Thursday, April 23, 2009
News AJC redesign infomercial — OMG
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 7:44 PM
The AJC's brand-new look will be unveiled next Tuesday. But for those who cannot wait, the paper has quietly posted an infomercial video featuring Editor Julia Wallace extolling new features to be found in the redesigned daily and Sunday editions.
Apart from noting that the video employs the same soothing tones you'd expect from an ad for incontinence medication, I will bite my tongue and open the forum for commentary, criticism and random observations.[brightcove]http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/20018644001[/brightcove]
Please, for the love of Christ, if you watch this video, take the time to post a comment.
Note: We've removed a comment from the thread below because it violates our comment policy.
Comments (58)
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This is a zesty dipping sauce and boneless chicken delight away from being a Zaxby's commercial.
The profound awfulness of this commercial aside, I think the re-design itself looks good.
Is it me of did that guy on the couch have the same look of satisfaction one gets after taking a big poopie? He probably used the new paper to wipe himself as well...
May cause nausea, bloating, seizures and, in rare cases, death. Was this done by the same folks behind Kroger's latest marketing campaign?
More Balanced = "We've replaced Jim Wooten with three less expensive knock offs."
Lots of headlines on front page to tell you what's inside; color coded guides; comics....oh, so it's a magazine!
Heck with the AJC's new foo foo poor man's USA Today look, I am still celebrating that Terence Moore took the BUYOUT.
Maybe they should also rename to Atlanta Today? They've already swiped the rest of USA Today's branding.
What's scary is what is glaringly missing from the commercial: any mention of excellent in-depth coverage of important stories, well-known and respected editorial writers or reporters, quality writing, etc. Instead it's all about superficial bullshit. But hey, at least they have lots of coupons!
Sweet Jesus. The re-design itself looks a lot like the Guardian in the UK; the commercial makes me want to treat my incontinence.
I really don't think it looks like the USA Today at all. Based on that video, it's much cleaner and more modern than the USA Today. Besides, the USA Today doesn't suck because of its appearance. It sucks because of its bite-sized McNews stories and pie graphs. Although it did used to run Larry King's awesome column.
She said she reads "A" newspaper. And she encourages others to read "A" newspaper. Obviously she probably prefers to read something other than the AJC. Don't blame her. They said they listened to their readers - that's a laugh. All I know is now that Cathy Fox is gone I have zero reason to pick this paper up. They can keep their coupons too.
Totally agree with Andy re:USA Today. That's just a bad paper. AJC has quality writers. And yes, I like newspapers. I can't help but to laugh about the fact that this is the same paper that still does door-to-door sales. Also that they are asking you to CALL to renew your subscription instead of doing so online (this video is online-only, no?) which would be more intuitive for the bulk of the viewers. You're trying so hard but you just don't get it! You can't change one thing and expect it to shift everything. A haircut doesn't change an ugly face. It just masks it. This sounds like a we've-tried-everything-else move to me. Will it foreshadow their ultimate demise?
OK so it's not a great infomercial. But the redesign itself, from the little bit shown there, doesn't look awful. It actually looks pretty nice and clean. Maybe it's because I feel sorry for them, but I actually do want to check out the new look now. And I haven't actually purchased a paper copy of the AJC in a few years, so I guess that's saying something?
"A newspaper keeps you informed of what's going on" ... Yesterday .. you know.. that stuff that you've already read about on the intertubes or seen on the TV News Broadcast.
Umm... well, "Side effects of your AJC will include limited local arts coverage, financial depression, general malaise. In the event these symptoms last for more than one week, please consult the nearest New York Times, Creative Loafing, or any number of blogs that cover Atlanta." I understand times are hard, but some of the best talent is leaving and everyone else will have to pick up a lot more slack. This paper has gone downhill for years now, and there is no inherent incentive to read it over others. BTW, the intensity in Julia "The Undertaker" Wallace's eyes made this one glad she didn't look into the camera.
So they created an *online* commercial to get people to buy the paper instead of reading the paper... online. brilliant.
More headlines, more color-coding--while publisher fewer and shorter stories. Sounds like more evidence that the AJC thinks their readers are subliterate and too distracted to actually read a paper. AJC is also getting rid of more of the bylines that keep people subscribing--I was shocked to see Catherine Fox is leaving. Does that mean even further reduced arts coverage? The AJC has gutted the quality of its product, which it's still giving away for free online. Redesign=rearranging deck chairs on Titanic. I say make the whole thing black and white, with more and longer stories. Cut through all the clutter instead of adding more clutter. And charge online.
Awful in so many ways. -"A talk with" or "conversation" usually indicates two-way communication. This was more of a "lecture at". -If you've slashed your reporters and content production by 2/3 (or whatever it is) then no wonder there are giant mastheads, headlines, and color-coded tabs. It looks like it's trying to convey the image of a newspaper, without actually producing one. -Is this a subtle way of telling us that eventually (and maybe sooner than later) there will only be a Sunday paper? -Who are all these people that they've been talking to? Does anyone know anyone who has been approached?
David Simon said it best. Newspapers made their mistake when they treated copy like it was the decoration for ads and started cutting back on great journalism. Now they are scrambling. Good luck with that.
I spit on Julia Wallace. I learned to read at the age of 4 by poring over the Atlanta Constitution back in the '50s, and she's taken the paper I grew up with and subscribed to all these years and turned it into crap. And now she's decided that we can't even subscribe to it anymore in the town where I live. I want my Atlanta Constitution back. The one that was proud to be liberal and didn't have fools like Wooten and all those other idiot conservative white guys on the editorial page every day. The one that had photographers like Louie Favorite. The one that had writers like Eleanor Ringel and a deep bench of reporters and editors who knew the history of the state and where the bodies were buried and reminded me when they wrote their stories. Why does Julia Wallace still have a job when so many real journalists don't?
If you need color coding to read the paper, you shouldn't probably be reading a paper. Also, was anyone else amused when she said she reads the paper?
Reminded me of an ad for a fabric softener instead of a newspaper but it does have coupons, lots of coupons. I feel so fresh and bouncy now after absorbing the slow glow of that advertisement.
Well, good luck. I love newspapers, but the AJC has always sucked. It's not the Internet, or blogs, or anything other than a lack of competition. I do not envy Ms. Wallace while she tries to make a newspaper out of coupons and comics.
It is just sad. And what can Julia really do? It is like switching seats at the dinner table when there is a tornado outside. Forget about redoing the Sunday paper. The real question is how can the AJC get the advertisers and young people to believe in the paper again. And that commercial will not do it.
It won't matter to me what it looks like since the AJC will no longer be available in my area. But, looking at this infomercial and the new USA Today clone design, it does help me feel better about the fact that they no longer want my subscription and my recycling bin will be lighter. My reaction is that it's kinda like picking out your own new clothes and accessories in which you wish to be buried.
The paper is only about 10 pages now; do we really need headlines and color coding to help us through it?
Wow. It really did look exactly like a pharmaceutical commercial... "If it takes you longer than 4 hours to read the new color-coded paper, please see your doctor. This could be a sign of a serious problem."
Reading the AJC will "make you a little smarter"...but only if you started with an IQ at room temperature or below. "I encourage everyone I know to read a newspaper"...too bad the AJC has become a parody of a newspaper instead of a real one. And what's with the couple on the couch? Incontinence ad, or erectile dysfunction ad? Another sad day for journalism...
Julia Wallace is proof positive that while cream may rise to the top, turds also float.
Hey, Angie Hunt, you want to know what is really unattractive? Your cruel characterization of Julia Wallace's daughter is the ugliest thing I have seen on this site. Leave the kids out of your peevish rant. Surely you were an AJC staffer. No one else could have that sort of inside information. And surely you are not missed.
Julia's little message there sounds exactly to me like about 300,000 subscriptions expiring and advertisers dropping in droves. The "newspaper redesign" has been historically one of the biggest frauds perpetrated on readers. I mean, readers really don't give a damn if the paper is six columns of words (they may indeed prefer it) as long as there is credible news inside. Too bad Julia canned most of the newsgatherers. yep, it's the end for that paper. but faster, please. I truly hope that someone with brains, daring and li'l bit of $$ invests in something that atlantans will pay for to read. but they sure won't be paying for this tripe. bye, bye!
I agree with the sentiments re: USA Today. We have to realize they are just complying with what they think their general readership desires (and therefore what they think will result in more subscriptions, money, etc.). Given the downsizing, I am pessimistic as to the level of substance and indepth reporting the new paper will provide.
the new paper looks like a freaking comic book. and the infomercial makes me want to go buy some erectile dysfunction drugs....
What Wallace didn't mention in the ad is that she gets the paper to reimburse her for her subscription, albeit at a reduced employee rate, a nifty loophole so the AJC's circulation department can still count her as a paid subscriber. What I'd really like to see in the infomercial is some commentary as to how Julie's "Yes Man" Shawn McIntosh has managed to get demoted all the way down to Public Editor and still rake in a $160K/year annual salary??? And that photo she's got posted of herself ... why not do an infocommercial on how to dye your hair and apply make-up so it doesn't make you look like you're 65???
Why is she talking to someone off camera? Can't she look us straight in the eyes when she talks? Oh, wait! Maybe because they've redesigned the paper to look like USA Today, and there are no experienced reporters left?
I don't envy anybody the task of presiding over a traditional American newspaper in today's environment, but for years now the AJC has shown an uncanny knack for hiring the kind of short-sighted, vision-impaired managers and executives usually found mostly in Detroit. If there was a single mountain in the middle of a vast desert, these folks would find a way to fly into the side of it. The AJC is well known for its reliance on market research to shape its product. Given the results, one can only conclude that they're either getting really bad data, or don't have a clue how to use it. All the makeovers in the world cannot compensate for the systematic dismantling of what was once, and fairly recently, a competent news and editorial operation. The demise of the editorial page has been a very sad thing to watch. Memo to management: IT'S STILL ABOUT THE CONTENT -- NOT THE COMICS, THE COUPONS OR THE DAMN COLOR-CODING! Ms. Wallace closes her infomercial by saying she "can't imagine Sunday mornings without [the newspaper]." Sadly, I can. For the first time in probably 30 years, I recently let my subscription lapse.
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