David House, the Startlegrams' ombudsman, breaks down the newspaper's front page changes:

The last Monday front page that readers had seen was a relatively normal Star-Telegram presentation on Aug. 16 that carried 44 design elements, ranging from 11 headlines to six photographs and other bits and pieces.

But on Aug. 23, readers beheld a Page One filled with 85 design elements, including 19 headlines, 25 uses of boldface type as small headlines and in other copy, six color pictures and 17 copy blocks, all referring to 18 stories inside.

As radical a change as it was, the format mysteriously provoked only about 50 calls and e-mails, but they came from passionate newspaper readers who mostly disapproved, saying they didn't want a USA Today-type Star-Telegram or a full-page index of sections that they would read anyway.

"Are you crazy?" one reader asked.

Others complained: "Disgusting." "This makes me nuts." "Insulting." "Monday's front page looked like something from My Weekly Reader; I guess if you want 3rd through 6th grade … you're on the mark."

But another said: "Change is good. Keep it going."

Executive Editor Jim Witt asks for patience and feedback:

"We've got to find a way to serve everyone as best we can," he said. "The biggest competitor we face is not another newspaper or another medium. It's people's time and how they spend it. The No. 1 reason that people give when they cancel subscriptions is 'no time to read.' "

Witt hopes that the redesign encourages more people to spend time with the Star-Telegram and to begin reading even more of the paper than they ordinarily would.

He believes it'll take unorthodox moves to reach that point, and there's no reason why serious journalism can't drive it all. And, of course, "when a big story happens, we'll throw all this out the window and do what we need to do," he says.

Newspapers historically have feared tinkering much with their traditional product. The Monday Page One strategy would never fly at most any paper that comes to mind. It's a gutsy move, but in Witt's mind, "it's gutsy not to take such steps" if newspapers are to survive a nationwide decline in readership.

But so far, count House in the doesn't-like-it camp:

No, I didn't care for Monday's frantic, 85-element Page One and some other aspects of the redesign. As much as I enjoy exploring new ideas, the page baffled me as it baffled some readers. But there's clear value in other changes -- sharp typography, cleaner presentation on inside pages, new bits of helpful information.

What's most impressive to me is the sight of a newspaper willing to risk change to reach readers.

Maybe when the redesign is fully tweaked and figured out, we'll hear more comments like those from a retired Presbyterian minister:

"I'm so pleased with your new format. I've been dazzled and appreciative. … I know you're probably going to hear mostly from people who don't like what you've done. Church people are the same way. I'll keep you in my prayers."