» The Press Republican has dropped Mutts in favor of Zits in an effort to attract younger readers.
» Polling over at the Kansas City Star is still underway. Not sure how it is going, but since Reader Representative Derek Donovan has to explain, again, why they selected the particular strips that that did to be voted on, I’d say they reaction to the vote has been strong, or perhaps vocal.
Want to attract younger readers? How about dropping the features that were old when their grandparents were kids reading the paper. Oh, and put the paper on a screen and don’t call it a newspaper. Kids are really into this thing called the “internet” I have heard.
No, but seriously. the best way to attract younger readers is to expand the comics section, run the features bigger, and allow the comics to be exciting. Hearst understood what sold papers, for a business model that hasn’t changed very much in a hundred years, it is a head-scratcher that this concept was lost.
Less is more when you are Peanuts. Less is just less when you are everybody else. (Ok, Watterson too but it was catchier to limit it to Schulz, no?).
Give the comics room to be great again!
Agreed.
I am not going to speak for editors in other papers, but the editor of my local newspaper either hasn’t a clue what is going on within the comic industry, doesn’t know it’s demographics, or doesn’t care (I would wager all of the previous).
I email this person at least once a month suggesting new strips and all I ever get back is a one sentence response without even some much a hello or a thank you. It’s actually embarrassing for the newspaper to have someone like her corresponding with the public.
My last email with her was a very curt “no wonder newspapers are failing”.
Oh well….
Yeah, don’t you just wish that newspapers should atleast try expanding their comics pages and see how it goes? Mutts is a great strip and so is zits……they could’ve put both of them in. Even if one paper does it and it goes well then others will follow, even if it’s a small local one, others will notice how well it’s doing and do it themselves.
After all comics were introduced to the newspaper to increase it’s popularity and, when they were run big then everyone loved them. Editors nowadays just think that comics should be something that’s in there. They don’t care how they look, and little do they realise that if they increase their comics section then that will gain popularity with the younger generation.
I have a luxury: my editor is a lovely and smart person that would pay me five times my current rate if she could.
Has told me so, on numerous occasions.
I wish she had the power, but she does not.
I am sure that she has talked her way to include some cartoons that were deemed “iffy” by others in the past.
That said,(including her), I have had four editors that were gems, and five that were dogpiles.
nobody cares about newspapers any more they can be read online and the same goes for the comics that is where you can get a good sized strip and not in the paper