LACROSSE, Wis. – The latest less-is-more marketing ploy for the Winona Daily News is a repackaging of soft content on Page 2. Bob Heisse, executive editor of the LaCrosse Tribune, which controls the Winona paper’s content, hailed the new Page 2 as ”a mix of content that draws just in about every reader.” The page, labeled “Good Morning,” includes a crossword puzzle and a world history almanac column. The mix also includes a rotating columnist, most recently tech tips for toddlers from syndicated columnist Armin Brott. There also is a photo of the day. None of this is Winona news and all of it cheaply acquired and shared among Lee’s chain of papers – as the chain struggles for financial survival with slimmer papers, some days only eight pages; skipped issues some days of the week; and skeletal local staffs, only two for news and one for sports in Winona. To advertisers the message is that “Good Morning” will draw readers inside the paper.
Heisse. Claims packaging of low-cost soft content will delight readers, lure advertisers.