Repackaging The Times

As a full-page ad in today's main section tells readers, The Times on Tuesday will move its California section, long the B section of the newspaper, into an expanded A section that also will continue to include national and international news reports. The opinion and editorial pages, too, will stay in the main section.

The changes are to save money, as a January Business story explained, by requiring fewer press runs.

The streamlining means that on most weekdays, Los Angeles Times readers will receive four main sections, as well as Health on Mondays, Food on Wednesdays and Home on Saturdays. Sunday's sections will be unaffected.

More answers and explanations are below.

Comics, take 3

"According to Wednesday's paper this site is suppose to give the reason why you canceled Sally Forth. I find no reason given other than 'we wanted  to'.  ... It takes a lot of nerve not to listen to the people who keep you in your job , even if you think they give 'skewed responses.' "

That's an excerpt from Rachel Engler's comment, one of hundreds that have come in since readers learned of the change-up on The Times' comics pages (see post from Sunday).

Since then, two posts on this journal have tried to provide some of the thinking behind the changes, but readers have been left with some reasonable questions.

Readers were asked for several months about whether one strip should stay or go -- "For Better or for Worse." Yet Monday they were told both that "FBOFW" wasn't coming back and that a second strip that they didn't know was being considered for expulsion was also dropped ("Sally Forth").

Why were readers even polled, readers asked, especially if they found out later that editors don't rely entirely on reader input?

And what are the reasons behind what was called a "subjective" decision in dropping "Sally Forth"?

Alice Short, the assistant managing editor who oversees features, goes into detail that many say should have been given to them in the first place.

Why weren't readers asked about Ted and Sally?*

Many individuals left comments on the original post on this journal to ask why readers were not given a chance to voice their opinions on the plans for "Sally Forth," as they were with "For Better or for Worse." Here's the context: The Times, and other newspapers, often change comics without alerting readers beforehand. The months-long process on whether to keep or drop Lynn Johnston's strip was an exception because the creator had made the decision to stop doing new comics, which gave editors at The Times a clear opportunity to weigh the past vs. the future.

In general, though, the process of choosing strips is like every other editorial decision made in a newsroom -- subjective. Not every reader is going to like every decision made, just as not every reader agrees on what strips are great and which are garbage.

To paraphrase the washingtonpost.com story that is also linked in the original post, polling readers -- especially when it comes to comics -- often isn't useful. Such polling often results in skewed responses, when fans or even authors of strips urge others to write in, creating lopsided votes.

That's one reason readers aren't typically polled beforehand. However, their voices do count, though they're not necessarily counted up as in a vote. Sherry Stern, deputy editor in Features, notes: "Editors put a lot of thought into what goes into the paper, the comics included. Hearing what readers think is an important part of the process."

*Update: In response to a number of readers asking if cost was a consideration in the decision on which comics to run and which to drop: No, cost was not a consideration. (If it were, The Times probably wouldn't continue to devote pages to the comic strips that do run.) That doesn't change the fact, of course, that plenty of readers didn't like this decision.

*A new post on this topic added Thursday addresses more reader comments.

When it comes to comics, the winners are ... *

This note will appear in Monday's Calendar section:

To Our Readers

Today we introduce two new comics to our daily lineup: "Stone Soup" by Jan Eliot and "Home and Away" by Steve Sicula. They replace  "For Better or for Worse" and "Sally Forth." For more about our decision, go to latimes.com/readersrep. And comments are welcome at comics (at) latimes.com.

Sherry Stern, the editor who oversees the comics, has been asking readers their thoughts for the past several months as a variety of strips were given five-week trial runs. The entry on this journal for the most recent try-out, "Stone Soup," includes links to previous posts as well.

Readers were variously tickled and annoyed at the chance to vote, as Stern's explanation below says.

Keepsakes of the Obama inauguration

The lines outside The Times' Spring Street lobby are reminiscent of those on Nov. 5, when giddy crowds gathered to buy copies of the newspaper that recorded the historic election of Barack Obama as president. According to Times staffers arriving to work, people were lined up as early as 5:30 a.m.  Director of customer relations Carole Stein says that when she got to the building, people were in lawn chairs outside awaiting the hour the lobby would open for sales of the Jan. 21 newspaper. In fact, sales started at 7, an hour earlier than planned, prompted by the enthusiasm and numbers of people seeking the paper and other mementos of yesterday's inauguration.

An extra 250,000 copies were produced last night, and readers from around the country are calling to ask where they can buy today's Times; supplies are being restocked at all store locations throughout the day.

In any case, more are on the way: The circulation department had churned out more than 100,000 additional copies, for a total of about 350,000 as of noon.

"Home and Away" on the comics pages

The Times is giving a new strip a trial run in the spot where "Luann" has been. Here's the note to readers that appears in Calendar starting today:

"Home and Away" joins the Calendar section today for five weeks. This new comic strip is one of four that we are asking readers to sample as a possible replacement for “For Better or for Worse,” which is now in reruns. "Home and Away," by Steve Sicula, will continue until Jan. 18. After that we’ll sample one more comic, then make a selection. Please email your comments to comics(at)latimes.com and include your name and city.

For those keeping score, yes, the game of picking a new strip is going into overtime: The editor who oversees the comics pages, Sherry Stern, says, "We originally planned to offer three comic strips for readers to try out, but we've decided to sample a fourth, which will begin after 'Home and Away' ends its trial run on Jan. 18."

Extra, extra ...*

Dozens of e-mails like this started coming in to the readers' representative office early this morning, and are still coming in: "HELP!!!  We have looked everywhere for a copy of today's paper.  Will you be printing a second edition?" And, "I desperately need four copies of today’s paper, please tell me there is a way for me to get a copy of today’s 11/05/2008 L.A. Times it would mean a great deal to me."

Newspapers across the country are finding their Nov. 5 editions in high demand for their coverage of the historic election of the United States' first African American president. The Times is among many newspapers selling far more papers than normal today as readers in L.A. and around the U.S. seek multiple copies for themselves, for friends around the country and for their grandchildren. (Editor & Publisher reports that the Washington Post and New York Times are printing more, as is the Chicago Tribune.)

Jack D. Klunder, president of the Los Angeles Times Newspaper, says The Times is printing an additional 82,000 newspapers. (*Update: Klunder now says that The Times will print more -- an additional 25,000 copies -- and plans to produce today's edition as long as demand continues.) They are being sold in stores around L.A., and from The Times' two lobbies in downtown Los Angeles, where people started lining up at 11 a.m. (Vendors in the lobby on Spring Street said they'd sold about 1,500 as of early afternoon).

Here's how it stacks up with other big-news-day sales: After the first day of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, The Times sold an additional 216,000 papers.  The Space Shuttle Challenger explosion led to sales of an additional 118,000. Says Klunder, "We expect to sell about 100,000 additional papers today. Normal big-headline stories (fires, earthquakes, etc.) sell from 20,000 to 40,000" additional copies.

For back issues, customers should call Customer Service at (800) 252-9141. The call center will take both local and national calls. Readers also can come in to The Times' lobby at 145 S. Spring Street to buy copies. Hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A vote for the original "Doonesbury"

Readers voted, and Times editors listened.

As a Calendar story on Saturday told readers, Wednesday's "Doonesbury" strip in The Times was not going to be the Nov. 5 strip that Garry Trudeau drew several weeks ago. The cartoonist took a leap, and tomorrow's strip shows his cast of characters reacting to a Barack Obama victory in the presidential election.

Because, as the article reported, Wednesday's comics page will go to press before the polls close tonight, Times editors originally decided that "in the interest of accuracy, it would be best to wait to see the results of the election." They planned to print Wednesday's comic on Thursday if Obama won. If not, they would print repeats until the story line ended on Friday.

More than two dozen readers reacted -- some of their notes are below -- and now editors have reacted to those comments. A note in tomorrow's paper will say in part, "As they say in the NFL, upon further review we have reversed our decision. We listened to readers like Ann Calhoun of Los Osos, who wrote: 'Wait. Comic strips now have to be factually accurate? So, this means Rex Morgan is a real doctor, right?' "

Before the editors reversed course, Assistant Managing Editor Alice Short admitted, "I'm very devastated to learn the truth about Rex Morgan."

Below are a few of the initial responses from readers when they learned of editors' plans to substitute the strip Trudeau had drawn for Nov. 5.

Times endorsements: When, where, why?*

The Times' editorial board started publishing its endorsements in early August, but not all readers have seen them. Subscriber John Nisley of El Segundo wrote to say he was voting by mail and wanted to get the L.A. Times recommendations for state propositions now. Allan Mason of Hermosa Beach sounded the same theme: "Every year I find your election endorsements very helpful. BUT they would be even better if they came a little earlier than the weekend before the election. So many of us are absentee voters now, and we want to mail out ballots well before the deadline -- often before you publish your recommendations. So please consider pushing them up a little."

Pamela Lang of Burbank is one reader who had no problem finding The Times' endorsements. However, as she suggested in an e-mail, she didn't want them: "I noticed you published your latest list of political 'endorsements' and I'm not happy about it. Isn't the job of the Los Angeles Times to report the news and leave the political decision-making to a well-informed public? Is The Times attempting to influence the outcome of an incredibly important election? How can the voters trust that your political endorsements aren't swayed by the owner of your paper, or their corporate needs? Please, don't presume to know what's best for me. Leave that decision to me. I trust your readers will make the decisions that are in their best interests, as well."

The Times provides both: The editorial board produces endorsements, and the newsroom reports the information on which readers can base their decisions. The California section has been running stories on initiatives and ballot measures all fall and plans to publish its Voter Guide this Sunday (as a post on this journal in January explained, these guides are intended be a thorough summary of the news reports).

The questions on endorsements, then: When, where and why? (And oh yes: Who?)

'For Better or for Worse,' the Mobius strip

Last fall she said she would weave old plot with new. Earlier this month her thinking had shifted, with a story in Calendar reporting that come Sept. 1, the comic strip "For Better or for Worse" would begin at the beginning, retelling the story that its creator, Lynn Johnston, started 29 years ago. While the story will be the same, some of the comics will be redrawn. Johnston says eventually the comic strip will be a 50-50 mix of old and new drawings.

(A story in today's Calendar reprinted from the Washington Post muses on the popularity, and anti-popularity, of the strip whose characters -- referred to as "the most boring people in Canada" -- aged in real time.)

The features editor who oversees the comic strips, Sherry Stern, says readers will have a say on the future of FBOFW in the Times. "For the next five weeks, The Times will run 'For Better or for Worse' daily and Sunday, so people can see it for themselves. After that we’ll let readers sample three new  comics. When we last sampled comics (during 'Doonesbury’s' vacation), we heard from hundreds of comics fans. We again welcome comments.

"Once all four comics have run and readers have had a chance to share their thoughts, we’ll make a selection," Stern said.

Comments are welcome at comics (at) latimes.com or by leaving a message at the readers' representative line, at 877-554-4000.

Update: Several readers' recent comments about this topic have been attached to earlier postings on this journal about comics, one in March and the other in June.

Panel from "For Better or for Worse" by Lynn Johnston, Universal Press Syndicate