Oregon Media Insiders

"The Edge" is now too skinny. That page's editor needs to rethink the width of "The Edge". Like somebody said, "The Edge" is largely why I read the "O" in the first place, and marginalizing it (so to speak) won't help me keep reading.

Viewer Rick

.....marginalizes itself. It's wasteful of valuable space....puerile drivel shoveled directly off Fark on a daily basis. Let the O shrink another inch....Edge can fall off and decompose biodegradably.

Does this change enable the O to print two-up on their web press? (I think that's why the Tribune shrunk its page size a couple years ago.) If not, I don't see how it would save any money, or paper.

The Edge is day-old Fark without the Foobies. Not that the rest of the paper is much fresher--the O got around to running Spencer Kim's op-ed piece from Saturday's Washington Post on, what, Tuesday?

I've closely read both before and after without seeing quantitative improvement. I think its safe to clip another inch or so without adverse effect to form or content.

makes the O seem like it's less of a newspaper. Of course, it literally is but it feels bad. It feels not as important. It's a huge mistake. Six months from now nobody will remember the old size. Hell, I still remember how good it felt to hold the paper before the LAST downsizing.

Unless you go to the tabloid format, I think it's a rip-off.
For the advertisers, you have the same number of columns and same per/inch rate, but the ads are smaller.
A 2x2 still takes up the same percentage of a page, you get a smaller ad for the same price. If you go to tabloid a 2x2 takes up a much larger percentage of a page.
Also, unless the O is adding two or four pages an issue they are cutting coverage. On the other hand, adding pages would mean they are not saving any money on paper.
So to wrap this hodge-podge of a post: The O has less content and is charging more for smaller ads.

Maybe with the new smaller page sizes, there's actually more news per capita, so to speak. Or maybe it's just another indication of how a publication slowly dies when it has no competition and therefore no reason for its personnel to work hard.