A1 ad

The open space at the bottom of the A1 you see below isn't a mistake. We didn't leave anything out, but a new 'feature' was added to the frontpage this week: An advertisement. (I upload PDFs from the pages I design to this blog, ads are added in afterward at the press, leaving the blank space on this week's PDF)
It will be replacing the teaser bar we've had there for more than a year. This is a step the helps the bottom line for revenue.
From my standpoint, it's a tough pill to swallow. I understand the "bottom line" and that A1 ads have become an industry trend (I guess you could say standard now), but it stings.
I feel that space belongs to the readers, and not the highest bidder. I guess it's a fact of life: the revenue bottom line will almost always beat out the sentimental bottom line.
The most important thing for readers to know is that this new ad will not change the way we cover the news.