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My colleague at Hot Type last week noted Brenda Starr’s current story line, in which Starr’s paper, an organization much like the Tribune, is on a jag of hiring younger, cheaper reporters. Now, Hot Type’s point was to underscore the paper’s chintziness, and of course Mary Schmich’s strip lampoons Brenda’s stuffiness as well as the inexperience of her new partner. But the underlying presumption–that the Tribune is in danger of being overrun by neophytes–strikes Hitsville as slightly fantastic. Standard operating procedure at most newspapers is for the old guard to systematically exclude a new generation–and end up looking silly in the process. That’s what caused the Trib’s Internet screwups.
Tempo evolved from a somewhat dreary and pretentious monochrome to a fairly interesting production that included some younger, more interesting writers (like Brenda Herrman You), relatively creative celebrity stuff (the “At somewhere with whomever” series), nice additions like the “Tempo Update” feature, and better use of photography and layout generally. It’s not perfect–there’s still Bob Greene, and it’s rarely the stuff of water-cooler conversation–but it’s not a waste, either.
