Coming Soon
Friday, August 21, 2009
Starting Sept. 1 a new Gazette will be hitting your doorsteps.
The product will look the same — but then again it won’t. The most obvious difference will be the format.
The Gazette width will change from 27.5 inches to 24, resembling more big city papers, like the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Initially, this may take some getting used to, but by industry standards our 27.5-inch size was large.
Another noticeable difference to readers will be more color on the pages.
Every day color will be on the front and back of the news section and the front and back of the sports section. We are long overdue to have a color sports section every day, and now we will. We will also be capable of producing color on every page of the paper, if necessary.
We strive to deliver the very best quality product to our readers every day, and over the last couple of years we have really pushed the limits of our 35-year-old technology. Our quality has not been as sharp as we would like.
So, we believe it is important to make a change.
After studying all the equipment options, materials, expense and time, our best option was not to reinvent the wheel but to work with another paper that has state-of-the-art facilities to do our printing. With the change, unfortunately, comes letting go three valuable employees.
The end result for you, our readers, is that The Emporia Gazette will still be delivered six days a week, it will arrive at the same time and will still be filled with local news written by our news team.
There is one complaint I hear continually — and especially when our staff is working at the Abundant Harvest soup kitchen. People keep telling us that they want the smaller format TV guide back. So with this change we will be able to bring back — by popular demand — our tabloid-size TV guide.
Whenever people make changes, the rumor mill likes to work overtime. So, just to put some of those to rest:
No, the Gazette is not being sold;
No, we are not closing our doors;
No, we are not going to be an Internet-only publication;
No, we are not cutting back the number of days we publish; and
No, the sky is not falling.
We are just changing our print location and making changes to enable us to continue to give our readers the best newspaper possible.
Revamping how we do things is important, because today we reach more people than ever before in our 114-year history. We have a daily print edition that goes to subscribers; we have our GO Emporia section that is distributed free to every household; we have La Voz Latina, our Spanish-language publication; we publish 36 standalone special sections and we publish news to 10 Web sites.
The Gazette is committed to providing the community with the best small-town newspaper that the community wants to support.
We know change is never easy, and it may take people a while to become accustomed to the new size. But we hope that with the paper being filled with more local news than ever before and the paper having more color and better quality than ever before, that it will make the transition easier.
If you have questions or comments please call us. We’d love to hear from you.
Comments
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Posted by Absolute (anonymous) on August 21, 2009 at 1:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I just have to say that I love the pdf version of the paper online. I think more people (especially young people/families) would utilize it if it were more advertised. You get the pleasure of reading the paper without any paper being used. It is nice and easy to read. I can still financially support my local paper too, which I enjoy.
I look forward to seeing the new format! Change is a good thing!
Posted by seriouslyfolks (anonymous) on August 21, 2009 at 2 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Change is a good thing!"
Always?
Posted by steakbuffet (anonymous) on August 21, 2009 at 4:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Change can be nice, but consistency can't be beat.
I have a feeling those "three valuable employees" will be dearly missed. How many times thru the years did they give up their personal lives' activities to work on the presses when something went wrong?
Team work by them, so the show could go on. Many years of dedication...were they offered other positions?
Posted by yev_kassem (anonymous) on August 21, 2009 at 5:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sadly, newspapers are a dying breed. I am sure the Gazette did what was necessary to keep business going. Sometimes tough decisions have to be made and I feel bad for the 3 employees they had to let go but such are the times.
Thers is definitely some good to this change with the more color and better quality. Change usually is a good thing, it just takes people a long time to realize it.
Posted by seriouslyfolks (anonymous) on August 21, 2009 at 5:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think people that make statements that all or even most change is good are glass is half empty types.
I have great kids and a great marriage, I hope that doesn't change. I am very thankful that I have a job that pays the bills(actually I am thankful for a job period), I have no desire that change happens there either. Our cars aren't the greatest but they get us where we need to go, I hope that doesn't change. I have a lot of friends that are like family, I don't want that to change. The more I think about what all could change the more thankful I am for what I have.
Maybe the people who want everything to change just have nothing to be thankful for. I hope that isn't the case. More than likely they just aren't looking for the blessings in their lives. Either way, it is sad.
Posted by justthinkin (anonymous) on August 22, 2009 at 9:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The sky fell for three people, and I bet if truth be told, that's probably just the beginining. What other monies are going elsewhere by outsourcing the printing? Shop Emporia First, it just makes sense!
Posted by steakbuffet (anonymous) on August 22, 2009 at 3:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Pat Kelley should have helped edit this one, he sure has left a void. When I see Emerson Lynn editorials, I feel right at home, as if I were in Iola, Kansas, not Emporia.
In your article you include:
Who: Gazette
What: Color, definition and layoffs
Where: "another paper with state-of-the-art facilities" Is that to mean the Lawrence paper? As they say in real estate location is everything. The general public would like to see it in print, rather to hear the news on the street, the Lawrence World will print our paper.
When: 9/1
Why: More cost effective
Your equipment is not Gutenberg, Franklin or even Platen from the 1930's and 1940's. Equipment from 1974 would be 35 years old and could have had upgrades thru the years. A little here, a little there, wouldn't have been so expensive. This is Emporia Kansas, we really do NOT need a lot of bells and whistles. A new inserter machine would of been nice. Perhaps now I will get a Walgreens' circular weekly.
I guess I missed the point about the Abundant Harvest meals, I didn't realize the cross section of our city ate at the soup kitchen. A blessing to the homeless and indigent, I was surprised they have money for television and subscriptions.
Hopefully the general public of Emporia will never have to go to a soup kitchen to sustain themselves. Abundant Harvest will never serve sparrow, rabbit or crow like the folks of the Great Depression were forced to eat. I understand rabbit was prepared unlike Wednesdays' recipe, more like with salt, pepper, flour or lard, if folks had the ingredients.
Speak with some elderly residents in the area. They can tell you about the Great Depression and the paper eras of W.A.W. and W.L.W.
Posted by alfalfa (anonymous) on August 22, 2009 at 6:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
A quality newspaper is what is reported, not how it physically looks. I guess we are supposed to be too stupid to figure that out. The changes the Gazette needs to make are not in format or size.
Posted by jcook66801 (anonymous) on August 22, 2009 at 9:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Alfalfa is right. Pretty up the paper all you want. It will still end up lining the bottom of the birdcage. I think I'd focus on improving the content first. Give the reader something he or she can't live without and he or she will be a far more dedicated subscriber.
Posted by HillsReader (anonymous) on August 23, 2009 at 3:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I suggest you allow a reader blog section like LJWorld does. Both their CJA bloggers, and both the verified and the anon users bring a lot to the readers. Sure some are useless,skip what you like: but some are quite interesting, informative or down right hilarious.
When you get to know the bloggers and users you know what to expect and feel at home, feel free to share your thoughts and ideas.
It brings people back for more, they say so over and over again. They come back for the atmosphere. Give the citizens of Emporia the chance to put the hometown feel into this paper too.
Why don't you copy the On The Street question like LJWorld does? It's like the diner where everyone goes for their morning coffee. A daily question for everyone to discuss. Or not discuss as all too often happens. That may very well be where you lose your morning coffee out your nose!
CJOnline copied something from there, why not us?
Posted by DJrocksthemic (anonymous) on August 26, 2009 at 9:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Will the Madison, South Coffey County and Emporia State Bulletin also be forced to outsource, I know they were printing at your facility.
Posted by yev_kassem (anonymous) on August 26, 2009 at 11:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Personally, I think the paper does well. I think they do a good job of mixing news with human interest stories. They cover the local sports well also. For the size and circulation they do a nice job.
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