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None of these examples was lost on the Herald American's managers, who reportedly considered the tabloid option for a year before choosing it. If the Globe, one of the nation's best newspapers, can thrive by providing first-rate coverage, the Herald American hopes to prove there is a down-scale market for something less serious and more entertaining. Predicts Dorris: "We're going to produce a paper that is a pleasure to read, not a chore." Adds Editor Donald Forst: "The new Herald American is going to be a reader's paper, with one overriding goal: to give people something they'll want to read."
First glimpses of the new format—which was to begin appearing regularly this week—were greeted enthusiastically by advertisers, who rushed to take advantage of a half-rate introductory offer. "It sounds like a good paper," said Donald O'Brien, marketing vice president of the Jordan Marsh department store. "We're going to help promote it, and we're going to be in it heavily." Added Filene's sales vice president, Virginia Harris: "It's a smart move because it is so totally different from the Globe. I think they've got a good chance of making it."
Others were not so sure. Said Frank McCulloch, executive editor of McClatchy Newspapers: "Dominance, once achieved, is very hard to overcome. The Globe is so dominant, it does not make much difference what the Herald does." Worse, Boston's new tabloid may not have very long to make the formula work. Last, week the Boston Globe reported that Herald Advertising Director Robert Lange told the paper's advertisers in July that the Hearst Corp. will give the paper just 3½ months to prove it can make it; otherwise it will be shut down. That report was followed by an even more discouraging silence: neither Hearst nor Herald American officials were willing to comment.