I Save the Paper

Here’s what I would do with the paper.

Pink slip the marketing department. Whatever they do hasn’t been working anyway. The product should sell itself.

Keep people who actually produce work that ends up in the newspaper. That’s ad salesmen (are they all on a low base salary plus commission? They should be), ad and page graphic designers, reporters, probably half the photographers (really, these guys could probably cover more if they had to), and a precious few editors. There’s no doubt way more middle management “editors,” advertising supervisors and production supervisors on staff than necessary. Everybody should have to write or do actual work. I bet the staff that produces the editorial and op-ed page is twice as big as it needs to be.

Now that the payroll is down and we’re operating at maximum peak efficiency, bag the public squares. That is the function of a politician who can actually do something about the feedback. It’s really not the role of a newspaper, unless the feedback is in writing on the editorial and op-ed pages. And if you’re going to solicit citizen opinion, then print it. You’re a newspaper. Also, save money on all those syndicated columnists. We can read them online somewhere else.

Change the paper into a daily tabloid with an all-local focus. The front page should be an eye-catching big photo, the beginning of the one or two most compelling local stories of the day, and a tease for some of the sexier inside pages. Only one page, maybe page 2, should be devoted to national and world news, presented very briefly. If we need to know more, it’s on television or the Internet. The bottom line is, by the time you print national and world news in the paper, it’s old news already.

Then local news, two pages of editorials, letters, and local opinion; the obituaries, local business, a couple of pages of lifestyle news about tech, health and entertainment only. (We’ll discuss recipes, cooking, decorating, bridge, and gardening later.) A couple of pages of local sports, then four pages of comics, crosswords and puzzles. As much as I hate it, yeah, the horoscope. Whatever classifieds you have. Break up the classifieds with some comics, like Brick does. Then a nice, clever photo of the day for the last page, like Life magazine used to do. Could be local, or not.

What is now the Flair section should become a weekly niche paper of its own. There’s no room for features in a daily tab, so here’s where you park those feature stories, along with the food columns, gardening, decorating, parenting, and other get-in-touch-with-your-feminine-side stories. The goal is to keep the syndicated material you have to buy here to maintain as much local purity in the daily as possible. This separation of the fluff gives those of us who don’t want it or need it the opportunity not to buy it.

I’m almost tempted to say do a daily sports tab, which would include national sports, and keep the sports out of the regular tab, but that would be very bold and ambitious. I would do it. You guys – who will never do this much and die not trying – wouldn’t.

This handy daily tab would be perfect for reading on the bus, carrying in a briefcase, taking along with you at lunchtime. Easy to read on the sofa without completely blocking your view of the TV. You don’t have to be New York City to embrace a daily tab. Just remember: L O C A L.