Dear Reader | Home run or swing and miss? Readers weigh in on changes

Here are excerpts from some complaints and questions I’ve received since we initiated changes a few weeks ago, and a few answers:

“I am not pleased at the recent changes at my newspaper, apparently done to save money. My wife and I read the paper each morning and we shared sections. Now, there are only 2. There used to be 4 at one time with the classifieds separate, but that was long ago.” | Michael and Diane Lach, Calabash, N.C.

Like any responsible business, we are always looking for ways to trim costs, but trimming the classifieds is not part our strategy. The size of any news organization’s paper edition, including its classified section, is determined by how many ads there are.

As much as most news folks would like big sections with space for display of photos and long stories, publishing lots of open pages, except in the case of major projects such as Issac Bailey’s examination of homelessness on Sunday, is not the recipe for business success.

I read your latest article on the new look and was curious to see the changes that have been made. The redesign is refreshing, however, combining the “Local” section with the front page is not a good idea, in my opinion. No more sharing the morning paper. | Sidney K. Nichols

One reason for displaying all the local news in the A section is to reinforce our commitment to local coverage, the information you can’t get anywhere else. We will be continuing to examine the way the print paper looks as we adopt additional changes through the next several months, and we will be seeking the thoughts of readers on how we can best present the news in one section. Stay tuned.

Thanks for sharing your thinking about changes in the the format of The Sun News. It makes me feel like you truly respect your readers. My wife and I enjoy reading the paper every morning and I like the latest changes that print only the first paragraph. I often follow up to get more detail on a story but actually do that only three or four times a week, so it is not a problem. Meanwhile, we love the comic section — Pickles, Pearls, Dustin, Stone Soup and more. | Mr. G.

Pro sports and those box scores

My main comments are addressing the sports pages and specifically the non-coverage of our summer game of Major League Baseball. For our first four years here beginning in 2009, your coverage was so so, at best. This is the first summer since returning in November, and your MLB has sunk to a low that I have never seen in other papers where we have lived. (Baltimore, Md., West Palm Beach, Fla., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Miami, San Antonio, Tx., Daytona Beach, Fla., and Port St Lucie, Fla.)

Everything is one day behind in The Sun News. With all of the high speed communications and high speed presses, what gives ? Are you printing at 10 p.m., or are sport writers only interested in golf, basketball, football, and high school sports ? … I really enjoy reading the morning newspaper, one that I can hold in my hand . However, it sounds like you may be reverting back to colonial times with a one-page sheet. I subscribed for a full year (no on line coverage) and I surely hope you can make my morning paper a happy experience again. | David Gerkens

Covering Major League Baseball has always been a challenge thanks to time zones and newspaper deadlines. As I noted in an earlier column, one of my most frequent complaints came in the baseball season because we didn’t have all the results, or even the results from all the East Coast games.

Our deadlines have since gotten earlier, and as a result, getting those results has become increasingly difficult for us and for many other publishers. In an era when most fans get their information on game results and stats either from TV or online, an increasing number of news organizations, including ours, have made the decision to drop the box scores rather than publish two-day old information.

We will be continuing to hone our approach to sports coverage as we adapt to this change and I welcome suggestions from fans of any sport to share what they want to see in a changing section that can devote more space to analysis, profiles and advance coverage that sets the stage for upcoming matchups.

About those online TV listings …

I haven’t heard much about the changes in our online look, except from readers who haven’t been able to find the TV listings. I am working with TV listings provider and the online team to find a replacement.

Thanks for sharing your comments, even the ones that question my IQ. Remember that if you’d like to see how we do what we do, you can participate in our afternoon planning meeting. Just call my assistant, Lisa Urban, at 626-0300 to set up a time.

This story was originally published April 20, 2015 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Dear Reader | Home run or swing and miss? Readers weigh in on changes."