When Massachusetts&rsquo; long-serving Sen. Ted Kennedy died late last Tuesday night, the news could scarcely have hit at a worse time for morning newspapers.</p><p>&ldquo;Shame on you for belittling the historical importance of the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy (one of the greatest statesmen this country has ever known) by burying that story on the third page,&rdquo; wrote one of many who contacted The Kansas City Star Wednesday. &ldquo;Do you truly believe &ldquo;Leash Laws&rdquo; (a story about dog parks in the Kansas City area) is that news worthy to make a front page story, particularly superseding the passing of a great historical figure?&rdquo;</p><p>This reader received one of the papers that actually contained word of Kennedy&rsquo;s death. A small notice on Page A1 pointed inside to a wire story on Page A3. </p><p>The news broke very late &mdash; around 12:25 a.m. in the Central time zone. At that time, The Star&rsquo;s final edition was on the presses and some papers had already left the building. </p><p>By around 12:40, the first story moved over the wires, and editors quickly dropped a story about the CIA&rsquo;s secret interrogation program from A3 to make room. That late into the run, it would have been a major undertaking to redesign the front cover, as those stories all included color elements. Redoing color requires making four new press plates, not to mention that A1 stories also jump to inside pages. It wouldn&rsquo;t be out of the realm of possibility, and I&rsquo;m sure some readers think it should have been done here. In the end, about 60 percent of the run got the late addition.</p><p>Further west, the timing worked much more in papers&rsquo; favor, and many were able to include the news along with color photos out front.</p><p>This is a classic example of a big national story hitting a weak spot in newspapers&rsquo; print cycle. As readers were waking up, broadcast and online news outlets were already carrying long obituaries, and the talking heads were well into their chatter. </p><p>&ldquo;I know the news came in the early morning, but you might have included that explanation in the article,&rdquo; suggested one reader. I think that would have been a good idea, too.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Brief too brief</span></strong></p><p>A caller pointed out an item in &ldquo;Starwatch Consumer&rdquo; last Thursday that he felt was too short to be useful.</p><p>It summed up an FDA warning that &ldquo;certain vials of insulin made by Novo Nordisk that were stolen earlier this year&rdquo; might not be safe for use.</p><p>My caller verified that his insulin was safe, but wondered &ldquo;how many other diabetics might just quit using it because they&rsquo;re afraid it isn&rsquo;t the right stuff. This blurb needed more detail.&rdquo;</p><p>The full FDA news release included tips on how to verify your insulin is safe. I agree it would have made the brief much more valuable.