MMMM # 429 -- Newspapers

     The largest daily paper in Alabama is going against the grain and increasing their use of ink and paper.
     The Montgomery Advertiser announced yesterday that it will add a new eight page USA Today section next Sunday that will include the 'best" stories from that national paper. And they're promising more of all of their own materials...a Sunday "Arts and Culture" section (it isn't clear whether that will replace the existing My Life section, though I would think so.)
     Executive Editor Tom Clifford writes about  providing a "richer daily reading experience" and "more focused coverage", and he promises expanded local news, sports and feature reporting.
     He does not say anything about an expanded staff to produce the new information. Nor is there any mention of moving back into the Advertiser's 2002 building at the riverfront. The office and newsroom portion of the building has been on the market for sixteen months, with no word of a sale.
     The Advertiser's increased emphasis on its print product is counter-intuitive...the three former largest daily newspapers in Alabama announced they would drop back to three-days-a-week two years ago this May, and that's been the trend. So the paper is taking a chance on the public's desire to have an even larger product of paper and ink delivered to their homes.

[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of TimLennox.com]