We try to provide a chuckle for every sensibility

Newspaper readers are sensitive about their comic strips. That’s a lesson we’ve learned more than once at The Enterprise. That doesn’t mean that we don’t tinker with them occasionally, but we do so very judiciously and with great consideration.

So, before you panic, no, we’re not doing anything major and there WON’T be an advertisement replacing any of your Sunday comics this week.

In fact, the subject of this column has already happened. It was the use of a four-letter word (actually five-letter, because of the structure of the scene) in a daily comic strip. We were warned in advance about it. We explored our options and discussed it, via e-mail, only slightly, then gave it a thumb’s up.

The word was “sucks.” The comic was “Zits,” a humorous glimpse into the life of a teenage boy and his friends and family, and the strip appeared in our Tuesday, Nov. 27 edition.

Not a single reader complained through the Reader Representative e-mail address or telephone line (409-880-0748). We take that as an indication that we were correct in assuming that most readers weren’t overly offended by the feature.

The syndicate that provides the comic justified use of the word as being the realistic vocabulary of a teenage boy.

They’re right. It kind of “sucks” that they are right, but it’s true. I know that because I have a teen-age girl at home, and as appalled as I am by the concept, I’ve heard it come out of her mouth (over my protests) as well.

So we picked realism over caution and our readers survived the test.
We’ve got another red-alert comic coming up in the next couple of weeks – a different author, a different subject and less realism – but still worth a chuckle.

Stay tuned for updates and I’ll let you know how this one is received.

Sometimes business trumps popularity

Readers of The Beaumont Enterprise will have a little less entertainment and a little less to laugh about this Sunday. But don’t panic. We don’t intend to make this a trend.

The back page of the Sunday, Nov. 25th Enterprise will be an advertisement. An advertiser requested that placement and The Enterprise, being a business, sold it, just this once.

Sometimes readers get confused about that, thinking newspapers are non-profit organizations or government-funded information watchdogs, but no. We’re a business.

To stay in business we have to make money and most of that money comes from advertising.

Loyal readers who subscribe to our newspaper pay a small percentage of the load, but most of that fee actually goes to cover the cost of delivery. Advertisers pay the bulk of the cost of newspaper operations.

So, though we DO sometimes tell advertisers no, this time we said yes.

The serialized comic Prince Valiant, usually on the back page, will move to the inside of the comics so readers don’t miss an “episode” of the continuing drama.

That means the Wizard of Id will – poof – disappear this week. Also taking a brief holiday respite will be Shoe, Blondie, Marvin and the Skylock Fox and Comics for Kids feature – which I also enjoy.

I’ll be among the readers missing those comics (after all Shoe is about a newspaper editor), but knowing they will be back next week will keep me from getting too stressed out.

Knowing that it’s good for business also should be good news for everyone.

Take stock of what this new page offers

A popular business culture book in recent years is a slim volume called, "Who Moved My Cheese?”

It is, in short, the tale of two mice, one of whom adapted and thrived and the other, who refused to accept change and . . . died. The story is, basically, change or die.

That has become the model for many businesses including newspapers, a fact not ignored in other entries on this blog. We are a changing, evolving medium, a changing, evolving business.

So, we’re changing something . . . again. Begining Tuesday, Nov. 20, our stocks page will no longer consist of long narrow columns of tiny gray type, broken up only slightly by bold black bars. We’d like to think we have more to offer than a list almost anybody who cares probably finds someplace else. We’d also like to BE that someplace else.

The page offers much more eye-appeal, but this isn’t just style. There’s also significant substance. The emphasis, rather than simply being a list of stocks, is on market trends and information you, as an investor, can use. It includes the 100 biggest mutual funds, stocks to watch, commodities, foreign exchange information and something called “story stocks,” which might influence investments positively or negatively.

The list of stocks of local interest, ordinarily on the front page of the business section has been modified and moved to this page, and we’re certainly open to adjusting the substantially smaller list of stocks we will continue to publish. Some of the information that was published in a column down the side of the business page now runs across the top. We’re working to include more information there.

And Dilbert, everyone’s favorite engineer, is still around, just moved to this page (because with the current state of the stock market we think you might need a laugh to get through your day.)

Our Web page, BeaumontEnterprise.com now contains not only information from the newly designed Money and Markets page, but also an easy link that allows readers to create their own customized stock list so they can routinely track the ups and unfortunate downs of their own investment portfolio.

We hope our readers like what we’ve done, but if you don’t (or especially if you DO), please let us know by calling the Reader Representative line at (409) 880-0748 or e-mailing readerrep@beaumontenterprise.com

The page WON'T go back the way it has been, but we are open to suggestions for continued improvements.

We don’t mind moving the cheese a bit more.

Newspapers, like the world, are changing

Anyone who’s ever had the opportunity to view an old newspaper knows they have changed substantially in both content and appearance through the years.

Historic newspapers were filled with long narrow columns of type and small, one-column headlines. They were strictly black and white – no color photos or advertisements – and had different standards than modern-day publications.

Stories sometimes drifted into first-person and were as apt as not – even on the front page – to contain some opinion. Gossip and rumors were part of the reporting and many were racially divisive.

Thank goodness most of that has changed.

Newspapers today have two choices – grow and evolve with their readers – or die and lock the doors. Those of us who have invested much of our lives in journalism careers are happy to be working for papers that have chosen to grow and evolve.

Part of that evolution is the use of the Internet – Web pages and electronic delivery of news bulletins. That also involves the constant evolution and updating of the news. The Enterprise no longer simply posts, by midday, the news that was printed in our morning edition. We recognize the public’s craving for immediate news delivery and work to satisfy that craving with a constant stream of developing news on BeaumontEnterprise.com

Another part of the evolution is the style of news and commentary. Readers, particularly younger readers who represent the future of the newspaper business, want edgier, trendier news and commentary. Blogs provide us with the option to give our readers what they appear to want.

As a business that means we promote our on-line product in print and our print product on-line. We’re not trying to confuse or offend you. We’re just trying to make you aware of all we offer.

The Enterprise, yesterday, marked the beginning of its 128th year as a newspaper. We hope to be around in another 128 years and are working to grow and evolve into something that will still be a viable news product in the year 2135.

Stick with us. These are exciting times.