New York Times Redesigns Opening Pages to Include More Digital Content

The update aims to give readers a more comprehensive overview of what the paper is doing both in print and digitally

New York Times
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The New York Times today introduced a reimagined design of the front two pages of its newspaper (known as pages A2 and A3), modeled on the “front of book” pages of magazine layouts. The redesign aims to give readers a more comprehensive overview of what the paper is doing both in print and digitally.

Pages A2 and A3 will now feature information about what The Times is doing with both its core news report and throughout the entire organization. The pages will provide content that has not been part of the print paper before.

“The Times has a universe that extends well beyond the print newspaper, and we’re excited to transform pages A2 and A3 into a must-read destination that gives readers a sense of that,” executive editor Dean Baquet said in a statement. “As we continue to invest and innovate in print, this redesign is a step toward creating a print newspaper for a digital era.”

The Times, which has been on fire breaking news related to the Trump administration, is often referred to as “failing” by the president, who doesn’t think the paper treats him fairly. However, CFO Jim Follo recently issued a statement contradicting the “failing” label.

“For the first quarter 2017 we continue to experience strong growth in net new subscribers. We currently expect more than 200,000 net additional subscriptions to our digital news products and approximately 15,000 net additional subscribers to our digital crossword product. Over the past several quarters we’ve experienced rapid growth in the number of subscriptions to our digital news products, far beyond the guidance I provided on prior quarters earnings calls,” Follo said.

Changes to the paper, as part of the redesign, include a behind-the-scenes look at the paper’s journalism, a daily memorable headline from archives, the most popular posts from across NYTimes.com, facts and quotes of the day, tips for daily life and even movie recommendations.

Previously, A2 had been home to corrections and summaries of articles found throughout the newspaper, and news articles could be found on A3. The corrections and news articles will now appear elsewhere in the paper.

“The new A2 and A3 pages are meant to give a reader a sense of the scope of what’s happening in the world of The New York Times each day, from the contents of the print paper to the stories that are trending on our site to what our journalists are posting on social media,” editor in chief of New York Times Magazine Jake Silverstein said. “We hope these changes transform this valuable newspaper real estate into a delightful part of the daily newspaper reading routine.”

The New York Times masthead will now appear at the top of A2 instead of on the editorial page.

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