My fiance sends me copies of the Hartford Courant every week - yes,he lives in Connecticut.
After reading the first headline on the first page of the first newspapaper he sent me, I called him and asked, "Is the Courant having budget problems?" - He didn't know.
The layout of my first Courant, dated Feb. 8, seemed odd to say the least. Firstly, the nameplate is positioned vertically on the left hand side of the paper. Next, only three stories adorn the front page. The picture in the middle was showed a distinguished, older couple standing in front of a white wall.
The issues on the page that pointed to budget problems were the grammatical errors and awkward placing.
The main story, beginning slightly below the cutline, began as follows:
"Meet the Madoffs - of West Hartford."
The dash seems unnecessary. The reporter tried to create a sense of surprise, but the dash looks awkward. The author used several more dashes in the story - the most I've seen in one article.
The last story's headline was "Another Jobs Jolt". It seems like it should be either 'Another job jolt', or 'Another job's jolt'. The story was written by reporters from the Los Angeles Times, but the Courant most likely changed the headline.
The paper's inside also contained mistakes: A photo from China was left without a caption or cutline and ellipses were used out place.
I searched online for anyone's thoughts on the paper's problems and came across an 'Eyewitness News 3' Blog. The title of the blog is "Courant's Parent Co. Files For Bankruptcy Readers Hope Paper Can Be Saved". This blog, written in Dec. last year,gives more insight into the paper's current problems.
The author writes that the Hartford Courant's parent company filed for bankruptcy.
The blog can be found at http://www.wfsb.com/money/18239031/detail.html
What do you think about the new layout? Does it scream "budget problems"?
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