Or the weather page, the editorial page, etc.? It is a common reader complaint exacerbated by the occasional flubs on the A1 index.
The arrangement of pages in the newspaper is a function of several competing forces: What the newsroom needs, or at least desires; what the demands of adversting are (particularly for full color spots); and, the physical limitations of the two presses we run.
We normally run “collect” runs which produce four sections with equal page counts between the first and third and the second and fourth sections (if the paper has additional sections, those are run in another press run and inserted). In running the press that way, not every page has color available to it.
So as the page layout department assembles the list of advertisements and the newsroom requests, they electronically map the newspaper (sans stories, etc.). In order to shift things around to best accomodate all requests.
For instance, many advertisers prefer being in the A sections with the news report.