The Kansas City Star has continued to shrink in many ways over the years.
With all the staff layoffs it has lost considerable journalistic talent in addition to a wide range of support staffers. The dimensions of the newspaper have reduced its overall size and its total pages has continued to decline,.
But its Johnson County Neighborhood News section quite possibly hit an all-time low today (12/29) when it was made up of of just four pages.
A major story about the Ernie Miller Nature Center in Olathe, a summer theatre story, a commentary by Susan Vollenweider of thehistorychicks.com and a listing of All-State soccer and volleyball teams was the sum total of all the content.
It’s difficult to determine, but the four pages is likely either the lowest or tied for the lowest in the newspaper’s history for the section.
In December the section was 8 pages on Dec. 1 and then 12, 12, and 8 on Dec. 22. In November it was either 12 or 16 pages each week. In October it was either 12 or 16 pages.
UPDATE (1/1/13) : The Star’s Tuesday Business Section was only eight pages. Like Saturday’s JOCO section, it contained no display ads at all. As a source noted, “What a shame.”
LOWEST
“It’s difficult to determine, but the four pages is likely either the lowest or tied for the lowest in the newspaper’s history for the section.”
Hmmm. One sheet of pager folded in half is four pages of newspaper. So, yes, four pages is either the lowest or tied for the lowest number of pages in the history of the section. Why is that difficult to determine?
So, are you saying I am correct? I’m not a math major. It is possible to have a two page insert which would be lower…
SPACE DRIVEN
It’s a down-time for advertising too. Space driven.
A LOGICAL EXPLANATION
Yes, John, you are correct. It is quite possible to have just a two-page section and, of course, the original newspapers, often referred to as broadsheets, would have fit into this category. At any rate, advertising tends to fall off some after the stretch that encompasses Thanksgiving and Christmas, so a small JoCo section today is not all that surprising. As a rule (getting back to the main topic), newspapers generally try to aim for sections comprised of four pages, eight pages, 12 pages, etc.
PRINTING EXPLANATION
Had to be at least 4 pages (8 tab pages) since the Star doesn’t run 1/8th rolls and they haven’t ran zoned Metro’s with NN tabs in 10 years or more.
Unless of course, they ran a 2 page broadsheet ad (4 page tab) to accompany it.
Don’t know why John thinks it such a big deal. It’s just a bunch a bullshit wrapped around ads, which btw, is the whole purpose of it. Less pages=Less ads.
Can’t wait to hear the crying when the re-sized Star hits the streets in a few months.
NO DISPLAY AD REVENUE AT ALL
Not one dime of display ad revenue in the section. The classifieds don’t carry any revenue because they are just pick ups from the main classified section. NOT ONE DIME!!!