A recent, two-column report in The New York Times said that one-column newspaper articles were often “less important” than other stories. “In my experience, a one-column article is a last minute kind of thing,” said Harvey Wollworth, editor of The New York Eagle. The Times report showed that over 78% of readers felt that one-column articles were too “thin and short” and that they often required readers to “turn the page to finish the article.” Charles McDougall has been reading the newspaper since he was ten years old. He said, “When I see a story in a one-column article, I may as well see a hole in the page.” Some readers do not feel as strongly against one-column pieces as McDougall. Alex Garson actually looks for them when she picks up her paper. “I’m not a big reader, but I love the smell of newspapers. So a one-column article allows me to use the paper, but just for a brief moment.”
