In the coming days you’ll see some changes in the newspaper that I want to explain to you, as well as give you background on some changes we’ve made in the past couple of weeks.
Beginning this week, the Monday and Tuesday newspapers will have a new configuration, with an A and B section.
Section A will have local and national news, features, opinion and obituaries both days. Section B will have sports news, comics and classified advertising. On Tuesdays, it will include the business pages.
These changes will allow us to run fewer press units on those days.
Media companies of many types, including newspapers, are faced with the most difficult economic climate we’ve ever encountered. Decisions such as these section changes help us reduce expenses, just as many other businesses are finding necessary.
In addition, we are discontinuing the Neighbors page that was published on Tuesdays.
Also, several readers have asked why we stopped publishing the news summary on Page 2A.
We’ve heard consistent feedback from readers that they didn’t use the news summary and would prefer that we use that space for other news stories. It’s good to hear that some readers found it useful, but it seems clear that the majority of readers prefer more stories to the summary.
You may also have noticed that we’ve reduced our Travel page space and shifted the focus of that space to travel tips and information. In place of a longer feature story that previously anchored the page, we’ve continued Arthur Frommer’s column and added Christopher Elliott’s Travel Troubleshooter column. We’ve also added Rick Steves’ European travel column at www.kansas.com/travel.
We’re also very happy to have Richard Crowson’ s cartoons back in The Eagle. You’ll find them on Sunday Opinion pages.
You may have seen Opinion Page Editor Phillip Brownlee’s note last week that Doonesbury and Mallard Fillmore are no longer in the paper because we’re publishing a single Opinion page, except for Sunday. Several readers have asked us to pick up Doonesbury on the regular comics pages.
We’re open to considering this, but want to hear your feedback. In the past, readers complained about Doonesbury being on the comics pages because of its political content.
I know some of these changes have removed features you will miss, but I hope we’ve also added some that you will enjoy. We appreciate your understanding as we make changes necessary to adapt to difficult economic times.
If you have comments or suggestions, give us a call at 268-6222.
18 Comments
Bring Doonesbury back. Trudeau is not that political. Great to have Crowson back. I didn’t realize how much he adds to understanding stories. Do what you have to do to keep our paper alive. Put ads on the front page.
Sherry: I agree, bring back Gary Trudeau’s Doonsbury even if you have to put it at the foot of the front page. Also as once suggested, if possible re-run the old Little Orphan Annie comic strips from about 75 years ago (1934), in the middle of the Great Depression. I believe Little Annie’s travails along with Daddy Warbucks, Punjab and The Asp have some serious but comical relevance to today’s faltering economic times.
I like the new banner presentation of the opinion editors main editorial that you have been using lately. It’s a refreshing change. Also good to see Richard Crowson’s punchy cartoons back on the editorial page. Today, three of your Op-Ed pieces on page 9A are written by local people. That’s good. In my haste to read the paper early in the morning on weekdays, I tend to skip the Op-Ed pieces written by opinion writers from out of state until later in the day.
Also would like to see your reporters cover more local stories. Sometimes it seems you tend to repeat too many stories from internet news sources. And the former “summary” was a waste of space.
I believe most of your readers know that newspapers generally and McClatchy papers particularly are having a tough time coping with the present economic times and possibly a change in readership by younger generations. Those of us who do read the local paper daily want you to succeed somehow. So I suspect most want you to make format changes that will reduce costs and keep the paper in business. You don’t have too apologize unduly for that.
I often drive by the EAGLE’s building early in the morning and notice people sleeping on those two benches in front. It runs through my mind they might be EAGLE reporters, writers and/or staff members who received their walking papers the night before. So I generally wave.
Good luck continuing the tradition.
I wish you would get rid of the pop-up ads that happen when you click an article link. Happens on all my computers and my iPhone. I know you need money but this plan sucks.
Rick Steves is a welcome addition. He taught me how to travel in Europe, and he is also a joy when I am an armchair traveler.
Best of luck to you, Eagle!!!
I have not read a Doonesbury for years and years, I exercise my prerogative to ignore what I consider to be a too political cartoon. Therefore, I assume that publishing it would continue to be pointless and wasteful for many of us.
jdl535, use a pop-up blocker. They’re easy to use.
I’m grateful that we continue to have a local paper with so many being lost around the nation. However, every daily needs Doonesbury somewhere to keep readers thinking about what goes on in the world. No one likes missing out on the quick smart dialogue of a political junkie like Trudeau keeping us current and entertained. So please Sherry bring him back!
I would like for the Wichita Eagle to write somewhere in the newspaper the current stability of the newspaper. I have been keeping up with the news world about the Rocky Mountain newspaper and Seattle Times and others shutting down the presses. It would be good to know one way or the other how the Wichita Eagle is running and getting along financially with other newspapers nearby (ie — Kansas City Star, Oklahoma and Tulsa)
Try printing an article without all the extreme left wing bias and hypocrisy ; you might sell more papers
Doonesbury is dumped but Judge Parker stays? No wonder this paper is in trouble.
Doonesbury is an essential stop during my morning read of the Wichita Eagle. Please don’t pander to the right-wingers in Wichita by removing it (even through you’ve stated it’s for space reasons). I’m extremely disappointed you’ve downsized the Op-Ed section — if a city newspaper is anything, it should be a forum for thoughtful and enlightened opinions and commentary. I would vote to remove Opinion Line — it’s neither thoughtful or enlightened. Glad you brought back Crowson, if just for one cartoon a week.
Please bring back Doonesbury. I miss reading it in the morning. If necessary, place it in the comic section. As a previous commentor mentioned, if someone wishes not to read it, they don’t have to. There are several comic strips that do not interest me, so I just skip them.
I enjoy reading the paper in the morning before going to work. If anymore is removed, I will have to seriously consider dropping my print subscription. I hate to do that, as I want to support the Eagle but many of the articles that are printed, I have already read on Yahoo the day before.
Today’s (Monday) edition was an unmitigated abortion of a newspaper. Did you hire a middle-school journalism department to put the paper together? Why is the WichiTalk in the front section, seperated from the Comics/entertainment? What are the Obits doing in the center of the A section?
Here’s a thought: A section: Front page, Local/State, National, Sports. B section: WichiTalk, comics/entertainment, Obits, Editorial, classified, and then if you must, those stupid legal notices that no one reads.
Give us our Doonesbury back, and for God’s sake, there’s no earthly reason you can’t get the Powerball numbers in the paper on Sunday (they draw them before 10 p.m. Saturday night, and you didn’t even get them on the website yet, and it’s Monday afternoon!)
Please bring Doonesbury back to the comics page.
I’ve been a subscriber for thirty years, but I’ll throw my next bill from you away if Doonesbury doesn’t return.
Phillips’ note blaming space needed for more “cost free” content like letters and the valueless filler opinion line was funny. It didn’t mention trying to increase the profit margin by seeing how little value the paper could deliver for the price of a subscription. Cutting back on content won’t rebuild or retain readership. I remember when the Eagle ran top editorial cartoons from greats like Oliphant and Conrad, and excellent columnists like Jack Anderson and Art Buchwald. The successive chains have squeezed this paper for every possible cent.
There never was a good reason to put Doonesbury on the editorial page. The people that hated it for political reasons didn’t want it anywhere in the paper. The Eagle ran Walt Kelly’s Pogo for many years – making fun of politicians from Joe McCarthy to Spiro Agnew. Anyone that thinks the Eagle is part of the fantasy “liberal media” will never be happy with actual journalism.
My preference would be to replace all strips being continued by their syndicate after the loss of the original artist. Give new artists a chance. I was sad that Dennis the Menace continued after Hank passed away, against his wishes. Others include B.C., Blondie, Hi and Lois, Hagar and Judge Parker. Family Circus and Beetle Bailey still list Bill and Mort with their kids, but you can tell the kids are writing them now.
You’ve done a great job choosing the newer strips. Bizarro, Pearls Before Swine, Shermans Lagoon, Mother Goose, Non Sequitur, Get Fuzzy and the Other Coast are all very good.
Here is my nomination for a new strip. I read it online every week. http://www.kevinandkell.com/index.html
I like McClatchy support for investigative journalism. Good luck.
YES! Return Doonesbury to the paper. I’ve read it for years and miss it now. Opinion page or comic page doesn’t matter (although it was rather silly putting it on the opinion page).
Thanks for the feedback, all. I’m going through lots of email and probably can’t respond individually to each one. But I’ll write more here when we get through the calls and emails and make a decision on what to do about Doonesbury.
No perfect answers in all of this. I’ve had a couple direct emails sent to me responding to your comments — some lobbying hard for Judge Parker, which, though you may not read it, I can promise you has a strong following, too.
Regarding lottery numbers: They’re on 2A every Sunday, but you probably noticed a big winter storm last Saturday. We went to press very early to give our carriers time to get out to areas where snow was deep. Even in Wichita, roads were icy, and going to press before the lottery numbers were drawn seemed like a good tradeoff to ensure their safety and everyone getting their papers. Numbers should have been posted earlier online, though. We dropped the ball on that.
Also, we are, in fact, planning to write a story that explores the stability of media in Wichita, including the Eagle. Duress from steeply falling revenue is hitting all types of media, and we’ve made some of these decisions about space reductions to help keep the company stable through a very difficult revenue environment.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. It’s helpful to hear your thoughts on Doonesbury (and Richard’s return to the Opinion page) and other matters. We appreciate the understanding and support of the paper through tough times.
If you continue to espouse your liberal and socialistic views you may as well stop the presses now and save some cash simply because your readership will continue to dwindle.
Let me add my two cents:
1) Please bring back Doonesbury; put it wherever you want.
2) Please highlight your liberal and socialistic views as you espouse them (maybe caps or bold type) so I have an easier time distinguishing them from the rest of the news—-they are just not jumping out at me as they are for some.
Thanks!