Orlando paper will sell ads on biz section front

I was at the Orlando Sentinel for the day to do some training with the business news staff, and had lunch with Lisa Cianci, the assistant managing editor for business, and some other staff members, including business editor Ned Popkins.

Cianci disclosed that the paper will begin selling ads on the front of the business section by the end of the year. The staff was told last week.

She also said that she doubted that the paper would totally eliminate its printed stock listings, which were cut earlier this year, because of nearby competition. A small paper near Orlando is running complete stock listings in a large typeface — primarily because of its large retirement population.

Although they had no idea what would happen with other Tribune papers, my guess would be that others would also begin selling ads on business section fronts now that the LA Times and Orlando have said they would do so.