Changes coming to Milwaukee Business Journal starting Friday

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Change is a fact of life, and it's come to one Milwaukee publication in a big way. The Milwaukee Business Journal is gearing up for the launch of its redesigned newspaper.

On Friday, January 17th when you pick up a copy of The Business Journal, you will notice something different.

First -- the look. It will be bolder, with full color on every page.

"It's more labeling. It's a little bit larger font so everybody can read it. It's more pictures. It's lots of information in an easier to read format," Business Journal Editor Mark Kass said.

Another big change is the name. After 30 years, it will no longer be "Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee," but will instead be called "Milwaukee Business Journal."

The paper prominently features beat reporters and their stories on two pages each.

Rich Kirchen -- a 23-year veteran of the paper likes its current emphasis on getting stories quickly on the internet throughout the week, and spending more time on the subject in the paper on Fridays.

"It's more fun in a lot of ways because we can compete more directly with all the media in town. At the same time, we don't want to lose some of that extra value and expertise that we bring and some of the insights that we bring to some of the business news stories," Kirchen said.

On Wednesday afternoon, January 15th, the cover page was narrowed down to three choices. The topic of Friday's cover story is what could replace Grand Avenue Mall.

"And then here's the story inside which will look at kinda the specifics of the mall. There will be a poll and comments from readers, and then as I said we asked a number of our community leaders how would you do this? This is an attitude. This is a change in everything we do," Kass said.