By: E&P Staff Shreveport, Louisiana's fortunate location in America's Energy Belt hasn't protected The Times from the tough times besetting its peers in the newspaper industry.
In a column to readers introducing a design that shrinks the daily to three sections from four, Executive Editor Alan English laid out some changes underway.
By the end of the year, English said Times staff and expenses will have been reduced by 6%. "In part, this is a result of new equipment in the manufacturing process, that has helped to improve efficiency but it also is due to staff reductions as we right size during a time of decreasing revenue," he wrote.
Starting with Monday's editions, the paper eliminated a section by moving obituaries, weather, and other features into the A-section, and putting editorial and opinion pages together with sports in the B-section. Lifestyle features will be gathered in the "Living" C-section, which will include classifieds Mondays through Thursdays. Classifieds will be a standalone section other days.
"The Times is eliminating the Sunday TV Week book as well, but this writing has been on the wall," English wrote. "This guide went from 24 to 12 pages years ago as it moved toward obsolescence. It faces the availability of digital guides and hundreds of channels that change their lineup after we print it. Even TV Guide magazine has changed and still faces peril in these digital times. They are making cuts."
English hinted to readers about even bigger design changes are ahead in 2010. As E&P has reported, that's when its new Wifag printing press is scheduled to come online and the paper adopts the Berliner format.
These changes are nothing we sought to make this soon," English wrote. "Current economic conditions hasten the need to adjust and move forward."
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