Gambit's gambit

It's a banner week for New Orleans's formerly "needed alternative". (The annoying "Because New Orleans needs an alternative" tagline is thankfully no longer in use.) In addition to a laudable decision to honor Karen Gadbois as one of its New Orleanians of the Year, Gambit Weekly sorry The Gambit has undertaken a total redesign of its weekly print edition. There are several noteworthy changes most of which I like and some of which have me scratching my head a bit.

First of all, the look of the paper has been significantly scaled down from the high-production, oversized, near-magazine style format you see here on the left to the more understated pamphlet sort of thing on the right.



I like this change. In the past, I have often criticized the Gambit as a sort of glorified vehicle for targeted hipster boutique advertising. And since a smaller, lighter looking paper means smaller, lighter advertising pull-outs, the new format can be seen as a small symbolic step away from the dress shop abyss. The new Gambit has the look and feel of a grittier, simpler, but somehow more serious paper. It's very punk rock.

This is not to say that the alternative weekly has magically shed itself of the constraints within which it operates. The Gambit and its readership will always encapsulate the fears and yearnings of the so-called latte swilling, white, hip, pseudo-liberal hipster to one degree or another. But even on that limited playing surface, there's plenty of room available to run a decent newspaper. And, for what it is, Gambit manages to be a pretty decent paper... with some persistent flaws.

The new print format slightly reduces the space devoted to in-depth arts and entertainment coverage. However, this comes at a moment when Gambit has greatly improved the searchable online event listings on its website and has launched a companion blog that theoretically provides ample space for much of what gets left out of the print edition. I understand the print and online Gambits reach different and differently sized audiences. I guess deciding whether to relegate certain items to the blog is sort of the new above-or-below the fold. I, for one, appreciate the fact that the Gambit blog features sports coverage. And, of course, if you're looking for more arts and entertainment, there are excellent alternatives to the alternative available.

The food coverage does not appear to have suffered. And it would have been an unforgivable mistake if it had.

The new crossword is fun... but I still do the one in the T-P because it's usually easy enough to finish during my lunch coffee.

And, of course, there are few better ways to apprehend the je-ne-sais-'tard of Louisiana politics than through regular installments of Greg Peters' Suspect-Device cartoons.

The local affairs and political reporting is always useful in one way or another and at times is very very good.... even if we still have to put up with Clancy Dubos.

On the other hand, I find myself once again scratching my head at something Jeremy Alford has written. BSJD has already posted on this but it strikes me as peculiar that anyone who reports regularly about the politics of Louisiana hurricane recovery would have missed this Salon piece... or at least not be aware of its contents. Keep in mind, this isn't the first time Alford has baffled us in this fashion.

Finally, I can't help but notice that although the Gambit has retained its weekly "Bouquets and Brickbats" feature it has done away with the accompanying bouquet and brickbat clip-art replacing it with stylized plus and minus signs. Florists and masons everywhere demand an explanation.