Consumer ‘Republic’

By on March 19th, 2007 In Media

The Arizona Republic today debuted its new Monday look designed for “busy people.”

The changes have been evolving over the past year, so most are not too surprising. But, it should only be a matter of time before the look is daily.

The most obvious change is that the paper is physically different, or lighter, to be exact. There are now three main sections (that pull-out): Front page, Sports and (Simple) Arizona Living. Valley & State and Business are now contained as feature pages in the front section.

Philosophically, the main change seems to be that Mondays will be more consumer-oriented. It’s easy on the eyes for the busiest day of the week.

However, the redesign is a clear nod to the fact that most people get their breaking news online, or, in the mornings on TV.

It may also signal an acceptance that many prefer to read personally “important” print news in national vehicles such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Republic-parent USA Today.

The paper is more scannable now. And articles seem not so much “hard-hitting” as they are thought-provoking or conversation starters. Although on Mondays, they never really were (for example: the front page debut on greening your lawn care). There are also a lot of consumer opinions culled from the previous day’s web chatter on AZ Central.

News is targeted directly to the consumer — what they generally like and especially, how they read and digest information. And, while not supplanting the journalist, consumers have an opportunity to be involved in the discussion and evolution of stories.

Whether you feel this is pure genius or the start of the death of journalism as we know it, reaching the end consumer remains the most important consideration of PR practice, one that so often goes ignored. The new-look-at-least for-Mondays Arizona Republic offers a bold reminder.

Comments

Angelo Says:
March 20th, 2007 at 9:52 am

I was a bit disturbed by Monday’s layout –the blending of Valley and State, threw me off a bit. But you’re right, it’s highly ‘scannable.’

I noticed in today’s Valley & State section, a call for readers to submit photos to a new feature –Weekend Rewind. It’s about time the paper got into social media. Heck, even create a Flickr account for people to email submissions, via their phones. Here’s how Yahoo News does it. http://www.rexblog.com/2006/08/10/15941/

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