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I got a look at some of the latest Los Angeles Times redesign options being tested with selected readers. They're being asked their reaction to new designs for the front page and section nameplates. The proposed changes are not as bold as those being dumped on Chicago Tribune readers, and it looks like (for now anyway) that the plan is to retain a separate Business section. (Here's what they asked about Business changes in August.)
The test panel is also being asked about doing away with the Times staff writer byline and datelines, to be replaced by a credit line that reads "Reporting from Baghdad" or wherever.
That's kind of amusing because Tribune innovations czar Lee Abrams got panned for admitting that he didn't understand how datelines work and, incredibly, well into his tenure did not realize that his papers had live reporters in danger's way in Iraq. Of course, dropping TSW would make it easier for the Times to run more stories by cheaper reporters at Tribune's smaller papers in Fort Lauderdale and wherever (or by freelancers) without LAT readers knowing it.
Here are some of the questions being asked by Research and Analysis of Media.
The current Sunday front page is on the left, a proposed new look on the right:
More after the jump.
