So it was left off, inadvertently or intentionally. If it's the former, I understand, if it's the latter, I've got to wonder. Is this some way of driving readers to buy the paper? If so, I think it's an ill conceived plan.
We'll wait and see.
So instead of riffing on Chico's I'll go with my plan B, welcoming the Clipper Ship back to the masthead. I was a reporter at the Daily News during the redesign that introduced the ship to the top of Page 1.
I had absolutely nothing to do with the effort so I can say with all humility thought I always thought it was a very nice touch. (In fact, I think I still have the T-shirt we were given during the redesign.)
Anyway, the new--or rather old--look came along with a letter from the Daily News' new publisher, Shelia Smith.
Starting this week, you will notice some changes in The Daily News.
We are a local paper, proud to be a part of Greater Newburyport. Our goal is to bring you the local news, people and events of Newburyport and its 10 surrounding towns every day.
Toward that end, we will be revamping our business page coverage to focus entirely on Newburyport-area businesses, and we will add more local news to the front page of the paper. To fit more local news, we will no longer carry our "Onceover" at the bottom of the page. The "Onceover" dates from a time when it was difficult for people to get national and international news; those days are gone with the advent of the Internet. It's clear from the feedback that we receive that the vast majority of our readers want to see more local news in the paper, and so we would like to honor that request.
Lastly, the banner across the top of the front page has been returned to a more traditional look that we feel better reflects who and what we are. We have changed the lettering in our name and returned the clipper ship on our banner to greater prominence - after all, this is "The Clipper City," the city where Donald McKay, the greatest of American clipper designers, got his start. Though he eventually moved to Boston to build his most famous ships, Newburyport is where he chose to be buried.
In the coming weeks you will see other additions. For example, we will be presenting a more informative and colorful package of local weather, travel weather advisories, tide charts, and marine forecasts.
Welcome news. I have to admit, when I first heard the paper was getting its own publisher I wondered why. Seemed a bit of overkill for a paper of this size. We had one publisher (a very nice guy) for three or four papers back in my day, and that was plenty.
But if this is the outcome then, "here here." Newspaper folks keep rightly wringing their hands about the future of their industry. I think the large regionals like the Boston Globe will face some deep cuts in circulation. But local papers like the news can thrive by being just that--local papers. Hyperlocal in fact.
As a reporter, I assumed a readers in Newburyport would enjoy a well-written, well researched piece about an event in Newbury or Rowley, even if it didn't affect them directly.
I was wrong.
What I do want to read is everything I can about my own community. I understand if you need to toss in some news from other communities to even things out, but gimme local, local, local.
And I'm sure an reader in Amesbury is thinking the exact same thing.
So this is good news for the Daily News. I heard about one of the features they were planning to add to the business page (my old stomping ground), and it sounds like winner. Let's hope it's part of a larger trend.
Oh, I'd love a new Web site if you could. I find this one a little clunky.
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