Every inch matters *

In the name of offsetting newsprit costs, the P-T and its sister paper LADN on Tuesday ran “smaller” papers - newspapers with noticeable one-inch margins. Wednesday will see a new “narrower web” (as described in an internal memo) at 46".

It's a schizophrenic time for MNG's SoCal papers as they rename sections and shunt into these sections stories that used to run in sections that no longer exist. The results are a mishmash of stories - social columns next to crime briefs next to entertainment features next to business stories.

To reconcile all this incongruity, management spins the changes as positive: “Hey, folks. More news for you!” But the reality is that there is actually less news. A crowded page doesn't necessarily
equal more content. To make room for stories that once had their place in specific sections, some articles get a shove-off.

It is also worth mentioning that in this mix are articles outside the P-T's coverage areas.

Sometimes the stories that don't make it in the print edition appear online as “web exclusives.” It's an ingenious solution to limited space, but it makes you wonder why a local story must be so exclusive that the segment of the readership that is “unwired” ought to miss out?

* LADN editor's little note on that paper's reduced size: "To Our Readers"