City leaders blast Hartford Courant

Furious that a front page story in The Hartford Courant about Bristol's top ranking in Money Magazine's survey of most livable cities poked fun at the Mum City, city leaders vowed Tuesday to cancel subscriptions.
Mayor Art Ward said he was "very, very, very dismayed" by the tone of the story. He said it was "very disparaging" to the city when it should have been positive.
The mayor said the paper has paid little attention to Bristol for years and when it does, it has become increasingly tabloidish.
"I've become less than satisfied with The Hartford Courant's coverage of anything that the city does," Ward said during last night's City Council meeting.
City Councilor Ken Cockayne also lashed out at the paper.
Cockayne said the reporter, Mara Lee, and her editor on the story about Bristol's ranking "should be ashamed" at allowing such a one-sided attack on the city to find its way into print.
He said the Courant made no effort to talk to municipal or community leaders. It just found a few malcontents ready to trash their hometown, officials said.
Cockayne said that he canceled his Courant subscription months ago.
"It's become more of a slanderous paper than one that gives news," Cockayne said.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Courant to kids: Get lost

One look at today's Sunday comics in The Hartford Courant is all the proof anyone needs that newspapers are giving up on the future.
The one section that many children still pay some attention to -- the comics -- is now so squeezed in the Courant that five different Sunday strips are on its front (where three were before). The last page has, if I can count them properly, eight strips.
In the good old days, sometimes a single strip would take a page.
As it is, the print and pictures are so tiny that kids can barely make sense of them and older people, well, they can sort of see there's something there.
This is appalling.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Courant charges more for legals ads than the LA Times

It's this kind of greed that undermines the solid case newspapers can make for continuing to require traditional legal advertising. George Gombossy deserves credit for highlighting the issue.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Courant sued for firing consumer columnist

Go get 'em, George. Here's the story, albeit from George Gombossy's perspective.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Courant apologizes for plagiarism

The Hartford Courant took awhile to focus on the issue I raised in July, but it appears that the paper took the matter seriously. Its apology today for stealing stories from the Press and other competitors shows the Courant hasn't completely lost its way.
Update: On the other hand, the paper's publisher, Richard Graziano, seems to have punished six underlings, including two top editors, but doesn't give any indication of holding himself to blame.
And the paper really ought to cite every specific incidence of plagiarism in its pages, to set the record straight. Otherwise, I assume, its archives continue to maintain the fiction that its stories, some of them carrying a reporter's byline, were actually written by the Courant.
Let's fess up thoroughly, not just issue a blanket apology and move on.
Moreover, Graziano ought to do the right thing as the man in charge -- the one who clearly lowered the bar for the paper's ethics -- and resign.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Courant's slipping standards on display again

For the past couple of years, The Hartford Courant has proudly called attention to its stellar consumer reporter, George Gombossy, a legendary reporter. It put his picture on posters, stuck him in front of the Channel 61 cameras and otherwise hailed him.
But that was before Gombossy tried to let people know that Sleepy's was under investigation for allegedly selling used mattresses as new.
That got him fired, because Sleepy's is a big advertiser. Read all about it here.
You can keep up with Gombossy online at www.ctwatchdog.com.
(P.S. -- I have no idea if Sleepy's actually did anything wrong.)

Update at 4:10 -- Take a look at the Courant's laughable response.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

The Courant's slipping standards made clear

Let’s take a look at the evolution of a story that appeared in today’s print edition of The Hartford Courant, a once proud newspaper that apparently has thrown journalistic standards to the wind.

To begin with, take a look at Bristol Press reporter Jackie Majerus’ July 21 story.

BRISTOL — The city’s plan to spruce up Main Street is delayed at least another month..

The Bristol Development Authority’s streetscape project, which will add decorative enhancements like brick pavers, street trees, benches and lighting, is slated to extend along the east side of Main Street from Riverside Avenue to Center Street.

On the west side of Main Street, there won’t be any changes until past the railroad track at the edge of the city-owned former mall property, where some improvements are slated.

The project is supposed to mirror the work the BDA oversaw on North Main Street few years ago, but the non-profit board that oversees the 17-acre, former mall property hasn’t signed off on it yet, temporarily halting the streetscape project and possibly jeopardizing the state funding to pay for it.

The BDA expects the state to pay $1.5 million toward the work and the city to pick up the rest of the tab, about $250,000, but if the work isn’t started soon, the state might withdraw the money, according to Jonathan Rosenthal, executive director of the BDA.

The problem is that state funds for downtown projects are now pooled, which means that not only the BDA, but the mall site overseers, the Bristol Downtown Development Corp., must also endorse projects and expenditures.

But some on the BDDC board — most notably, Jennifer Janelle — weren’t ready to give the go-ahead.

Because the BDDC just selected a firm to do a parking study, Janelle said, it only makes sense to let them do the work before the streetscape project that involves parking along the former mall property gets under way.

"Let’s give them the opportunity," said Janelle. She said the city could move ahead with signing contracts for the streetscape while the parking study is under way.

The study may end up recommending parking meters, pay stations or other things, said Janelle, that could impact the streetscape. The streetscape can wait a little longer to get the input from the parking specialists at Tighe & Bond, the company doing the study, she said.

City Councilor Ken Cockayne, who is the council liaison to the board and doesn’t have a vote, strongly opposed the streetscape.

By doing the work on Main Street, Cockayne said, the city would take away parking spots that are needed now. He also charged that the project is wasteful.

"We’re spending money because we have it," and it is important to do the parking study first, said Cocknye. But John Lodovico, a BDDC member, said he spoke with some of the business operators along Main Street and found they were unconcerned about the expected loss of two parking spaces under the streetscape plan.

Dick Harrall, the executive director of the BDDC, said the parking study would probably not get into the kind of detail on the east side of Main Street that the streetscape plan does.

Both Harrall and BDDC Chairman Frank Johnson said any new developer will have to take the parking needs of Main Street merchants into account when planning the use of the 17 acres.

Rosenthal agreed, saying the parking study will delve into areas behind buildings and other spots, while the streetscape is a much narrower focus.

But if the streetscape project isn’t approved and moving forward soon, according to Lodovico and Rosenthal, there’s a good chance that the state will yank the funding and the project either wouldn’t be done or the city would end up paying for all of it.

Rosenthal said he needed the BDDC’s endorsement before he could proceed.

"It’s not ours to hold up," said Gardener Wright, a BDDC member.

"I would say it is," said Rosenthal. "You’re controlling the money." If they don’t endorse it, he said, the message is that the city isn’t committed to the project.

The BDA voted a year ago on the streetscape design.

Johnson said the BDDC spent considerable time at two of its meetings arguing "over two parking spots" on Main Street. He said Main Street business owners care about more than parking, and that streetscape improvements will help them.

Johnson and others argued that the streetscape is a "separate issue" from the mall site and the parking study isn’t needed to proceed.

Janelle said it is about coordinating the work downtown, not just about two parking spaces.

"It should all just be done at once," she said. "To me, it’s inefficient."

After a heated exchange, at a BDDC meeting Monday, Johnson referenced Biblical King Solomon’s dilemma and offered to "split the baby" by having the parking consultants look at that block of Main Street first, make a recommendation about the streetscape and then proceed with the rest of their study.

Rosenthal — who was worried about the timing — said, "I think it’s a good compromise. It doesn’t delay things too much."

Johnson said he wants to see the streetscape project done on Main Street. It will help businesses on the street, show residents some progress downtown and also demonstrate to potential developers a commitment to the area. The BDDC will take it up again at its August meeting, he said.

On the Courant’s website, Aviv Blasbalg rewrote the piece in an abbreviated way without doing any original reporting (see it here). He did, however, credit The Bristol Press with almost all of the information contained in the piece, sprinkling his report with “the Bristol Press reported” or “told the Press.”

Just to be clear, here’s what the Courant put on its website on Thursday, July 23:

Main Street project delayed

BRISTOL — - A delay to a project to spruce up Bristol's Main Street, caused by another committee's decision to conduct a parking study, could result in the project losing state funding, the Bristol Press reported.

The Bristol Development Authority's streetscape project is supposed to add enhancements such as brick pavers, trees, benches and lighting along the east side of Main Street, from Riverside Avenue to Center Street.

The project is being delayed at least a month as a result of the Bristol Downtown Development Corp.'s decision this week to conduct a $36,800 parking study of a 17-acre former mall located near that stretch of Main Street.

The state is expected to pay $1.5 million for the streetscape project, with the city paying about $250,000, but if work does not begin soon, the state may withdraw the money, BDA executive director Jonathan Rosenthal told the Press.

State money for downtown projects is pooled, which means the BDDC must also endorse any projects and expenditures.

While the BDA has given the go-ahead for the streetscape project, the BDDC has not because some members of that board want the parking study completed first, the Press reported.

BDDC member Jennifer Janelle said the study could recommend parking meters or pay stations that would alter the streetscape project, the Press reported.

The two committees agreed to a compromise in which the firm conducting the study, Tighe & Bond of Westfield, Mass., will take a look at that stretch of Main Street first and make a recommendation before proceeding with the rest of the study, the Press reported.

— Aviv Blasbalg

That version was aggravating mostly because it is so irksome that a Courant staffer who could be out doing real reporting was instead rewriting someone else’s story. That’s pretty low. But at least the story was honest in telling readers where the information came from.

But now consider the final transition of Majerus’ story, in the Courant’s Friday, July 24 print edition on page A8.

I don't think the print version is online anywhere, but it reads, in its entirety:

BRISTOL – A delay to the project to spruce up Bristol’s Main Street could result in the project’s losing its state funding.

The Bristol Development Authority’s streetscape project will add enhancements such as brick pavers, trees, benches and lighting along the east side of Main Street.

The project is being delayed at least a month as a result of the Bristol Downtown Development Corp.’s decision this week to conduct a $36,800 parking study of a 17-acre former mall near that stretch of Main Street.

The state is expected to pay $1.5 million for the streetscape project, with the city paying about $250,000, but if work does not begin soon, the state may withdraw the money, said Jonathan Rosenthal, executive director of the development authority.

Notice how it is essentially the same story as the one that appeared online, stripped down even further. But there’s no longer even a hint that everything in it came from the story in the Press that Majerus wrote three days earlier.

Just to make sure, I called Rosenthal. He confirmed to me today that nobody from the Courant spoke to him this week. Yet there he is, quoted in the Courant.

That’s sleazy, cheap and thoroughly unprofessional journalism by the Courant, a paper that once had integrity from cover to cover. Now it runs slapdash theft and calls it news.

*******

Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Courant reaching ever deeper lows

The Hartford Courant can still do some great stories, but they sure are doing some amateur, crazy stuff, too.
Take a look at this story, for example, where a Courant writer basically rewrote Bristol Press reporter Jackie Majerus' story about the delay of the Main Street streetscape project. The rewritten version credits the Press throughout, which is admirable, but c'mon, folks, the Courant should have enough pride to go cover stories for itself.
If it's not going to do that, link to ours. That's fine.
But taking this approach is simply a farce.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Courant's woes

The Hartford Courant is dumping its redesigned front page in favor, probably, of one that looks more like the old version.

But its problems aren't merely cosmetic. If the paper wants people to think of it like they used to, it needs more news. Hire back all those fired reporters, editors, photographers and others who were so integral to the creation of a great Connecticut daily.

As it is, the Courant may still be the best paper in the state -- though it's arguable nowadays -- but every day it serves in part to remind us of how far it's fallen.

Sometimes, it seems like the forgotten stepchild of Channel 61, which is simply an awful fate for a newspaper that commanded so much respect only a few years ago.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Courant suffers another major blow?

The news in today's Hartford Courant that its two top editors have been given the heave-ho and that an "interim editor" will be reporting to someone with the title of "senior vice president in charge of news content" for the Courant and Channel 61 leaves me cold.

Sure, the paper's new publisher, Richard Graziano, has already made quite a splash on the news since his arrival in town a month ago. But what he's doing to the news is what really matters.

And it doesn't look pretty so far.

The Courant reported today that it has lost 45 percent of its newsroom personnel in the past 16 months. That's just a little short of half its reporters, editors, copy editors, photographers, sportswriters and so on. So it's no wonder the paper can't even begin to do the wide range of stories it had not so long ago.

I don't have the answers to stop newspapers from sliding away into oblivion, but I'm quite sure that putting TV people in charge isn't the solution, that slicing away experienced hands won't help and that gutting the core mission of the newspaper doesn't exactly appeal to those who read it.

Those of us in the newspaper racket desperately need to experiment, to see what new things might catch on, to integrate the web with what we do much more seamlessly and holistically, but there seems to be a feeling in the executive suites that the problem with newspapers is that they want to cover news.

And the one thing I'm sure about is that if the only way to keep people interested in newspapers is to gut them, then the hell with 'em.

I'm having a hard time believing that a publisher who thinks driving drunken young women around in the middle of the night is a good idea is the guy with the answers to the problems afflicting our state's flagship newspaper.

PS: You can read the relevant letters to Courant staffers on CT News Junkie.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Another blow to the Courant

A television guy just took over as publisher of The Hartford Courant. His first move? To combine the Courant's dwindling newsroom with those of two TV stations owned by Tribune Co.

This can't be good for journalism or the Courant.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Courant's publisher is a liar

I can understand that cutting jobs may be a necessity at The Hartford Courant, if only because someone at the Tribune Co. gave the order.
But that's no reason for the paper's publisher, Stephen Carver, to lie about the consequences of losing 100 people, including 30 in the newsroom.
"We're going to perform at the level we've been performing," Carver said in a statement published on the daily's website.
How offensive.
And what a preposterous lie.
It's an insult to the fine reporters who are losing their jobs and a slap in the face to scores of loyal employees who have stuck by the paper through increasingly hard times.
Using Carver's logic, I suppose if the paper fired every journalist on its payroll, it would just keep on "performing at the level we've been performing."
At least the man should have had the decency to express remorse and to state the obvious: the news will suffer.
"I wanted to get us into an environment where we could focus on our readers and advertisers going forward, and focus on growing the business," Carver explained as his reason for the pink slips.
Oh, yeah? Really?
I suspect the atmosphere at the paper's office is more like a morgue than "an environment where we could focus on our readers and advertisers."
In fact, I'm sure of it.
This is bad business, but let us at least tell it like it is. We owe readers the truth, not a smiley face stuck on a bleeding and badly wounded paper that's gasping for air.
Carver better understand that he runs a newspaper, not a fantasy land.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Many reporters laid off at Courant

I'm sick after reading this.
I just don't know what's going to be left of journalism in Connecticut unless something changes quickly.
For more, here's The Laurel's coverage and here's Denis Horgan's The Mardi Gras Massacre.
And here is The Associated Press story on it.
Leonard Honeyman's Len's Lens has a more personal reaction.
Oh, and here is the Courant's official version.
On a personal note, I worked with a couple of these folks before they moved on to the Courant -- Matt Eagan and Loretta Waldman -- and I feel for them. Matt, in particular, has become a terrific, all-round journalist. I just can't believe they let him go.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

More cuts looming at Courant

I don't know any details, but people at the nation's oldest continuously published paper are worried.

One blog in Hartford has this:

Less than seven months from a cut in staff of upto 25%, the Hartford Courant is faced with possibly cutting upto another 20%.  On the heels of an earnings report which states a 30% decline in sales, employees won’t even have the chance of a possible buyout like back in June of ‘07....

The Laurel, a promising new blog, also has this news.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Hartford Courant's owner may declare bankruptcy this week

The news for newspapers just keeps getting worse.

The Wall Street Journal reports today that the Tribune Co., which owns the Hartford Courant, "is preparing for a possible filing for bankruptcy-court protection as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter."
While seeking bankruptcy protection is not the same as closing down, it's not good.

I firmly believe that the answer is to return these papers to their roots, to get them in the hands of local owners or employee owners who can tap the good will of a community. We need newspapers -- whether in print or online -- or this nation will vanish in a swamp of ignorance.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

The Courant's redesign

I expected to hate it. And I do.
My one ray of hope looking at yesterday's paper was that Matt Eagan -- a funny, bright and talented fellow who once worked with me at the Press -- might have a new sports column, but it turns out that he simply happened to be the first of a rotating group of sportwriters to spout off.
What's wrong with the new design? It's a thin and sort of sad effort to hide the diminishment of a once great American newspaper. What's left of the Courant is more vapid than I imagined it would be, particularly the anonymous and out-of-context reader comments at the top of some pages. Yuck.
Obviously, I don't have the answer for how to prevent newspapers from going the way of cobblers and blacksmiths, but I am confident that the Courant, despite what I'm sure was an honest effort to make the best of a bad situation, hasn't stumbled on the solution either.
What do you all think? What's good and bad about the new Courant? Does anybody think it's better. If you do, why?

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

New Courant coming Sept. 28th

I'm told that the new Courant -- a slimmed-down, spruced-up version of the old Courant -- will be unveiled on Sunday, Sept. 28.
What can Bristol expect?
"Two or three stories a week" about the Mum City.
It's going to get ever harder to know what's going on in Bristol as newspaper cutbacks keep coming and coming.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Cuts coming at the Courant

Some very fine journalists are apparently on the list for departure at The Hartford Courant. It's heartbreaking for anyone who cares about newspapers in Connecticut to see.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

A sad day for journalism

Layoffs and the upcoming reduction in news at The Hartford Courant showcase once again the continuing collapse of the American newspaper.
It's particularly sad to see it happening at the nation's oldest continuously published paper, a claim that may not last even another decade at the rate papers are shrinking.
Obviously, I don't have the answer for reversing the trend, but I hope that a way is found to keep papers from becoming historical relics, not because they give me a job (at least for now), but because I love newspapers. I always have.
And it makes me queasy to learn dozens of talented journalists in Hartford will join the long line of reporters and editors across the country who have already been sacrificed in the vain pursuit of profit by those who don't understand that giving people less and less is no way to make newspapers relevant again.
Paring the news and reducing the ranks is not going to win over new readers. It just hastens our collective demise.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Massive cuts coming at Hartford Courant

From poynter.org:

6/25/2008 3:08:29 PM

Memo to Hartford Courant staff

From: [Editor] Teutsch, Clifford
Sent: Wed 6/25/2008 3:01 PM
To: Courant News Staff
Subject: Reductions

To: The Staff
Fr: Cliff

We told you earlier this month that we would be making significant reductions in staff and newshole to meet economic realities. I'm writing now to give you the numbers and tell you how we will proceed.

Our news pages will go from 273 to 206 per week. Positions will go from 232 to about 175. Four of those 232 positions are now vacant.

Perhaps these are the numbers you were expecting. Perhaps they are a shock. I have had a little time to wrap my head around them; many of you will need to do that too. They will be life-changing for some, and they add a sober reality for all as we continue to remake the paper for a September launch.

The staff reductions will be handled as follows:

We are offering voluntary buyouts to everyone in News except the web staff. We will accept or reject applications based on the anticipated needs of the new paper. We will not use seniority as a criterion as we have in the past. People seeking a buyout will have until July 9 to apply to Human Resources, as explained in packets being distributed today.

In addition to buyouts, we expect that layoffs will be necessary to meet our reduction target, and they too will be based on the needs we foresee for our redesigned paper.

Most people will leave by the end of July. There may be a few exceptions for production-critical jobs. The page reductions will come in September.

The packages will be the same as last time, including an enhanced pension benefit paid in the form of a contribution to your cash balance account. The payment will be based on one week of pay for every six months of service, capped at 52 weeks of pay, plus 3%. Health benefits will be continued, and the company will pay for career planning services. HR staff members are available to talk with you about your specific situation. The package is the same for buyout and layoff.

The Courant, Tribune and newspapers across the country are responding to fundamental changes in our business, especially a significant decline in advertising revenue. The cuts we're talking about today are among a number of moves we are making in the face of those changes. Multiple initiatives are underway to bring in more print revenue and maximize the potential of online. For example, about two hundred potential online advertisers attended an information session yesterday. These moves
are all necessary for this paper to sustain itself, pay down debt and invest in the future.

For some, the decision about whether to seek a buyout will depend on knowing how The Courant will change. Our vision for the new paper will be clearer, but not fully formed by July 9. We will let you know as much as possible before then. Bobbie's note on Monday was the first step in that communication.

In general, we plan to build a more compact paper for weekdays, when readers are pressed for time. We will present information in short form whenever feasible and go in-depth for the most important, relevant stories. On Sunday, when many people spend more time reading, the paper will stay about the same size it is today. Daily and Sunday, we will add new content and new approaches. There will also be takeaways, and we will be as smart as we can about making them. The paper will be completely redesigned. We will fully integrate print and online, and increase interactivity with readers.

Re-inventing a newspaper is a huge undertaking under the best of circumstances. Doing it with significantly reduced resources in a tight timeframe is even more challenging. Now, we must forge ahead with that work while we make the tough decisions about who will go and who will stay.

Those who remain will still be by far the largest news staff in Connecticut, and comparable in size to many papers of our circulation volume across the country. We will continue to be - we must continue to be -- a journalistic force. Our readers deserve that. That has been true for 243 years, and never more so than now.

There's also this one:

6/23/2008 4:29:44 PM

Memo from Hartford Courant's managing editor

From: Roessner, Barbara
Sent: Monday, June 23, 2008 4:14 PM
To: Courant News Staff
Subject: first draft of "new" weekday courant sections...

Thanks for your smart, suprising, funny, imaginative ideas for the "new" weekday paper, pending a substantial cut in space and staff. As we deadline types well know, there's nothing like extreme pressure to clarify the mind -- hence the deluge of good, even great, ideas. I have yet to settle on content specifics, but your input has helped inform my first run at how the paper will be sectioned. I presented this to advertising, production and circulation veeps this morning. I'll be hearing back from them later in the week, as I'm sure I'll be hearing from you.

The basic weekday architecture consists of three broadsheet sections (exceptions on Monday, when comics/puzzles roll into Sports; and Saturday, when features and Sports merge into an outdoors-themed hybrid). The three basic sections are:

CT/NEWS
Frontload the A section with Connecticut news, including facing pages on A2 and A3 to showcase what distinguishes the Courant from all other media outlets -- the scope, breadth and depth of our state and local coverage. (Eliminate freestanding Connecticut section.)

Include strategically chosen, consumer-focused economic and business news in the A section, boldly labeled. (Eliminate freestanding Biz section. Stock tables to web.)

Include nation/world pages, In Brief and In Depth, in back of section.

Editorial page(s).

CT/LIFE
Theme features sections on Tuesday (music/youth culture), Wednesday (health/aging), Thursday (food/consumer), Friday (home/family), Saturday (outdoors/things to do), with obits moving to back of sections.

Eliminate Monday Life (puzzles, etc., fold into back of sports), eliminate Thursday and Friday Life (Flavor, At Home morph into main features sections), Saturday Life merges with outdoors-themed Sports section.

Keep Cal.

CT/SPORTS
Maintain weekday Sports section, showcasing Connecticut-centric enterprise and reducing newshole by moving much of the agate and national coverage online, with bold web refers in print. Eliminate most, or all, special sections; roll them into daily sections.

Monday Sports section absorbs comics/puzzles. Saturday sports section merges with features, showcasing outdoors or "Get Out" theme.

Okay, that's the gist. I await the fallout, as I press forward with more specifics on page counts, color positions and specific content that will make this smaller, smarter paper an interesting weekday read. I'll keep you posted as a final draft takes shape and we move on to a page-by-page redesign.

Thanks again,
Bobbie

*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com