By Jim Stanford on June 3, 2009
Redesign to the rescue!
Six and a half years since its inception, the Planet still can’t seem to figure out what it is.
Last week the free paper changed its name to “JH Weekly.”
Perhaps the move to a blander title is to confuse advertisers. The News&Guide typically is referred to as “the weekly” to distinguish it from the Daily, the NaG’s free publication.
The struggling “alt” weekly also has switched to a serif font, an attempt to add heft (or look more like Rolling Stone).
While “Planet” was an odd choice from the beginning, at least it had gained a measure of identity. Surely the creative minds on the staff could have come up with something a little more imaginative or evocative of Jackson Hole. The Ungulate?
This latest change reads more like JH Meekly.
Posted under Media
Jim.Just wanted to clarify something: We are not struggling.( Well I guess it depends on what you mean by struggling.) We’ve trimmed a bit of staff to accommodate a slight decrease in ad sales, but in general things are humming along just fine. P.S. Planet is still on the masthead; not ready to lose it just yet.We put a lot of thought behind the name shift (confusing advertisers was not on the list of reasons) in fact Judd and I thought of changing the name a few months after we launched the Planet back in 2002. So it’s something we’ve wanted to do for a long time; finding the time to do it proved difficult. Thanks for your comments. Mary
From the first JH Weekly editorial: “We bet you have other things you can write to us about, so please do – a good start might be what you think about the redesign, and how you’re going to have a difficult time thinking of us as Jackson Hole Weekly when the other guys are largely known as ‘the weekly.’” If you want to know our side of the story, the rest is available here: http://www.planetjh.com/news/A_105064.aspx.
You put “alt” in “scare” “quotes” because you fail to understand just how “alt” it is. They print more humor than any other publication in the region.
Since the election they’ve been running parodies of right-wing paranoia that are frigging spot-on. This one guy wrote about how the Democrats are jonesing to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine to counterbalance right-wing radio, and how the Fairness Doctrine goes against our freedoms.
(No one serious wants the Fairness Doctrine back — that’s part of the joke. The Fairness Doctrine trope was one of those “everyone panic!” hairballs Fox News coughs up every day like clockwork.)
And then same guy wrote about how universities are overrun with liberals, therefore universities need some sort of Fairness Doctrine.
Subtle humor like that is rare and wonderful. More, please!
Regardless of your definition of alt, reasons for the rename, font switch…Jim makes a valid point.
A loss of identity with the phasing out of Planet.
I dug the planet, I will always refer to it as the planet. I think it had its own niche that those of us who pay rent here respect(ed). I will continue to read the rag religiously, but with much more of a weary eye as opposed to unquestioning loyalty.
I noticed the new design/name when I saw a copy of it lying around at the library and thought, “whoa…what happened?” I’m not a big fan of the new name or design, but maybe it will be like the new Facebook, and after a while I won’t even remember what it used to look like. (Somehow it impressed me as being colorless and drab, and a confusing name. I’m not looking at it right now, but that was the impression I was left with.) I’ll still read it though.
Excuse me but what does “Calvary” have to do with slednecks to the rescue? Are they now snowmobiling there or is it possible that you meant “Cavalry”?