“Newspapers” Items

Chicago Tribune — 5 Years Hence [1980 as the Future]

I don’t remember who asked for this memo about the future or why we were looking at “five years hence” (1980).  This is probably one of my earliest “future look” memos.

At the time this was written, the Tribune was publishing both morning and afternoon editions.  Lots of them, as we had just merged the staffs of the afternoon newspaper {Chicago Today} and the morning Tribune. It was a grueling publishing schedule that was truly a 24-hour publishing cycle.

I still like this thought about giving readers more about what a story means.

We need to stop thinking “freshest is best”; a need to end the traditional cycle of publishing edition after edition, sometimes barely enough time to consider what the news means. The Tribune could reduce it cycle to two editions (major remakes) with replate options.  Continue to provide a morning and afternoon edition; new equipment will allow a savings in time – use the savings to give editors and reporters time to include the “what it means” in their story.

Here’s the full memo, a carbon copy from the “copy book” it was written on.

Pushing for Better Informational Graphics

One of the interesting challenges of creating a new kind of editing role, the graphics editor, was helping others in the newsroom see the importance of involving the visual folks early in the process.  Roger Fidler, a like-minded design advocate in the 1970s,  created the Newspaper Design Notebook, a magazine/newsletter to push the concept of better design, better editing and better visuals.  He asked me to write an article about how the Chicago Tribune handled series and lessons other newspapers might learn from our experiences.  Vol. 3/No. 2 was the last edition of the Newspaper Design Notebook. Pity.

Planning. Teamwork. Execution.

These are the elements for the successful handling of a newspaper series. Unfortunately, no matter how valid that concept, most series are put together by luck, guts and a prayer.

Young Readers and the Future of the Chicago Tribune

In late 1973 and early 1974 I was part of a committee at the Chicago Tribune.  The committee members were all under 30 and most of us recent hires by the newspaper.  Our task was to explore what the paper should do to attract more younger readers.  This task was less about getting young adults to read newspapers but to read the Tribune instead of the Chicago Sun-Times.  Members of the committee: Ovie Carter, Gary Deeb, Howard Finberg, Clarence Page, Don Pierson, Bill Plunkett, Karen Schickedanz, Rick Soll and Linda Winer.  Here’s what we wrote in our summary:

Simply stated, the Chicago Tribune takes itself too seriously. This is not to diminish its role as one of the nation’s best newspapers. Rather, it is a suggestion that the time has come for the Chicago Tribune to slaughter, once and for all, many of its sacred cows.

Further on, we concluded:

What we are recommending, in a general way, is a relaxation of the restraint that prohibits surprise and thought-provoking material from appearing in the Tribune.   It is not a recommendation to relax or reduce in any  way the standards of journalism: Strict reverence for the facts, a sense of fairness, and an attention to thoro reporting.

Please note the unique spelling of thorough, as the Tribune was still gripped by a style book that used simplified spelling, a cause of the previous owner/publisher:  Col. Robert McCormick.

The  is available as a PDF file: chi trib_young readers group_02_1974