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Oct. 7th The Tampa Tribune: another soft relaunch, not a redesign

It is new, and it aims to fit better into the lives of people like me who live in the Tampa Bay area.  It is also one of the few markets in the United States where two major metropolitan dailies compete with each other. In the case of the Tribune, the competition is fierce, The St. Petersburg Times, a world-class newspapers that looks good and reads extremely well. Not to mention that the Times’ has a successful “free” brother called tbt as in Tampa Bay Times.

What’s New?

One visible change is that the nameplate of the newspaper, The Tampa Tribune, has now become a so called “pill box” moved to the right of the front page. The word Tampa appears more prominently, and it allows designers to provide more promo material at the top of the newspaper.
Obviously, the Trib wants to stimulate streets sales. But Tampa is not a commuter city, its public transportation not used so widely. However, the better display of promos at the top should make the newspapers more visible in boxes that one can find all over the city, including supermarkets and gas stations.

As for the rest, I do not see much of a major change typographically or structurally, but I must study it a few more days.  Definitely cleaner, less cluttered, but the Tribune had done some of that in its last redesign of about five years ago.

There will be a Sunday magazine included, which should be very welcome by readers.

Here is what editor Janet E. Coats wrote about the new Tampa Tribune:

Welcome to a new day for The Tampa Tribune.
What you hold isn’t just another newspaper redesign. This is a different newspaper to fit the lives of busy readers like you who are hungry for useful, relevant information.
With research into your lifestyles and habits as our guide, we’ve built two different kinds of newspapers: a weekend paper full of the sections and features you tell us you love to explore, and a weekday paper that reflects your desire for convenience and utility.
You’ll see the new weekday newspaper Monday.
With today’s edition, we’re doing something almost unheard of in today’s economy - giving you something extra.
Besides putting local news first, we’re bringing back a freestanding Business & Money section that adds The Wall Street Journal Sunday report. And at a time most newspapers are eliminating their Sunday magazines, we’re adding one - the BayLife Magazine.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/oct/05/na-new-paper-aims-to-fit-your-life/
http://www.visualeditors.com/apple/2008/10/tampa-tribune-redesign-debuts-today/

In Miami until afternoon, then flying to Europe to start my next trip through Europe, Asia and Africa. Here I am doing a run through scenic Coral Gables this morning.
Enjoying the last of the hot weather, as tomorrow I wake up in Paris where the temperatures are already cooler.

TheMarioBlog posting # 112