Owensboro is flying a new flag and design

By Bob Ashley

(Editor’s note: this is a column Bob Ashley, editor of the Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro, Ky., wrote to readers explaining a recent redesign.)

“The main thrust of the redesign was to make the Messenger-Inquirer a more accessible paper,” says Dan Hieb, who assisted fellow copy editor Jamie Madigan with the design changes.

The most highly visible change is at the top of Page One, in what we call the flag or the nameplate of the newspaper.

Our name occupies two lines, rather than one, and we dropped the hyphen that has separated the words “Messenger” and “Inquirer” for years — since it replaced the “and” that joined those words after the merger of the two newspapers. The name is in a different typestyle, or font (The address of our web site www.messenger-inquirer.com, remains unchanged.)

The nameplate itself takes slightly less space, sharing the top of the page with our “teaser” boxes to stories and features inside the newspaper.

“The font of our name was changed to more closely reflect the style of our time,” Hieb said. “It also has been designed to require less space so that more news can occupy the front of the paper.”

Some other changes that I suspect are noticeable:

• We have a new typestyle for headlines and the smaller, or deck, heads that give additional information under the main headlines.
• We’ve dropped the gray background for boxes of material that give more information or contain related “sidebar” material, or offer details on time and place of events. Instead, those boxes have a narrow, black border with a slight shadow behind to give the appearance of depth.
• We’ve changed the typestyle on section labels and — in response to repeated requests from many of you — put the section letter (B, C, etc.) in much larger type so you can see it as you flip through the newspaper.
• On the front page, the index always will be in the lower left-hand corner. Corrections and clarifications always will occupy the same position at the bottom.

In addition to the design, two changes involve the classified advertising section and the Home and Garden section.

The classified ads on Sunday have been split since we launched Home and Garden more than two years ago. Real-estate classified has appeared at the back of Home and Garden: help-wanted and other ads have appeared in business.

We heard from customers and advertisers alike that the split was awkward, and we now return to a combined classified section — which also has a redesigned header or box at the top of the section’s first page. It’s more informative and more accessible to our readers.

In making these changes, we have given up a freestanding section focusing on Home and Garden. Instead, Home and Garden news will have a full page inside the Lifestyle section each Sunday.

We launched Home and Garden for several reasons. One was because we sensed high reader interest in those subjects.

But another reason was a business one — we felt that the section would generate new advertising revenue. It has generated less than we hoped, and the realistic business decision is to collapse the section.

Most or your favorite Home and Garden features will remain. Annette Meyer, the local extension agent who writes on horticulture, will continue in the Lifestyle section. We’ll also continue to feature Martha Stewart on the Home and Garden page.

Real-estate transfers and mortgage rates will return to the Business section, where they appeared before we launched the new section. Building permits, which we commenced with the new section, will continue — also in Business.

Agriculture coverage inside the Business section will also get a boost with a weekly column from Jeff Nalley, farm director with WBKR radio.

Ashley is editor of the Messenger- Inquirer in Owensboro, Ky.