Monday, January 30, 2006

Spokesman goes Jenny Craig

On the back page of Section A, there's a full-page ad with a happy lady showing off her new, slimmer body. She's lost 42 pounds through "Positive Changes Hypnosis Center -- Yes, it works." After pulling out my feather-lite Spokesman-Review from the paperbox this morning, I'm wondering if the paper has tried hypnosis.

It has certainly gone through a weight-reduction plan, and we viewed its coming-out party this morning with the "all-new look." Well, weight reduction definitely was my first thought as I carried the flimsy-feeling paper through the rain toward the house and wondered just how I was going to like this much-advertised smaller format.

I showed it to Bill---still in the orange plastic bag---and he even gasped. Grabbing a cup of coffee, I plopped in the Love seat and prepared myself to spout out a few critiques while reading--er---finding the morning news. Yes, the paper has taken on a dramatic change, and, no, I don't know if I like it yet. These things take some getting used-to; that's for sure.

Today's transformed Spokesman-Review includes new graphic styles, new copy and headline type, modified masthead, new names for sections and great big obituary photos. It's nice to see that the dead people are getting their due after that decision a while back to move them and their life stories to the classifieds. Now, it appears they're even more important than the columnists, including Mr. Huckleberries.

I finally found his tiny mug at the bottom of the section once touted at the "Idaho Handle," then changed to the "Region" and now known as the "Northwest." When they go to the next natural step and start covering the entire Western United States in those two pages, I'm gonna rethink whether or not it's worth it to maintain my subscription for my Good Paper. Wasn't that moniker one of the marketing ploys a while back?

Well, back to Mr. Huckleberries; he did provide a nice Northwest twist to the first segment in his newly-packaged column with the story of the cell phone play-by-play between Mom Love and Daughter Love during last week's Seahawks-Carolina game. And, in so doing, he carried off skillfull job of covering our Northwest region between Seattle and Sandpoint, so I thank my Blog Father.

In all sincerity, I thank my Blog Father and all the Spokesman-Review reporters/photographers/graphic artists/editors who bring us columns, stories, and illustrations every single day--even Mondays. Once a person gets past the dramatic visual changes, the guts of the paper remain the same, and that's why we buy it in the first place. We like that nice read, which features quality writing and reporting to go along with that cup of coffee each morning.

In my case, there's an adrenalin-charged Border Collie snuggled up next to me every day as I read and sip. This morning, I can report that the smaller paper size makes her a heckuva lot happier because the left pages don't extend clear over her head. That means from now on, I'll be unable to ignore that froth-covered tennis ball clamped between her teeth, waiting for me to once again throw it across the living room for her to retrieve.

Just like the happy lady on the back-page dieting ad, the Spokesman has dramatically reduced in size, and just like the lady when she views herself in the mirror, we'll take some time getting used to the new look.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What the Spokesman REALLY needs is some lame one-frame cartoons. I know a guy...

MLove said...

Yup, you got it. Maybe Steve Smith, the editor, will find his way to slightdetour. Then, we can hold him hostage until he agrees to give your 'tunes a try.

After all, wasn't Gary Larson from Oregon?

Word Tosser said...

Well, at least you got the paper...
I was so looking foreward to the paper this morning to see the "new and Improved"... only to find my box empty. My paper guy only has an answering machine... and the CDA office said they would find him. And here it is almost 5 hours later... and nothing. Guess I will have to break down and buy one.
:-(

Mari Meehan said...

I hope the Spokesman Review similarities to the CDA Press STOP with the size change!