Chicago Tribune: We didn't F up, but we're making changes

Re: Chicago Tribune: We F'd up

I look at their A1 on a regular basis — sure there are some days where they go too refer-heavy and could use some more copy, but I'm about 100x more likely to read the Trib now than I was before. Too bad for them I don't live in Chicago.

 

Re: Chicago Tribune: We F'd up

What I'd like to know are the readers who claimed the paper was too confusing to follow. Chicago is about the only paper I know that included a strip across the top saying "you are here" and pointing out what is ahead.

There are some elements of the redo I didn't care for but overall I didn't think it was too bad. I'll be interested to see where this paper goes in the future.

 

Re: Chicago Tribune: We F'd up

Can anyone here show what the spadea looks like?

 

Re: Chicago Tribune: We F'd up

One too many four-column, two-deck heads, huh?

 

Re: Chicago Tribune: We F'd up

Our editor, Gerry Kern, responded to Fitzgerald's story. And if any of you had read the spadia, you'd wonder what Fitzgerald was reading.

http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13763

 

Re: Chicago Tribune: We F'd up

Well, if he's not apologizing for that clusterfuck of a redesign then he certainly should be.

 

The title of this thread has been fixed to reflect Kern's reply back to E&P. Sales up 17 percent?? Hmm.

 

Gerry Kern kills his credibility when he writes in his retort to E&P that "readers are responding well to the new Tribune. In fact, voluntary sales are up 17 percent year over year since the redesign ...."

If he wanted to be taken seriously, he might have included the fact that the last few months have included two of the biggest news stories in the history of Chicago: local resident Barack Obama is elected president and the governor, who lives in Chicago, is arrested at his home.

If Kern hadn't let the cool design kids wreak havoc, circulation would be up more.

 

It's been my experience that redesigns have little effect on circulation either way over the long term.

 

This is today's Trib front.
I like it, a lot.

 

Five-column, two-deck head. Booooooooo!

 

THAT'S 10K? Christ. I expected at least a pro-Pantera, anti-ketchup anthem.