More than the sum of our pages
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 11, 2009 00:00
Today, the Daily News you hold in your hands is lighter by four pages. If you are reading online, your news serving has not been affected. But there is change in store soon at our Internet site as well. After many years as a 16-page newspaper, we bumped up first to 18, then to 20 in 2007. So let us explain now what this three-part tactical retreat is all about.
First, the price of newsprint. All imported, it now costs about 40 percent more than it did before the advent of the global economic crisis. While the Daily News has weathered the crisis better than many newspapers, we still must eye opportunities for frugality and this is one.
The second element in this change is that only half the reduction is going to savings. Half the aggregate reduction - a weekly total of 12 pages - is going into what the editor has dubbed a, "strategic newsprint reserve." A hidden impact of the crisis is that it has curtailed our ability to periodically bring readers special sections. Special reports we have discussed internally range from a one-off study of the proposed Nabucco energy pipeline to a weekly survey of cultural issues. But the newsprint crunch prevented special sections. Now our hands are freer for this kind of initiative, just so long as we draw upon this newsprint bank whose first deposit we make today.
The third element in this equation is the Internet. As readers know, we dramatically expanded the scope of our web service last November when we reorganized around a name change to reflect our relationship with our parent, the daily Hürriyet. Collaboration with our Turkish-writing colleagues enabled breaking news to become a standard at the Daily News for the first time. We now envision further expansion of that success and integration of the teams who produce both the newspaper and digital products. What adds up to a 20 percent reduction in the tasks required for the physical production of the newspaper will allow editors a bit of breathing space to embrace an array of new challenges. As one example, our current "Horizons" section that rolls through the work week exploring five distinct regions by river basin is not currently on the Internet site. Soon, it will be.
In return, "Kantin," the daily page for learners of English as a second language, is off for summer vacation. Real estate news will continue to be reported within the Economic Review, but the dedicated page is gone. Our three culture pages are consolidated into two. And "Metronome," our urban affairs page, is consolidated into our "Inside Turkey" pages.
For some readers, these changes will be an annoyance. We understand that. But we also hope you will allow us a measure of patience and curiosity. A newspaper is much more than the sum of it pages. This we will demonstrate in the days ahead at the Daily News.
The second element in this change is that only half the reduction is going to savings. Half the aggregate reduction - a weekly total of 12 pages - is going into what the editor has dubbed a, "strategic newsprint reserve." A hidden impact of the crisis is that it has curtailed our ability to periodically bring readers special sections. Special reports we have discussed internally range from a one-off study of the proposed Nabucco energy pipeline to a weekly survey of cultural issues. But the newsprint crunch prevented special sections. Now our hands are freer for this kind of initiative, just so long as we draw upon this newsprint bank whose first deposit we make today.
The third element in this equation is the Internet. As readers know, we dramatically expanded the scope of our web service last November when we reorganized around a name change to reflect our relationship with our parent, the daily Hürriyet. Collaboration with our Turkish-writing colleagues enabled breaking news to become a standard at the Daily News for the first time. We now envision further expansion of that success and integration of the teams who produce both the newspaper and digital products. What adds up to a 20 percent reduction in the tasks required for the physical production of the newspaper will allow editors a bit of breathing space to embrace an array of new challenges. As one example, our current "Horizons" section that rolls through the work week exploring five distinct regions by river basin is not currently on the Internet site. Soon, it will be.
In return, "Kantin," the daily page for learners of English as a second language, is off for summer vacation. Real estate news will continue to be reported within the Economic Review, but the dedicated page is gone. Our three culture pages are consolidated into two. And "Metronome," our urban affairs page, is consolidated into our "Inside Turkey" pages.
For some readers, these changes will be an annoyance. We understand that. But we also hope you will allow us a measure of patience and curiosity. A newspaper is much more than the sum of it pages. This we will demonstrate in the days ahead at the Daily News.