“Newspapers” Items

Presentation to Straits Times, Singapore

In July 1993, I was invited to give a series of workshops to the visual journalists at the Straits Times in Singapore. [Straits Times company also owned the Business Times, a tabloid call New Paper and two native language papers: Berita Harian and Zaohao.]

The workshop was for three days. Among the topics covered:

  • Readership
  • Typography and Readability
  • Ethics
  • Color [although we spelled it Colour]
  • Graphics
  • The Future [Year 2000 design, based on the work done at the American Press Institute seminar on the topic].

Membership, Instructions and More for API Design 2000 Seminar

I’ve uploaded a collection of memos about the American Press Institute’s J. Montgomery Curtis Memorial Seminar on the future of newspaper design. The collection starts with the invite / acceptance letter in April 1988. 

On July 21, API sent out the important information about the  seminar — a memo outlining a task for each seminar participant: design a front page of the future.

Each member is being asked to create a front page of the future, including content mix and design elements. These front pages (which will become a part of this year’s post-seminar publication) will be analyzed in advance by Roger Black, one of the most active and acclaimed publication designers in the United States, and discussed during the program.

There is also a schedule of events and information about discussion groups and the final round-table.

Here’s a look at the seminar schedule:

  • Monday, September 12:
      • 8:30 – 10:00 – “Newspapers in a Visual Society11
        Speaker: John Lees, Partner, Herman and Lees         Associates, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.
      • 10:15 – 12:15 – “The Front Page”
        Speaker: Roger Black, President, Roger         Black Inc., New York, N.Y.
      • 2:00 – 3:30 – Study I: “The Future for Newspaper Graphics”
        Speaker: Howard Finberg, Assistant Managing         Editor, Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Ariz.
      • 3:45 – 5:15 – Study II: “Color”
        Speaker: Nanette Bisher, Assistant Art Director, U.S. News and World Report, Washington, DC.
  • Tuesday, September 13:
      • 8:30 – 10:00 – Study III: “The Impact of Technology”
        Speaker: David Gray, Managing         Editor/Graphics, Providence Journal Company, Providence, RI.
      • 10:15 – 11:45 – Study IV: “The Role of Tomorrow’s Newspaper Designer”
        Speaker: Marty Petty, Vice President/Deputy         Executive Editor, Hartford Courant, Hartford, Conn.
      • 12:00 – 1:30 – The membership will be broken into small groups to discuss in greater detail specific issues raised during the seminar.
      • 1:45 – 3:30 – The membership will return to the API Round-Table to hear reports from each group detailing observations and any conclusion.

One other important document: the discussion leaders biographies.

The end product of this seminar can be seen in this slideshow.

 

SND European Workshop

One of the most unusual and fun workshops that I have participated in was a tour of four European cities on behalf of the Society of Newspaper Design in 1993. Between May 7 and 15, six designers and editors gave workshops on design, photography, infographics and more to 300 participants from almost 20 different countries. Among the cities visited  by Andrew Chapin, Juan Antonio Giner, Bill Ostendorf, Norvall Skreien, Deborah Withey and myself were Stockholm, Hamburg, Zurich and La Coruna [Spain].  Here’s what Bill wrote for an SND publication:

The EFS, patterned after SND’s suc­cessful Quick Course programs in North America, drew warm and enthusiastic responses from audiences dominated by top editors. Most attendees had never heard of SND before attending one of the workshops, but afterwards many wanted to join, help establish chapters and spon­sor more SND events in their countries.

…

“Everyone was very interested in what SND has to offer. And they were very pleased with our decision to bring our biggest workshop to Europe in 1995,” said Howard Finberg.

He added that now is the ideal time to foster better design in Europe. ”While there are pockets of very good design in Europe, there are also a lot of areas that are just on the verge of the kind of design revolution that swept the U.S. in the ’70s and ’80s. While we were in Germany, you could feel that same sense of excitement when you talked to editors who saw the need for attracting new readers.”

The full article is here.

 

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.

Presstine Magazine Covers 2000 Design Project

The industry publication Presstime covered the results of the API’s design seminar in its October, 1988 edition. The article’s lede:

Two dozen movers and shakers in the field of newspaper design pondered the substance and form of 21st century newspapers at the American Press Institute’s annual J. Montgomery Curtis Memorial Seminar.

The round-table seminar, conducted at the institute in Reston, Va., Sept. 11-13, used as a focal point hypothetical front pages dated 2000 and beyond that were designed by participants and posted on the walls of the seminar room.

Ironic, isn’t it: “posted on the walls…”

I got a mention for my presentation on the future of graphics:

Howard I. Finberg, assistant managing editor of The Arizona Republic, said the overwhelming majority of editors he questioned predicted graphics will play a greater part in newspapers in the year 2000. But this priority seems to shrink when talk turns to money: The editors told Finberg they would spend 70 percent of any extra funds for reporting and editing, and only 10 percent for graphics.

Sad and not surprising.  Given the visual nature of the Internet, would newspapers be in a better position today if they had invested in something other than words? Just wondering.

Celebrating The Republic’s Centennial: How We Worked

In 1990 The Arizona Republic celebrated its 100 years — its centennial. There were many different projects that I had role in editing and/or coordinating. It was a once in a lifetime project. One of the projects involved a full page timeline [called “Paper Route”] of how a story is reported, written and edited. In addition, how do photographers and others in the newsroom work to create the still ‘daily miracle.’

Pagination and a Look Into the Future of Newspapers

In 1999 I was asked to contribute to a book about pagination being published by the Society of News Design and the Association of News Editors. You can download the entire book from here.

At the end of the article I made some “bolder, out-on-a-limb” predictions:

  • Design as a unique job function in newspapers will slowly dissolve into other editing responsibilities.
  • Editing will encompass more than the technical aspects of copy editing and take on more responsibilities for the entire infopacks.
  • Computers will automatically handle most of the routine production responsibilities, freeing editors to do lust what we have always wanted them to do – make journalistic choices on behalf of their readers and the community.
  • Most, if not all, maps and charts will be produced by software. There will be fewer artists at newspapers doing “art work.”
  • The presentation of information will be of such importance for the organization that the senior editor with such responsibilities will report to the publisher.

I like my final paragraph:

Newspapers are on the verge of freeing themselves from the limitations of their production equipment. While I would not predict the end of newsprint as we know it, the era of print-centric delivery is coming to an end. We need to look beyond technology to find the solutions to organize and motivate our workforce for the new millennium. If we are successful, this is the last pagination book you will ever read.

How Consumers Spend Their Media Day

How consumers use media has always been an interesting topic. However, it never really got the attention of those at the top of newspaper organizations.  One of the better studies was this one:

The Center for Media Design at Ball State University conducted the Middletown Media Studies in 2003-2004. These investigations tracked the ways in which ordinary Americans residing in and around Muncie engage with the many new forms of media available in the twentieth century. More details are available in the CMD Reports and White Papers listing.

Here’s a copy of a paper about the study in the International Digital Media & Arts Association Journalism from Spring 2004.

Here’s a link to Ball State’s documents about the project.

SND’s First Convention: My First Speech

The Society of News Design [at that point the group was called Newspaper Designers of America] held its first convention.  It was in Chicago, at the Tribune, Sept. 29-30, 1979. I held the newly created job of graphics editor [at that time it was titled graphics coordinator] at the newspaper.  It was a new type of job, as I was an editor, not an artist.  I worked closely with the art department to create informational graphics for the daily and Sunday pages. Tony Majeri, a founding member of the Society, invited me to describe my job to the 150 members at the convention.

The first edition of Design magazine ran my speech as an article. I still wish I had a chance to be more inclusive in my presentation. However, it does give readers an indication of the work the Tribune was doing at the time.

Here’s a link to an excerpt [PDF] of Design magazine that has two articles about the 1979 SND convention:

https://www.digitalfuturist.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/designmagazine_03_1980.pdf

Techno-Evangelism: Thoughts for Newsroom Leaders

Dealing with technology at The Arizona Republic, especially the introduction of new computer systems, led to a number of presentations about what I called “techno-evangelism.”  I wanted newspaper managers to pay more attention to technology and its impact upon their staff members and workflow.

Some of my key ideas, from a talk given at the Society of Newspaper Design’s 1993 convention in Dallas, were these five points:

1. Technology is an ecological issue. By itself, technology adds nothing. Its introduction changes everything.

2. A newsroom learns by example. If a newsroom manager isn’t willing to invest time or energy in understanding technology, don’t expect the staff to care.

3. The key issue about technology isn’t hardware or even software. It’s workflow. Understand the how work moves (or how you want it to move) through the newspaper and you’ll understand what technological solutions you’ll need.

4. Techno-evangelism means finding a leader who will take risks, become a teacher, shoulder responsibilities and be willing to go wandering in the “desert.”

5. Looking at history can help prepare you for the future. Understanding when there is a “paradigm” shift is important; knowing when there isn’t is even more important. Going from hot type to cold type is evolutionary; going digital is revolutionary.

I also handed out a technology adoption quiz.  Taking the quiz would identify whether you are a techno-phobe, a techno-boomer, a techno-to-go or a techno-wizard.

The slides from the presentation are here.

 

Journalism Should Give Voice to the Voiceless

As part of the development of The Poynter Institute’s international strategy, I traveled to Istanbul with colleague and friend Vicki Krueger.  We launched Poynter NewsU Turkiye at a news conference.  At that event was our partner, the Media Association, and the US Consulate in Istanbul.  The Consulate is the funder for the project.  After the news conference I was interviewed by the local English-language newspaper, Sunday’s Zaman.  Here’s part of what they wrote:

According to Finberg, journalism means “providing voice to the voiceless” and is a way of helping people understand what is going on around them. “Journalists are responsible for protecting the interest of the audience, citizens,” Finberg said when asked whether the journalists have a duty to protect state interests.

Journalists in Turkey have a difficult time, as the country is undergoing political stress and strain that often pits one media organization against another.

The full interview is on the newspaper’s Website , or at least it was. Better to access it as a PDF.

Newspaper Training Days: It’s About the Learning

Shortly after the launch of Poynter’s e-learning platform, News University, I was interviewed by the Newspaper Association of America’s monthly magazine, Presstime.  The author, Teddi Dineley Johnson, used the 2002 Knight Foundation survey about training, as a way to explore how various organizations are dealing with training issues.

In an industry that prides itself on breaking the big story, newspaper executives were caught by surprise three years ago when a landmark study found that lack of training was the No. 1 source of job dissatisfaction–ahead of salary and benefits–among U.S. journalists.

Data from this survey actually helped me figure out the direction of NewsU and its conclusions were supported by Poynter’s own research on the topic.

Here’s what I had to say about training:

“It’s all about getting smarter,” Finberg says. “It’s not about a grade, not about an application, not about a certificate. It’s about learning and, ideally, the kind of learning that’s important to your job.”

Some interesting historical notes:

* There were lots of references to the American Press Institute’s training programs.  API has evolved into more of a ‘think tank’ and no longer does traditional seminars.

* NewsU stats: 4,500 users; as of early 2014 there are more than 280,000 users.

* NAA’s online training efforts at naauniversity.org is gone.

Such is the evolving nature of training for the newspaper industry.

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.