Hiding the Front Page

Daily newspapers, The Toledo Blade being one, have adopted an advertising gimmick that consists of part of an ad page covering the left hand side of the front page. The reader has to remove or fold back this in order to see the lead story.

I and others with whom I have discussed this find such advertising very annoying. So much so that I immediately remove it, crumple it up into a ball and throw it in the recycling bin. Furthermore, I am not the least inclined to take notice of what is being promoted.

In an era when newspapers are struggling, it appears to be self-defeating to employ a practice which 1) conceals part of the front page, and 2) annoys the readers and subscribers.