The Washington Post is planning a redesign, which may include a left-hand index rail on A1. Also, reporters at the legendary writer's newspaper will be required to write shorter! Ye Gods!

The Post just wrapped up its annual self-evaluation meeting, an offsite event that includes top editors and executives from the paper's business side. This year's meeting focused on the paper's declining circulation -- now at 709,500 daily copies, down 10 percent over the past two years -- and the results of an extensive readership survey taken last summer.

In an effort to win new readers, [Executive Editor Leonard] Downie said Post reporters will be required to write shorter stories. The paper's design and copy editors will be given more authority to make room for more photographs and graphics.

The paper will undergo a redesign to make it easier for readers to find stories. It is considering filling the left-hand column of the front page with keys to stories elsewhere in the paper and other information readers say they want from the paper, which they often consider "too often too dull," Downie said.

"Newspapers should be fun and it should be fun to work at one," [new Managing Editor Philip] Bennett said.

*Update: Steve Cavendish, a Postie in a former life, says not to expect major changes in the type. So Matthew Carter's Postdoni is safe from the axe!

>Post Discusses Circulation, Diversity [Washington Post]