By: E&P Staff More than 150 readers of The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee complained about ads that completely covered the newspaper's Sunday comics.
"A not so funny thing has happened to the Sunday funny papers," wrote Bee Public Editor Armando Acuna. "Many readers can't find them, and they are mad about it. A decision to cover the comics section with two ads that fold in like doors from the left and right has obscured the comics from easy view and sometimes obscured them entirely."
Because of that, some Bee readers even thought their Sunday papers were missing the comics.
"I'm convinced the paper's intent wasn't to repel readers," said Acuna. "Yet in its quest for advertising dollars, that's what has happened. ... And to make matters worse, few people saw it coming. The paper's readers didn't get a heads up. Neither did editors in the newsroom who oversee the comics. Ditto for people in the paper's customer service and circulation sections."
Now, the Bee is having the left-side ad folded differently so that it obscures less of the comics. But, even so, only a sliver of the comics can be seen in the weeks the left-side ad runs.
"At a minimum, the paper should alert readers to the obscured comics and how to find them," Acuna concluded. "It can do that with notices both in the paper and on sacbee.com. To do nothing and force loyal readers to continue rummaging through reams of advertising to find the comics on their own reeks of arrogance. The paper should do the right thing and put readers first."
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