Why fix what's not broken?
I have been a daily reader of The Japan Times for the past 38 years and have always enjoyed much of its content. However, I am greatly disappointed with its "new look." Supposedly the new layout was designed to make the publication more "user friendly" and easier to read. Unfortunately, I find just the opposite to be true. Especially annoying is the practice of failing to indent the first paragraph of each article. What is the rationale for violating this standard convention? Is this supposed to be some kind of "innovation"?
Then a few days ago we were "treated" to a front page that had fully one-third of the space taken up by huge display ads. I realize that most of a publication's revenue comes from advertisements, but this was really absurd. Readers surely deserve news on the front page.
The Japan Times formerly had a rather unique look to it. Now it very much resembles all the other publications and is rather ugly. Why the change? Did readers actually complain about the old format? It appears that what we now have here is a classic example of change just for the sake of change. Too bad The Japan Times didn't take note of the old cliche that says "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
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