'Miami Herald' Turns 100 With New Look

By: Joe Strupp After considering a handful of redesign options, ranging from a tabloid approach to a more feature-driven magazine style, The Miami Herald settled on a new look reminiscent of USA Today. Citing a need to attract younger readers, a growing population of hispanics, and an ever-increasing number of people on the go, Herald executives on Monday unveiled a new design that promises to give readers news more quickly and in an easier-to-navigate format.

"Most of the readers we have depended on over the years are literally going to die on us," Executive Editor Tom Fiedler said about the paper's largest readership group, which he described as aging white men. "We are becoming a community that is increasingly diverse, increasingly ethnic, and young." The redesign, which debuts on the paper's 100th anniversary, is the biggest design change in the Herald's history, Fiedler claimed.

A major difference is a new feature called "5-Minute Herald," a single page on the back of the local section printed vertically, with a collection of briefs highlighting the biggest news and sports stories of the day. "It is our hope that the time-pressured person can know what we think are the most important things in the paper," he said. "5-Minute Herald" is one of several new navigational devices, which include a new left-side rail on Page One, as well as each section using a color-coded system similar to USA Today. The paper also will utilize "Smart Boxes," short blocks of information with stories offering nuggets of facts pertinent to the article. The Herald's broadsheet feature section, "Living and Arts," becomes a tab in this design.

The redesign followed more than a year of planning that included a study by the Readership Institute and consulting by newspaper designer Mario Garcia. Close to $1 million was spent on the entire effort.