Eugene Pulliam is generating electricity from the grave.
I happened to glance* at the Gannett Star last Sunday (it’s still sitting on the kitchen table, which jogged my memory) and had to do a double-take. First, at how physically small the paper has become. Second, at how little actual content there is, even on the front page. And third, at how large the typeface is, which whittles the amount of actual content down even more.
By comparison, I take the Wall Street Journal, and I can barely get through it every day. (And I admit, many days I read the front (news) section and trash the rest only because I run out of time.) The Journal is, physically, at least an inch larger in each direction, and while it uses a font that is similar in pitch to that used by the Star, the font used by the Journal (Exchange) is not as “massive” as that used by the Star (which I haven’t been able to identify, but it looks a lot like Palatino, except wider).
The Star is well past the point of being the perfect newspaper for the low-information voter with a fourth-grade reading level. Tastes great, less filling.
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* Even though we actually do buy one each week, I make a point of not reading anything but the comics. We get it primarily so the lady wife can get the coupons, use of which easily pays for the mass of polluted newsprint that we throw away mostly unread every Friday.