Update caught up with Steve Cavendish, presentation editor at the Chicago Tribune, about the spadea wrapped around its front section announcing a number of changes in the format and design of the paper in a piece signed by Editor Gerould Kern. The Trib unveiled major changes in the newspaper on Sept. 29, 2008: That redesign caused major ripples because it was such a radical departure for Chicago’s largest daily.
Update: Some people might see this as a retrenchment from the bold redesign. Should they?
Cavendish: No. And I’m not sure I can state that strongly enough. The Tribune today is substantially the same as when we launched the redesign in September. We’ve tweaked a lot of things along the way, but that’s something that happens in any redesign process — you launch having worked on prototypes and then you adjust to the demands that come up from the thousands of things that.
We did the bulk of the redesign in 60 days. We got the broad strokes of it right, as Gerry’s note to readers indicates. But there were things that readers reacted to very strongly, so we adjusted. E&P called it “an extraordinary mea culpa,” which is dead wrong as it makes it sound like we’re apologizing for the redesign. I guess having a dialogue with readers is what counts for extraordinary these days. That seems sad.
Update: Is the Tribune now in a constant state of evolution? And, if so, how are you working through that refinement?
Cavendish: I wouldn’t call it a constant state of evolution. To say that we’re constantly refining is pretty accurate. We’ve got some more tweaks that will roll out soon but, frankly, they’re things that probably only designers would notice (some spacing, some column sigs, some little structural details).
Elsewhere:
- Charles Apple outlines the changes
- Editor & Publisher covers the details
- Chicago Tribune Editor Gerould Kern responds to the E&P report
Previous coverage:
- Tribune debuts redesign (Sept. 29): Trib takes big steps toward magazine-broadsheet as it also reduces page count and resections
- Chicago Trib shuffles design leaders (Dec. 18)
Seems to be a lot of obscuring happening here.
I look at the spadea, and I see readers pointing out things they didn’t like. I see an intention to change some things and the usual design spin offered as “response” for other things.
The true challenge here is getting past the spin and the B.S. to find out what’s really going on. And as usual, the paper’s not doing that. I could not possibly care less that “voluntary sales” are allegedly up 17 percent. Just say what the numbers were last year and what they were this year. Then say there was a presidential election, an impeachment of the governor, and a Cubs playoff run (albeit brief).
If the Trib can’t or won’t provide that info, it shouldn’t be too difficult to hunt it down.