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Repackaging The Times

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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.

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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.

The Times will publish four daily sections Monday through Saturday:

  • The main news section will carry state and local news in the opening pages of the main section, followed by national and then international coverage. The opinion pages will remain in the back of main news.
  • Business will become Section B. Coming back will be Company Town, featuring coverage of the economic side of Hollywood. As a news story announced last week, editors plan to centralize coverage of arts and entertainment and expand the focus on Hollywood news in a new Arts & Entertainment group. (Monday through Thursday, Business also will include recruitment, real estate and general classified advertising, as well as the ‘Love Is’ cartoon, ‘Jumble’ and other puzzles.)
  • Sports will be lettered Section C. (Monday through Thursday, the automobile classifieds will be in the back.)
  • Calendar becomes Section D. The change in sections means later deadlines for this section four days a week, which will allow the next-day publication of some reviews of performances and inclusion of later-breaking news. (Previously, editors had to close the section by 3 p.m.; it’s one reason concert reviews, for instance, didn’t appear for two days.)
  • On Sundays, California will be a separate section although the pages will be numbered as part of the A section.
  • This change doesn’t alter the weekly feature sections (Health on Monday; Food on Wednesday; Home on Saturday; Image, Travel, Calendar and Arts & Books on Sunday).
  • Classifieds remain a separate section Fridays through Sundays.

Q: What happens to....

  • The Weather page?
    • It will be published in the Business section Monday through Saturday (and in California on Sunday).
  • Columnists?
  • Obituaries?
    • News obituariesand paid death notices will be published in the main section.
  • The Index?
    • Thatremains on Page A2.
  • Various editions of California?
    • The Times has been publishing separate L.A. and Orange County editions. As of Tuesday, news from both regions will appear in the combined A section. The Times will continue covering significant news from all counties but editors will be more selective about which stories appear in print. A number of stories will be published on the Web only, as is already the case.
  • Lottery results?
    • See Page A4.
  • For-the-records?
    • The box with corrections and clarifications will move from Page A2 to Page A4.

Q: Why is the newspaper being changed this way?

Until today, the daily newspaper has been printed at two times: Calendar was printed on the presses in the late afternoon. The main, California, Business and Sports sections had later deadlines with press runs that were late in the evening. By reducing the number of sections, all of the daily sections can be printed at once several days a week. That saves on manufacturing costs, including press runs and distribution.

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