Handling stock listings changes

The New York Times business editor, Larry Ingrassia, told Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times that he had received 200 calls on the first day from readers upset about the cut stock listings in the paper.

Deggans writes, “When the Chicago Tribune cut its 3 ½ pages of stock tables to one summary page each day on Jan. 18 (with full listings on Saturdays), it took two weeks for complaints to subside enough that Jim Kirk’s voice mail wasn’t full by the time he arrived for work.

“But Kirk, the Tribune’s associate managing editor for business, said incentives and a toll-free number readers can use to check stock prices helped reduce subscriber cancellations.”

Later, Deggans writes, “In the Tampa Bay area, editors at the St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune say they have no immediate plans to substantially reduce stock tables, mindful that the area may offer a greater percentage of older readers who prefer newsprint.”

Read more here.