When I speak to groups of people, whether theyre kids or older folks, I like to bring with me a tattered copy of the March 19, 1954, Detroit Times, the paper my family subscribed to when I was a boy.
It had just two sections totaling 38 pages. Twelve stories adorned Page 1, including Flying Saucers Worry N.J. Folk and Senators OK Big Roads Bill, big being $1 billion then for the whole country.
While it was less colorful than todays Express-News and had a more rollicking layout, it bore a resemblance to the product youre reading today. It wasnt necessarily better or worse. It was a forerunner in the evolution of newspapers.
All this is a way of letting you know that the 2009 Express-News is about to further distinguish itself from its 1954 great uncle. Yes, readers, more change is on the way.
This Wednesday, the Express-News will literally contract in size as the width of the pages of the paper will be cut from about 12.5 inches wide now to under 11 inches. (That Detroit Times I lug around is 16 inches wide.)
This is a trend in the U.S. newspaper industry as companies struggle with the price of newsprint and the still-sagging economy. USA Today has already cut its page width to about 11 inches.
You might not readily notice the shrinkage, but you as well as writers and editors here will be affected by reduction in space.
Page 1 will lose the vertical zippers down the right and left margins of the page, to have more room for news. But Page 1 will retain its old-style San Antonio Express-News nameplate and it will be pushed to the top of the page every day.
The S.A. Life section will be most altered, as four daily comics/advice/puzzle pages become three pages, with a resulting loss of some puzzles and advice columns. The daily TV schedules are being reduced to prime time only.
While editors painstakingly decided which features to cut and which to keep, it will be an adjustment for all concerned.
For example, Heloise and Sudoku and two crossword puzzles will be among those features retained, but Spanish Today, Dr. Paul Donohues medical column and Dr. Billy Grahams spiritual column are among those that will be cut, as of Wednesday.
Paul Premacks column will come out of the newspaper, but will be published on mySA.com, the newspapers Web site.
Today in History and celebrity Birthdays shift to Page 2A.
Some of what comes out of the paper will be retained on mySA.com, not an option for those without a computer, but it is the best editors and page designers can do under the circumstances.
Because they will have less space, writers are being told to be less verbose, to write tightly and to the point. And columnists have already been told to cut their columns by about 75 words, to about 525
The cuts will affect you, too, those of you who pen commentaries (dont exceed 500 words) for the Express-News or letters to the editor (keep it to fewer than 200 words).
While writers will get the space they need for vitally important reporting, everyone will have to pull it in. A lot of us think it will make us better writers.
One last thing: The designers of this latest new Express-News promised me there will be no shrinkage in the size of the typeface used on the pages.
But Im out of space. Call me if you want details.
