigma wrapped in a riddle, for I cannot find the rage.
Like the Mona Lisa. Is she smiling and mocking us through the canvas? Is that a man in the canvas?
The mystery is more than I can bear.
With more or less equal legs, the newspaper can stand taller and reach higher.
Thomas Friedman in possession of 500 pages of ruminations on the metaphorical theme of flatness would be a very dangerous thing indeed. It would be like letting a chimpanzee loose in the NORAD control room; even the best-case scenario is an image that could keep you awake well into your 50s.
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