Here’s a listing of editorial and other numbers at the Chicago Tribune, published April 1980. It provides a snapshot of newsroom organization, editorial structure, and contact hierarchy during the pre-digital newsroom era.
“Chicago Tribune” Items
Big City Newspaper: Chicago Tribune in 1975
The Chicago Tribune Marketing Department, sometime in 1975 [my guess] produced a guide to the newspaper for the educational services department of the company. It was a look, written for consumers [young ones] about how the Tribune was created — from reporter to editor to presses. The guide even had instructions on how to fold a newspaper page into a pressman’s hat. What’s nice about this guide is the photographs of so many of the people I remember working with. [And it does have a picture of me looking at a picture page.]
The Tribune at this time was publishing both morning and afternoon editions. We called it the 24-Hour Tribune. There were even t-shirts. Here’s a bit about that unique time:
In 1974, the Chicago Tribune became a 24-hour newspaper with fresh editions morning, afternoon and evening. The shift from being a morning newspaper to the24-hour publication cycle meant that The Tribune was available whenever a reader wanted it.
The publishing cycle begins in late afternoon with the Green Streak edition which contains late stock market quotations. Next off the press is the Midwest edition, designed primarily for circulation outside Chicago and suburbs.
The Three Star Morning Final comes next–it’s the edition you’ll find delivered to your doorstep in the mornings. The Four Star Morning Sports Final follows; you’ll find it on the newsstands in the morning with the night’s sport results. The Five Star Morning Turf Final is available later in the morning. Completing the 24-hour publication cycle is the afternoon 7 Star Final for afternoon home delivery customers and afternoon newsstand sales.
The publisher at the time of publication was Stan Cook; the editor was Clayton Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick was the person who hired me in 1972. There a nice picture of Bill Jones, one of the best editors at the paper during my tenure. Jones, who became managing editor, died way too early at age 43.
If you want a look at what it took to produce a daily newspaper, this is a good guide. For me, it is fond memories.
Chicago Tribune Publishes Watergate Tapes in 1 Day, 1974
One of the moments of journalism history that I had a chance to live was the Chicago Tribune’s publishing of some of the Nixon White House tapes – the Watergate tapes – in 1974. It was also a moment where I was so very proud of the Tribune and its management and staffers.
The paper created a 44-page supplement that contained every word of the transcripts. And it was done in a single day. The remarkable inside story about that publishing achievement was capture by the Tribune’s in-house publication, “The Little Tribune.” The June 1974 edition is full details and names. For example:
After the decision was made, [editor Clayton] Kirkpatrick immediately contacted Maxwell McCrohon, managing editor; Frank Starr, chief of the Washington bureau; and Charles Parvin, assistant news editor then on duty, and instructed them to begin work on the project.
Because a decision had to be made quickly on how the transcript would be printed, a team of five editorial and production men was sent by Tribune plane to Washington’s Dulles airport to meet Frank Starr who would bring copies of the transcript.
Parvin contacted Dick Leslie, an assistant news editor, at his home about 10: 30 p.m. and asked him to round up two other men for the trip. Leslie called Bob Finan, editorial production coordinator, and George Cohen, Book World production man, who had experience with setting copy in cold type. John Olson, vice president and general manager, phoned Fred Hemingston, composing room superintendent, and Fred contacted Pat Ryan, engraving superintendent.
This is a great story about the power of journalism. The Tribune managed to print the transcripts BEFORE the official government printing office.
P.S. I was also proud to play a small role as a picture editor.
[art director Gus] Hartoonian and [art director Tony] Majeri created several designs for page 1, and one of them was selected by McCrohon. The front page story for the section was written by James O. Jackson, reporter, and Casey Banas, assistant to the editor, prepared the Transcript Index. Howard Finberg, assistant picture editor, located and sized photographs for page 1, inside and back pages, and ordered Velox prints from the engraving department. [picture editor Chuck] Scott asked photographer Chuck Osgood to take the special front page picture of the tapes.
Joining the Chicago Tribune
I joined the Chicago Tribune as a copy reader sometime during the week of June 4, 1972. I’m not trying to be vague about the actual start date, I just don’t remember. However, I do have my “hire letter” from Harold E. Hutchings, executive editor:
“This confirms that, as stated in our telephone conversation today, we will start you at $230 per week and that you will be ready for work on June 4, 1972. Since this is a Sunday, it well may be that you will not be scheduled in until June 5. We can settle that matter when you reach the city.”
A weekly salary of $230 is about $12,000 a year in 1972 dollars; in 2021 dollars, that’s about $75,000. Pretty nice for my almost first job. It actually was my second job as I was working at the SF Examiner at the time. I had two years of experience. That’s not a lot, I realized.
Sidebar: Give the time difference between Chicago and that I was working the morning shift at the SF Examiner, Hutchings had to send an airmail, special delivery letter asking me to give him a call. I got the letter and called him the same day. And the rest is, as they say, history.
Design Magazine, Issue 1
The Society for Newspaper Design’s magazine, Design, was published in March, 1980. The first issue included a story about my job as Chicago Tribune’s graphics editor.
Named Photo/Graphics Editor at Chicago Tribune
On Jan. 28, 1983 an Chicago Tribune assistant managing editor, Michael Argirion, announced that “Howard Finberg is appointed Photo/Graphics Editor, responsible for the Photo Desk and the Graphics Desk.”
This was an expansion of my duties, as I was currently Graphics Editor. I would hold this position until shortly before I left the Tribune for a stint at the San Jose Mercury News and, later, the San Francisco Chronicle.
Chicago Tribune Graphics Request Form in 1980s
This is an example of the Chicago Tribune’s graphics request form. According to a note attached to this document, “graphics are handled through a full-time graphics editor who works with source editors. The graphics editor works with source editors and reporters in compiling the necessary materials: locator maps, tables, graphics, etc.
Chicago Tribune Photo Request Form, 1985
An example of the Chicago Tribune’s photo request form used in 1985. Picture assignments were made through the picture assignment desk, either in the main city room or in the suburban Hinsdale, IL, bureau. Assignments were requested by either the reporter working on a story or by the source editor who is handling the story. However, according to note Howard Finberg wrote in 1985, “the picture assignment editor of the picture editor controls photo assignment traffic and determines which story takes precedent when time and manpower are short.“
Chicago Tribune Photo Assignment Sheet 1985
This is an example of the workload of Chicago Tribune photographers in December, 1985. The Day Picture assignments on December 26, 1985 run from 7:00 am until 3:30. The notes on the disposition column show the photographer and whether the assignment was completed [OK] or didn’t work [NG].
Chicago Tribune Newsroom Directory
Here’s the Editorial Department phone directory for the Chicago Tribune Staff in April 1980. The paper had an easy to remember phone number: 222-3232. And for Classified Ads: 222-2222.
Chicago Tribune Editorial Deadlines, 1982
The Chicago Tribune production deadlines for its 24-hour publishing/printing cycle in 1982. Some of the stories were on paper and some via an early computer [PPS] system.
Notes on Tribune Future, 1975
I wrote a memo about the future of the Chicago Tribune. It was part of a task force looking to redo the paper.
The Graphics Editor Takes Charge
The Washington Journalism Review ran a story about how newspapers were turning to graphics [and graphics editors] to give readers new ways of getting information. The late 1980s and early 1990s were exciting time for graphics editors, thanks in part to the influences of USA Today and the Chicago Tribune.
Improved presentation of information is clearly a response to market demand. At the most successful papers, graphics are grounded in journalism and not in decorative arts. Content, not design, comes first, graphics editors say.
One of the article’s authors, James K. Gentry, interviewed me for the article and I ended up being the lead for the story. That is pretty heady stuff, even for me.
In 1974 assistant picture editor Howard Finberg took on the task of making the Chicago Tribune more visually appealing. “I was clearing the field of rocks and stumps,” he says of his pioneering position as graphics editor. “I don’t think anybody else was doing anything remotely similar at the time.”
Top management wanted more visual awareness from the newsroom staff. Finberg says they accomplished this through “daily evangelizing.” He wrote his job description as he went along. A good deal of what evolved was acting as liaison between the newsroom and art department.
What interests me about the article 30 years later is how the newspaper graphics editor job was a catalyst for change. Graphics editors were the change agents in many newsroom. Today, change agents, if there any left, are working in online departments.
Graphics have mostly disappeared in today’s newspapers — victims of lack of space, fewer artists and, perhaps, the disappearance of the graphics editors job. Gentry and his co-author, Barbara Zang, conducted a survey of newspapers about the graphics editor role in newsrooms. It would be interesting to do another survey to see what remains of the “informational graphics revolution.”
Gentry and Zang concluded the article with an interesting observation about management:
Redefinition of the manner in which news is presented will demand newsroom managers who can function in a constantly changing environment. “The better managers adapt, the others don’t,” says Dave Doucette of the Salinas Californian. “The success of managers, of papers, means the ability to change.”
Finberg, the self-proclaimed old man of graphics editors. says the next wave of graphics editors must be able to edit tighter and make decisions faster. “We have to make the best use of finite space,” he says. “Maybe a whole new type of editor is needed for the future.”
I guess we still need that new type of editor.
Chicago Tribune Launches Graphics Service
The launch of the Chicago Tribune Graphics Service [CTGS] provided an opportunity to learn about customer service and satisfaction. With real money on the line and a desire to grow the number of clients, thinking beyond the Tribune’s own graphics propelled me into a touch of entrepreneurial journalism. It was my first “start-up” experience.
The graphic service is sold to daily newspapers across the country. The graphics all are illustrations that appeared in the Tribune, They are sold through the Tribune Company Syndicate lnc. (formerly the Chicago Tribune-New York News).
Each week we would select 12 to 20 graphics that would be printed on slick paper that aided reproduction and express mailed to clients. In the first nine months of the service, the newspaper and the syndicate split $60,000 in revenue [$150,000 in 2013].
The in-house publication of the Tribune, the Little Trib, did a nice story about the CTGS. I liked how they named the graphics desk staff.
But the early success came from hard work — from all those involved in the service: in the city newsroom, Finberg, Kathleen Naureckas, day graphics coordinator, and Marty Fischer, night graphics coordinator, now had to consider not only which graphics would be best for the Tribune, but also be alert to which graphics should go into the package to subscribers.
Editor’s note: The timeline entry is taken from an article published in September, 1981. The timeline date refers to the launch of CTGS.
Chicago Tribune Award Was Extra Sweet
When I worked at the Chicago Tribune, the newsroom had a special awards dinner every December. It was called the “Beck Awards Dinner.” Here’s where the top staffers received recognition [and a very nice check] for accomplishments during the year. Prior to the ceremony, Joe Leonard, an assistant managing editor, told me to make sure Kathy Oakley got to the dinner. Joe knew I was dating Kathy and that she had said that she wasn’t planning to attend the dinner. Joe knew she would win the Johnrae Earl Award for editing.
Kathlyn E. Oakley, who currently occupies the late Mr. Earl’s position in the copy desk slot, was honored for her dedication to good editing, awareness of writers’ sensibilities and grace under deadline pressure.
I also won. An award for professional performance. The next year I would win again. Better still: Kathy [now called Kate] and I got married.