JEFF THOMAS: Readers in for changes as Gazette moves things around

   Metro is back.

   On Tuesday, March 25, the Metro section returns, separated from the A section.

   But that's only the first of several changes coming to The Gazette on Tuesday.

   The most sweeping change will be the paper's size. Our pages will be one inch narrower. The top-to-bottom length of the pages will not change.

   The change is meant to save money, of course. After payroll, newsprint is our largest single expense, and this change will reduce newsprint consumption by about 8 percent.

   Newspapers have been cutting costs for several years to offset declining print-advertising revenue as the news business migrates from paper to pixels. Publishers are shrinking their newsrooms and their delivery territories, outsourcing where they can, and reducing newsprint consumption.

   Last year, for example, the agency that publishes the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post hired The Gazette to deliver their papers in our region. Our newsroom shares stories with the Rocky and the Greeley Tribune. My gut says these kind of partnerships will become more common.

   Editors are taking a hard look at all the forms of news and information they put on the press. That brings me to the other changes you'll see in your Gazette starting Tuesday:

   - The Business section will move into the Metro section. The move saves newsprint, and it gives business a later deadline, so news can be updated later in the evening.

   - On Saturdays, stocks and mutual-fund listings will be replaced with a page of market summaries, as is done currently Tuesdays-Fridays.

   - On Sundays, the Travel section will be merged into the Life section.

   - The daily TV programming grid, which has appeared on the Pop page Monday-Saturday, will be eliminated. Almost every listing in the grid also is contained in the Sunday TV guide. We will publish, on the Pop page, any programming changes or updates.

   - The opinion pages will appear in the final two interior pages of the A section. Obituaries will precede the opinion pages, as they do now.

   - The weather report will be published on the back of the metro/business section.

   Any time changes are made, we get calls from readers who say the type has been made smaller. I promise, we are not changing the size of any type.

   Finally, you'll notice one change that should make the Gazette easier to read. We will display the continuation of the lead front-page story on page A2. No more thumbing to the back of paper. Most other story "jumps" will be confined to the very front section.

   Our daily calendar will be expanded and moved to page A3. Also on A3, you'll find a robust roundup of the best reading and viewing now appearing at gazette.com.

   For generations, newspapers didn't change much. They didn't have to. Those days are gone, and change is the new constant. More are sure to come, and all of our changes will be made with the objective of being an essential provider of, and guide to, local news and information.

Thomas is the editor of The Gazette. Readers can contact him at 636-0384 or by e-mail at jeff.thomas@gazette.com.