"Freedom of the Press belongs to those who own one." A.J. Liebling

Well, we are a whole month into a new year and no doubt lots to talk about, but I can't think about much these days other than the New Look Grand Rapids Press. I know you are thinking that Jeff has finally gone off the deep end but how can you not like the New Look Press?

First, let's talk about the fact that there are color photos not just on the front page every day, but all throughout the paper. How wonderful, now I can see disaster photos in color. I love the rich texture of blood spattered bodies, bombed out buildings and recently tried criminals. The Press can't take credit for being the first to do this. For the past 20 years USA Today has presented "news" with color photos, big headlines, more ads and less copy. The owner of USA Today in Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the country that has set the standard for ad heavy revenues. Gannett made it's money under the leadership of former CEO Al Neuharth. Neuharth who was know for flashy attire (he used to wear shark skin pants) also had a flashy personality. He was once asked by by a Wall Street analyst do you pronounce it GAN-nett or gan-NETT? Neuharth's response was, "it's pronounced MONEY."

The GR Press is also owned by a big media conglomerate, Advanced Communications. In addition to newspapers, Advanced Communications owns magazines, most notably the Conde Nast Publications Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Mademoiselle, and House & Garden. I don't have any stories to share about the Press' owners, the Newhouse brothers, who tend to live much more private lives.

Well, back to the New Look GR Press. I have noticed that there is less space devoted to the Public Pulse section, which is good since we don't really need to read all that drivel from people who think they know it all, plus it provides more space for all those stimulating columnists like William Safire, Michelle Malkins and John Leo. I'll take well thought out opinion pieces from rich columnists over rants from working class people any day. However, my favorite change has been to switch from the Flair section to Your Life, it's so cosmopolitan. I especially like the Monday edition of Your Life because they run the Your Style piece, with a photo of some hip youngster and little sidebar comments on the type of clothing and where to buy such fashionable stuff. I have been so impressed that I cancelled my subscription to GQ.

Another thing I have notice, which is pretty exciting, was that there are even more ads than before. Anything that can help me shop better, I'm all for that. I particularly like the near full page ads that have some story about depressing shit that is happening in another country. This way, if I come to engrossed in the impact of neo-liberal economic policies in Latin America I can always be drawn back to an Art Van sale. Just to prove that more space is devoted to all those helpful ads I conducted a little exercise just to see what the content of the GR Press was on any given day.

Here is what I found by section for the GR Press on Tuesday, January 11. Section A had 8 pages, with 2 1/2 pages of ads, 2 pages for editorials, and nearly 2 pages of photos. That leaves about 1 1/2 pages of actually news text, which seems about right.

In Section B, also known as the Region section, there was also 8 pages. Here I found only 1 3/4 pages of ads, 2 pages of obituaries, 1 1/2 pages worth of photos, which left us with about 2 3/4 pages of news text, which for local news is just a bit much. I mean why do they have to include that little Ada to Zeeland section, if you don't live in Grand Rapids too bad. It is the Grand Rapids Press after all.

Next is Section C, better known as the Business section. This section only had 6 pages, but at least there was a whole page devoted to ads, plus 1 1/2 pages for stocks and mutual funds. I must admit that I like to read those at the bottom of the screen during CNN, but this way if I didn't catch my stock if I can check then in a leisurely way on the toilet. There was at least a full page worth of photos and then nearly a half a page devoted to something called Newspapers in Education section. I wasn't quite sure what that was all about, if kids want information they can get that at school. I don't need my newspaper to take up potential ad space for things like Career pathways and that silly little News Quiz. However, it was nice to see only 2 pages devoted to news text and that was mostly about companies and products so I didn't mind.

Then there is Section D, the Sports section, which was 8 pages. There was only about a quarter of a page devoted to ads, which was pretty disappointing, but at least that leaves more room for information for me to work on my sports trivia skills.

Section E is the Your Life section and amazingly it is very much like my life. I mean I found information about celebrities, exercise ideas, my horoscope, movies, advice columns, TV shows, crossword puzzles, and cartoons. How do they know so much about my life? It's almost scary. Oh, this section was 8 pages, with less than a page of ads, so most of the space was devoted to information about My Life.

The last section, Section F is the Classifieds. This section is also 8 pages long, with 7 pages devoted to information about things I can buy and sell. Sweet! The back page has Your world in 3 Minutes, which seems about right, and the weather. I especially like the weather section, since it is actually done by channel 8 weather people and you can never get enough of them.

Well then, that means that of the 46 pages roughly 16 pages was devoted to ads, if you include stocks, mutual funds and the classifieds. There was also about 8 1/2 pages of photos and about 12 pages devoted to entertaining me with Your Life and Sports. That leaves us with 2 pages of editorials and roughly 7 1/2 pages of news text, which if you ask me is a bit much for a newspaper. I mean, that's like one-sixth of the newspaper that they devoted to news.

Anyway, I just wanted to end by saying that I am not only delighted with the New Look Grand Rapids Press, I'm also happy that it is the only daily paper in town. I mean newspapers are not like fast food, you only need one choice for information.

Jeff Smith's New Years wish is to be photographed for the GR Press Your Life, Your Style section so he can share his fashion tips.