It looks like the new out-of-state corporate owners of The Oklahoman are soulless, godless heathens.
Earlier this morning, The Oklahoman unveiled a slight redesign of the newspaper for Ethel, Lois, Howard, Dorothy, Richard, Blanche, George Nigh and their 18 other print subscribers.
The changes include using a new headline font, and moving the daily prayer – a pandering mainstay that has been published on the paper's front page each day since 1974 – to the inside cover of Page 2.
Here's how The Oklahoman's publisher, Kelly Dyer Fry, glossed over the news:
Here at The Oklahoman, we’re accustomed to change. But we want to spare our readers the forces of change when possible. Most of our changes are behind the scenes but today’s newspaper has a new look. It’s not drastic, but you will notice a few tweaks.
First, the type face is the same in the stories, but the headline font is updated. Our last redesign was in 2008, so we were due.
If you are looking for the prayer at the bottom of Page 1, don’t despair, it has a new home on Page 2.
This is great news for Oklahoma journalism and a very long time coming. Newspapers are supposed to share real facts, news and information – not attempt to indoctrinate readers with philosophical musings that reinforce silly mythologies. That's what the editorial page is for. I wonder if Gatehouse has big changes coming to that...
All news is still covered by our local Oklahoman staff. We still retain full editorial control.
Oh well, I guess we should take what we get. Someday our prayers will be answered.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what, if any, fallback this will create in the holy roller community. I bet James Lankford is already working on a press release about how he's "disappointed" in the decision. Perhaps the Oklahoma City Thunder will follow suit and move the pre-game prayer to the second quarter, right before the Midfirst Bank half-court shot contest.
