The first change is in its size. Your paper has shrunk. Hold up last week's copy and this week's and you'll find that this week's version is several inches narrower.
Smaller size is a trend in the newspaper industry. The daily papers from St. Cloud, Willmar, and the Twin Cities have already changed to this size. Indeed some will be moving to narrower sizes in the near future.
This trend is caused by the rising price of newsprint.
The new size dictates new widths for the columns and changes to virtually every element on these pages. But the staff of the Press took the change a step further by using this as an opportunity to redesign the entire paper.
While most items will be found on the same pages, they will look different, starting with the very type faces that comprise this front page.
The Press is using a new font on the front page that is actually larger than the old one. The hope is the larger type will be easier to read, and it is more compact, which means it doesn't take up anymore space than the old type.
Astute readers will also notice new artwork, chronological calendars for easy referencing, photo credits, and more.
The only page with a major content shift this week is the agriculture page, which has a new layout based on individual stories, a new calendar, and a sample of the weather chart that should start in earnest next week.
In the coming weeks, the new design may be tweaked and perfected. The paper also hopes to expand and enhance its coverage in the coming months.
Anyone wishing to comment about the new design or to suggest coverage ideas should call editorial staffers Linda Stelling or Michael Jacobson at 320-243-3772.