10-12-07
New Design, Fewer Reviews
Correction
I’d like to clarify one fact mentioned in Carrie Kaufman’s story on changes in the Reader’s assignment of theater reviews. She’s correct that six reviews appeared in the first redesigned issue of October 4, but there were actually eight assigned, two of which were left out because of a printing error. We put those reviews online that week and ran them in print the next, though eight additional theater reviews were assigned and one improv/sketch review.
Laura Molzahn
The Reader
Laura Molzahn wants theatres to know one thing: She knows what she’s doing. She’s been editing theatre reviews at The Chicago Reader for 21 years, and reviewing for the last two. She knows who you are, what you do, and what you’ve done in the past. She also knows the sensibilities of THE READER critics.
This is important because Molzahn last week took over the theatre review assignment duties from Albert Williams, who’s been sending critics to shows since 1995.
The change is part of an overall consolidation of editorial positions at The Reader, which was sold in July to the owners of Creative Loafing out of Atlanta (PerformInk, Aug. 3). After the sale, the Chicago production staff—who prepare photos, lay out text, create graphics, etc.—was all but decimated. The Reader is now produced by a centralized production staff in Atlanta. And the belt was tightened in the editorial department, with a number of positions being consolidated, and “some” editorial layoffs, according to editor Alison True, who would not be more detailed.
“We are faced with financial constraints, as is any publication, and I’m always making hard decisions about how to spend a limited budget,” wrote True in an e-mail.
“We’ve been trying to institute some cost cutting measures for a while,” said Molzahn by phone from The Reader offices. “That process just got a kick in the butt by the new owners.”
Also kicked in the butt was Newsweb Press, which has been printing The Reader since its inception 36 years ago. The paper is now printed in Milwaukee, by the Journal Sentinal. And the famous—and bulky—Reader sections are now gone. Debuting last week was a tabloid style Reader, an all-in-one piece that cuts out a lot of wasted paper—and cost.
“It’s a substantial savings,” said publisher Mike Crystal. The Journal Sentinal is “a highly efficient press that can print a very large paper in a single pass.” The new paper is also shorter, Crystal noted, “so there’ a significant savings in newsprint.”
But, Crystal hastened to add, less newsprint doesn’t mean less news. “The design was modified in order to preserve the content in a smaller space.”
Many in the theatre community may not believe that, as they have seen the number of theatre reviews dwindle recently. Though he is not assigning reviewers anymore, Williams was not fired. He is still on staff as chief critic. And he’s not unhappy about not having to juggle opening nights.
“I’m relieving myself of a lot of administrative stuff,” Williams said.
Part of the “administrative stuff” since about this past March was explaining to theatres why they couldn’t be reviewed. As recently as a year ago, Williams was assigning anywhere from 10 to 18 reviews a week. (The number varies depending on whether you talk to Molzahn or Williams.) In any case, it insured that virtually every theatre in the city was covered in The Reader.
But all of that ink—and pay to freelance writers—cost a lot of money. And The Reader finally got some competition, with the advent of Craig’s List and the entry of TimeOut Chicago to the market two and a half years ago. Now, said Williams, “No theatre is entitled to coverage.”
Molzahn won’t say how many new theatre reviews The Reader will run each week, only that it will be fewer and that it will vary from week to week. The first Reader with the new design featured six reviews—a long one by Justin Hayford on Mia McCullough’s Spare Change at Stage Left Theatre, an Albert Williams critic’s choice on Desire Under the Elms at the Hypocrites, and four mini reviews of shows at The Building Stage, Court Theatre, The Goodman and Black Ensemble that ran in the listings.
Cutting back reviews is “another budget-conscious choice that I hope will be short-lived,” said Molzahn.
That can only be short-lived if The Reader starts making money again. Crystal said they are hiring advertising sales staff and getting used to the new software and organizational systems that Creative Loafing already has in place. The redesign was the first initiative, to save money. Now they need to focus on making it.
“There are going to be more people out there selling in a more aggressive way,” Crystal said.
Next on the agenda is to increase The Reader’s visibility in the community.
“Based on what I’ve heard from [Creative Loafing], we will be more likely to do events that we own, that we will put on ourselves,” Crystal said.