Post Watch: Hey Boss—Get the Damn Paper Delivered Early

1. Make sure the newspaper is delivered before 7 am—every day.

2. Put only one political story on the front page.

3. Beef up the investigative staffs in the national, Metro, and Business sections and tell them to produce every month instead of in an awards-conscious pile at the end of the year.

4. Encourage reporters and editors to live where they report—and report where they live.

5. Limit political stories to 20 inches but allow longer profiles and narrative stories in Style.

6. In each round of buyouts, offer five-year contracts to top journalists to mentor young writers.

7. Editor Len Downie is rumored to be considering retirement. Encourage him.

8. Consider merging the newspaper and Washingtonpost.com—under dot-com boss Jim Brady.

9. Consolidate the Sunday arts, entertainment, and travel sections into a Sunday magazine with great photographs.

Got more suggestions? Email us here, or leave 'em in the comments.

This article can be found in the April 2008 issue of The Washingtonian.
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Harry Jaffe