Wednesday 16 September 2009

Showbiz biz

A TSF reader reacting to TSF's Sunday Sun Showbiz/ENT duplication dismay writes:

"I agree that the flow and lack of pullouts can be annoying, but don't you remember how weekend papers work? For years, the 'Showcase' section (now ENT) was printed on Friday. Any 'live' entertainment stuff - late reviews, etc. - appeared on a page called 'Showbiz.'

"Having super-early deadlines for the Sunday entertainment supplement usually works - but the Toronto International Film Festival is on right now, so there is a ton of extra breaking entertainment news, and apparently it had to go somewhere other than ENT, which was filled with TV preview stuff and some earlier TIFF material.

"Adding pages called 'Showbiz' seems a logical - and hardly unprecedented - move."

Thank you for your comments, but are we missing something? ENT, formerly Showcase, is no longer a supplement.

What is illogical, now that ENT is no longer a pullout section, is having two names for the entertainment pages.

If you are saying early deadlines for ENT remained the same after losing pullout status, why have two names?

Showbiz, which says it all, is all you need. Or ENT, which in our books was a poor choice in 2007 after using Showcase so effectively for decades.

If there are egos and territorial disputes involved in the new Showbiz/ENT layout, rise above it all for the benefit of readers - and editors who take pride in producing a newspaper with style and flow.

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