Magnifying glass sales skyrocket!

The twice weekly Addison Independent newspaper apparently is doing its part for ocular health by incorporating a vision test with yesterday's issue of the newspaper. In addition to checking our eyesight with the microscopic type used in that issue, the Independent is doing its part for newsprint and ink conservation efforts. Or... perhaps somebody over there is screwing up the layout... badly.

Readers of the Independent may recall that, last week at this time, we received a newspaper with vast unprinted areas at the tops and bottoms of the pages. This week, smaller pages AND tiny, little type.

Yesterday's paper (left) has dramatically smaller type than the paper released three days earlier (right).

I'm guessing this all stems from the Independent's former unusual practice of publishing two different size newspapers - a tabloid size early in the week and a standard sheet late in the week. It looks as though someone is tinkering with the layout, either because they have no idea what they're doing or because they are trying to adjust the end of week newspaper to more closely match the one put out at the beginning of the week.

Advertisers cannot be happy about the situation. Those who purchased ads for the end of week issue have had them shrunk. That probably hasn't impacted the big advertisers - a full page ad is still a full page ad. But some of the smaller ads have been reduced to the point of being unreadable.