By SCOTT W. ANGUS
The Janesville Gazette

Innovation is hard.

It's hard to develop fresh ideas. It's hard to follow through and execute those ideas. And it's hard to gauge just how people will react.

Many newspapers are innovating in a never-ending struggle to increase readership. They rely on their own research, that of their groups and the groundbreaking work done by the Readership Institute.

Some tinker and improve in ways that readers might not notice immediately. Others make major changes in their presentations and content, following the philosophy that revolution is better than evolution.

Three papers that have introduced major, impossible-not-to-notice innovations are The Hamilton Spectator in Ontario, Canada; The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas, and The Janesville Gazette in Wisconsin.

Following are looks at what the papers did and how their readers responded:

The Hamilton Spectator is a 150-year-old paper published in Hamilton, Ontario, a manufacturing community of about 500,000 people about 40 minutes from Toronto, the largest and wealthiest city in Canada. Hamilton, like a lot of old manufacturing cities, has struggled economically despite its proximity to Toronto.

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Over the years, says Managing Editor Roger Gillespie, the paper has suffered from the usual: Erosion of key demographics, especially women; year-over-year declines in readership; failure of tired strategies (target young people, add more sections, goose newsprint, layer on more costs).

On Oct. 1, 2003, the paper launched "The Revolution." That meant:

• Embrace change (and mean it).

• Adopt key strategies of the Readership Impact Study.

• Make content decisions intended to grow some bands of readership, even at the expense of other demographics (without necessarily growing circulation).

• Target infrequent reading boomers (37 to 56 years) and women (25 to 49) in $50,000-plus households.

• And do it all without adding new staff or costs.

So why did the Spectator call it "The Revolution?" Because that's what it was:

• Six daily sections were collapsed into four.

• Business section was killed.

• Entertainment section was killed.

• Lifestyle section was killed.

• Sports converted from broadsheet to tab.

• Complete redesign.

• Mutual funds listings reduced from six days a week to one.

• Launched a daily, broadsheet "magazine."

• Adopted modular ad stacks.

• Weekend comics section converted to tab.

• Daily stocks pages reduced from three to one.

• Introduced two half-page indexes and multiple navigational tools.

• Launched a new weekend section focusing on national and international analysis.

The Spectator Revolution introduced the Go section, "a magazine in a newspaper." It contains food, celebrity, style, parenting, health and fitness, advice, pop culture and laughs — every day.

By the numbers — readership numbers, that is — the "Revolution" has been a solid success. Daily and weekly readership increased overall, as did readership among the targeted groups.

Also, the paper's overall Reader Behavior Score increased from 3.7 to 3.9, and similar improvements were seen in target demographic areas, such as boomers and women.

What did the Spectator learn? Managing Editor Roger Gillespie offers this advice:

• Stay on message.

• Keep the message simple.

• Don't assume everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.

• Make sure all parts of the newsroom are receiving attention.

• Have comprehensive internal communications strategy.

• Brace yourself for significant push-back, and be brave.

Gillespie also offered that it's possible to grow readership while maintaining flat circulation, and it may even be possible to grow readership with less circulation. Also, he said, increasing frequency of reading will probably do more to strengthen your franchise than increased circulation.

In August, the Star-Telegram introduced a redesign that featured new typography and different features and looks throughout the paper, but two key elements set this redesign apart: Each section front contains at least one story that doesn't jump, and Monday's front page contains no stories.

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That's right, no stories out front on Mondays. Instead, the page is loaded with brief synopses of content throughout the paper, including summaries of stories inside that ordinarily would have run on the front page.

The first front page post-redesign contained 85 design elements, including 19 headlines, 25 uses of boldface type as small headlines and in other copy, six color pictures and 17 copy blocks, all referring to 18 stories inside.

David House, the paper's reader advocate, addressed reader reaction in a column shortly after the launch: "As radical a change as it was, the format mysteriously provoked only about 50 calls and e-mails, but they came from passionate newspaper readers who mostly disapproved, saying they didn't want a USA Today-type Star-Telegram or a full-page index of sections that they would read anyway," House wrote.

"Are you crazy?" one reader asked.

Executive Editor Jim Witt expected disapproval from hard-core newspaper readers who make up part of a diverse readership in which a majority feel they're strapped for time. He asked for patience and feedback.

"We've got to find a way to serve everyone as best we can," he said. "The biggest competitor we face is not another newspaper or another medium. It's people's time and how they spend it. The No. 1 reason that people give when they cancel subscriptions is 'no time to read.'

"You can read the front page in five minutes or less and be up to speed," Witt said, "but you'll also be able to turn inside to get the complete story, including all the details and context that you depend on the Star-Telegram to deliver."

Witt hopes the redesign encourages more people to spend time with the Star-Telegram and to begin reading even more of the paper than they ordinarily would.

While Monday's front was the most radical element, other changes followed the model. The Sunday front typically jumps one story. The other stories are summarized. All summarized stories end with refers that tell readers where the full stories may be found.

Additionally, all page ones rely heavily on refers and bulleted details.

Besides the new front on Mondays, the paper introduced:

• Watchdog boxes: Tell readers whom to contact if they have a tip or an idea.

• LiVe! Daily package of celebrity news and reviews of live entertainment.

• Weekly planner: Calendar on Monday's front that promotes news and features for the week ahead.

• Whatever: New features product for 'tweens and teens (and parents).

The paper also anchored many standing elements that hadn't had homes before. And it listened to readers and did some tweaking in the early weeks to address their concerns. By the end of the year, readers seemingly had adjusted to the new format, House said.

"Expressions of discontent came now and then, but mostly from two groups — older readers who complained of lost legibility regarding body type and a coterie of hard-news junkies who are always horrified by the least sight of pop culture coverage on page one."

An annual Knight Ridder readership survey taken more than two months after the redesign launch found high marks for the Star-Telegram in reader satisfaction. The paper was among 10 that scored higher in 2004 than in 2003, and it was No. 3 among Knight Ridder's highest-scoring English-language dailies.

As for circulation, Gary Kromer, the paper's director of research, said the redesign has had no measurable effect, but it wasn't aimed so much at that purpose.

Instead, it was designed "to influence reader perceptions and evaluations over time and not to have an immediate impact on either circulation or readership." Also, the time period is too short to draw conclusions one way or another, Kromer said.

Like the Star-Telegram, the Gazette, a 25,000-circulation daily in southern Wisconsin, made the most significant changes to its front page. It contains three key elements:

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• Gazette at a Glance: This runs two columns along most of the page's right side, and it contains short summaries — not teasers — of the top stories inside the paper.

• Coming Attractions: The Gazette promotes three upcoming stories in this space at the bottom of page one.

• The Window: That's what the paper calls the four-column-by-12-inch space on the front page where it features its top story or stories of the day. The window treatment varies from tabloid-style large photos and type to traditional design.

The paper made other changes to complement the new front. The Gazette increased its news hole so it didn't have to eliminate any elements. It added a nearly wide-open page three to provide a more-traditional lead page for readers who want that. It added other readership features in every section, such as left-side columns of quick-hitters on all section fronts.

In general, readers have been effusive in their praise. By about 4-to-1, they have said the new paper is easier to read and generally seems more contemporary and useful. Many have compared the new front to a Web page, allowing them to "click" for more information by turning to the stories that interest them.

Among the comments:

• "The new design is a grabber."

• "The front page looks professional, and you are using common sense in helping the reader find particular articles of interest."

• "The Gazette redesign looks fantastic. I like the contrast between the quick-read daily index and the 'window' concept that provides a magazine-style feature and design. It's kind of the best of both worlds for readers."

• "I do think it is much easier to read."

• "You are to be commended for taking this positive, timely action that has resulted in an easier-to-read product."

Many readers have said they spend more time with the new Gazette. That was a bit of a surprise, given that editors were concerned that the Glance might be enough for some readers. In fact, it might actually prompt more readers to go inside the paper for stories they might have missed before.

Not surprisingly, not everyone is thrilled. Most of the complaints have come from older, loyal readers who don't think the old paper needed to change. They have always read the paper cover to cover. In their minds, the summaries, the repetition and promotions do nothing but waste space.

The Gazette introduced its redesign Sept. 27, and circulation has not been affected noticeably. Editors and others at the paper aren't deterred, though. While the paper marketed the changes, it had turnover in key circulation spots that precluded a sustained and widespread sales effort. Also, the people behind the redesign view this as a long-term venture. Readership experts make it clear that making a difference takes time.

The paper does plan to update its Reader Behavior Score this spring. That should give an indication if people are reading more frequently and thoroughly and spending more time with the paper.

For more information:

Roger Gillespie at the Hamilton Spectator, rgillespie@thespec.com.

David House at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, dhouse@star-telegram.com.

Scott Angus at The Janesville Gazette, sangus@gazetteextra.com.

Scott W. Angus is the editor of The Janesville Gazette in Wisconsin, and he is chairman of the APME Readership Committee.