Is the new BJ page design the work of brilliant Kathy Hagedorn Kortevesi clones?

Hah!

It’s the machination of a cadre of nerds in Austin, Texas who have made more than 200 GateHouse newspapers impossible to tell apart without checking the name of the city in the masthead.

The Center for News and Design opened in 2014. Every time GateHouse purchased another newspaper, as it did Ol’ Blue Walls, the flavor and originality that spoke to the local readers is covered with the same clothing that drabbed down more than 200 other newspapers.

Conformity is a one-way road to boredom. Those who think outside the box have benefitted America and the world far more throughout history than those who march in lockstep with the masses.

The Gatehouse conformists brag on their website that they have their ugly claws on news pages, special sections, magazines, Sunday projects and even, for Heaven’s sake, nameplates.

Sure, GateHouse saves a ton of money by eliminating Kathy Hagedorn Kortevesi and her like in more than 200 newspapers. But local readers pay the price. Local newspaper heritage takes an even bigger hit.

If every grocery store had exactly the same products in exactly the same place and the same storefronts, how would you tell which one you were shopping in? Well, it’s the same with newspapers.

What if every woman in America wore the same dress? How the hell would you tell them apart? It’s the same with newspapers.

What if every women in America had redhaired bouffants? How would you know which one was your wife? It’s the same with newspapers.

Conformity chokes creativity. Creativity stirs the brain and delights the reader. One-size-fits-all doesn’t work with democracy, or shoe stores or tailor shops and certainly not newspapers.

Yes, the words and photos are more important than the page designs. But it’s the page designs unique to the BJ that made its readers feel comfortable. And designs and headlines help draw the reader to the story. If the reader doesn’t read the story, then everything else is for naught.

John S. Knight knew how important every aspect of the newspaper was. He often said that those who deliver the newspaper are critical because, “If they don’t deliver our newspaper to your door then the rest of us have worked for nothing.” Or something like that.

Meanwhile, travelers can’t tell the difference between the Akron Beacon Journal or the Gadsden Times, Tuscaloosa News, Arizona Capital Times, Daily Sifting Herald, Pine Bluff Commercial, Southwest Times Record, Stuttgard Daily Leader, Hope Star, Greenwood Democrat, Boonville Democrat, Cabot Star-Herald, Charleston Express, Press Argus-Courier, Alma Journal, Picayune-Times, Jacksonville Patriot, Lonoke Democrat, Maumelle Monitor, North Little Rock Times, Paris Express, Gurdon Times, Nevada Country Picayune, Newport Independent, Sun Times, White Hall Journal, Van Buren County Democrat, Daily Press, Daily Independent, Desert Dispatch, The Record, Siskiyou Daily News, Taft Midway Driller, Dunsmuir News, Mount Shasta Herald, Weed Press, Lucerne Valley Leader, Gridley Herald, Ag Journal, Bent County Democrat, Fowler Tribune, The Bulletin, The Community News, Dover Post, Middletown Transcript, Destin Log, Walton Sun, Crestview News Bulletin, News Journal, Florida Times-Union, Northwest Florida Daily News, Santa Rosa Press Gazette, Athens Banner-Herald, Augusta Chronicle, Savannah Morning News, Columbia County News-Times, Star Courier, Cambridge Chronicle, Galva News, Geneseo Republic, Orion Gazette, Daily Ledger, Journal Star, Pekin Daily Times, Chillicothe Times-Bulletin, Washington Times-Reporter, Woodford Times, East Peoria Times-Journal, Morton Times-News, Batavaria Republican, Bartlett Press, Berwyn-Cicero Life, Bolingbrook-Romeoville Reporter, Downers Grove Reporter, Elmhurst Press, The Farmside, Geneva Republican, Glen Ellyn News, Lemont Reporter, Lisle-Naperville Reporter, Lombard Spectator, Northeast DuPage Press, Journal Standard, Rockford Register Star, Benton Evening News, Daily American, Du Quoin Evening Call, Daily Republican, Randolph County Herald Tribune, Steeleville Ledger, Ashley News, Christopher Progress, Herrin Spokesman, Murphysboro American, Hamburg Reporter, Nebraska City News-Press, Syracuse Journal-Democrat, Ames Tribune, The Hawk Eye, Dallas County News, Boone News Republican, Augusta Daily Gazette, El Dorado Times, Hays Daily News, Hutchinson News, McPherson Sentinel, The Kansan, Ottawa Herald, Salina Journal, Wellington Daily News, Dodge City Daily Globe, Donaldsville Chief, Gonzales Weekly Citizen, Plaquemine Post, Bastrop Daily Enterprise, Beauregard Daily News, Cape Cod Times, The Enterprise, Gardner News, Herald News, O Jornal, Bourne Courier, The Bulletin, Cape Codder, Harwich Oracle, Allston-Brighton Tab, Brookline Tab, Cambridge Chronicle, Cambridge Tab, Dedham Transcript, Dover-Sherborn Press, Rolindale Transcript, Amesbury News, Beverly Citizen, Danvers Herald, Cape Ann Beacon, Georgetown Record, Hamilton Wenham Chronicle, Ipswich Chronicle, Malden Observer, Marblehead Reporter, Medford Transcript, Arlington Advocate, The Beacon (not the one in Akron), The Beacon-Villager, Bedford Minuteman, Bolton Common, Burlington Union, Chelmsford Independent, Concord Journal, Harvard Post, Abington Mariner, Braintree Forum, Bridgewater Independent, Carver Reporter, Cohasset Mariner, Duxbury Reporter, Halifax-Plimpton Reporter, Hanover Mariner, Hingham Journal, Holbrook Sun, Kingston Reporter, Lakeville Call, Ashland Tab, Canton Journal (in Mass.), Country Gazette, Easton Journal, Framingham Tab, Holliston Tab, Hopkinton Crier, Hudson Sun (in Mass.), Mansfield News (in Mass.), Marlborough Enterprise, Medfield Press, Natick Bulletin, Cheybogan Daily Tribune, Bronson Journal, Daily Reporter, Daily Telegram, Evening News, Hillsdale Daily News, Crookston Daily Times, Granite Falls Advocate Tribune, Montevideo American-News, Redwood Falls Gazette, Redwood Falls Livewire, Boonville Daily News, Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, Hannibal Courier-Post, Kirksville Daily Express, Linn County Leader, Macon Chronicle-Herald, Mexico Ledger, Moberly Monitor-Index, Columbia Daily Tribune, Evening Tribune, The Leader, Wellsville Daily Reporter, Chronicle-Express, Genesee Country Express, Steuben Courier, Observer-Dispatch, Telegram, Times, Observer-Dispatch (in different state), Telegram (in different state), Devils Lake Daily Journal, Columbus Dispatch, Daily Jeffersonian, Daily Record, ThisWeek Newspapers, Columbus Monthly, Independent, Repository, Suburbanite, Times-Reporter, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Miami News-Record, Ardmoreite, Journal Record, Shawnee News-Star, Delaware County Journal Grove, Grove Sun, Pawhuska Journal-Capital, Friday Gazette, Register-Guard, Wayne Independent, Carbondale News, News Eagle, Villager, Pocono Record, Providence Journal, Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly, A La Carte TMC, Oak Ridger, Amarillo Globe-News, Austin American-Statesman, Brownwood Bulletin, Lubbock Avalance-Journal, Herald Democrat, Stephenville Empire-Tribune, Waxahachie Daily Light, Alice Echo-News Journal, Anna-Melissa Tribune, Progress-Index, Virginia Lawyers Weekly or Colonial Voice.

More than 200 GateHouse newspapers goosestep in the same uniform.

It’s as if Gucci, Off-White, Balenciaga and Givenchy were forced to parade mormidly obese models on their runways in gunny sacks.

This is NOT a knock on those who work at the BJ today. They are every bit as dedicated to excellent journalism and pursuit of the truth as JSK, Maidenburg, Pat Englehart, Harry Liggett and I were in the 20^th century.

But Gatehouse has taken a lion of American journalism, with its four Pulitzers and hundreds of awards, and dressed it identically to more than 200 pigs, including lipstick applied by a crosseyed, drunken sailor. The BJ deserves far better.

Kathy Hagedorn Kortevesi won many state and national awards for her page designs. So did her predecessors at 44 E. Exchange Street.

But if the BJ gets page design awards in the future then, in good conscience, the plaques should be shipped to the nerds in Austin, Texas. Lipstick and all.