Hard Times

It seems the NYT needs to cut costs:

Beginning Monday, the Times "will reduce the width of its pages by an inch and a half," to a 12-inch standard, the paper declared.

"The move will cut newsprint expenses and, in some printing press locations, will make special configurations unnecessary. Slight modifications in design will preserve the look and texture of The Times, with all existing features and sections, and" -- it admitted at the end -- "somewhat fewer words per page."

"Luckily," said Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., "we were able to achieve the space savings by eliminating anything resembling good news from Iraq."