Some comments and questions about the “new look” Herald:
1. The rural paper no longer comes in a plastic bag. Well done at last!
2. It’s jazzed up and dumbed down, mainly by meaningless coloured pictures on every page. I hope that expense becomes justified by larger circulation. It also means less to read, which saves me time.
3. How many contributors besides the New Zealand Initiative are to be allowed dispensation from the 600-word opinion limit and the requirement to include a photo? (On Friday, it was just over 800.)
4. It would be nice to know if such contributions are also in the NZ Herald, and not unique to our paper. This is essential information when framing a response.
5. If so, does this mean fewer local opinion pieces will be printed?
6. The large coloured picture is irresponsible if it accompanies such a biased and ill-informed column as appeared on Friday, as its caption gives a crude, convincing-looking message to people who only look at the pictures.
Gavin Maclean
Footnote from Ed: The opinion pages can be all shared content used in other regional NZME newspapers and sometimes the NZ Herald as well; or they could be all local content that we have booked the space for. Longer columns can now be considered, at the editor’s discretion, but the standard maximum length remains 600 words; the “guideline” regarding this has now been updated.
