Decision to de-alphabeticise the reviews in SIght and Sound

The request was partially successful.

Dear British Film Institute,

What research has been done into reader feedback on the decision to de-alphabeticise the film review section?
How many emails or letters were received about this?
How many of these comments favoured returning to an alphabetic listing?

Yours faithfully,

Jon Davies

foi, British Film Institute

Dear Jon,

Thank you for your request and we will respond as soon as we are able.

Regards,

Sian
BFI Freedom of Information Team

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foi, British Film Institute

Dear Jon,

Thank you for enquiry. I have received the below response from the Sight and Sound Team.

'Reader research and market research took place before and during the redesign of Sight and Sound magazine, which was used to inform our decisions. The redesign team's experience of designing and producing magazines was also extensively drawn upon. As previously stated, the decision to change the way we lay out the reviews section was an editorial decision based on a need to more effectively showcase the reviews. In this case, 'editorial decision' means that it is a decision taken by the Editor to, in the Editor's opinion, better serve the magazine and the readers.

We have received a lot of feedback on the new-look magazine. Some by letter, some by email and a significant amount via social media. The response has been very positive, though of course some feedback has focussed on elements that are not to the taste of the correspondent. We have received approximately three or four messages regarding the running order of the reviews section.

We understand that change will not always be welcomed by everyone. The changes that have been made to Sight and Sound have been positively received by the majority of readers, and have helped us attract a significant amount of new subscribers. There are no current plans to undo any of the changes that were made during our redesign process.'

Regards,

BFI Freedom of Information Team

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Dear foi,
Tanks - just a pity you did not reply to my email. tweets or letter. Sad that it took an FOI to get this information felt like you didn't love your readers!

Yours sincerely,

Jon Davies