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Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 

Archive for August 2010

Number of comments in parentheses

31: A hometown boy makes the big time… as a drug lord

What’s really interesting about Edgar Valdez Villarreal — allegedly the head of a Mexican-based drug cartel, one of the most powerful in North America — is that he’s not Mexican. He’s actually from Laredo, Texas. Valdez’ nickname — “La Barbie” — was reportedly given to him by his high school football coach there, in fact. Sounds like a typical small-town [...]

31: A headline only an SEO junkie could love (4)

Check out the headline I found on this MSNBC science story last night: The story is about how scientists will no longer have to use darts — that can sometimes be fatal! — to draw DNA from dolphins. They can find enough DNA in the fluid that shoots out of the blowholes on top of their heads [the dolphins' heads, [...]

31: Why the St. Louis Cardinals need a copy editor (1)

They need a copy editor to keep them from making mistakes like these: Ouch. This comes from the Deadspin blog. Thanks to my good friend and former colleague Deborah Burriss for the tip. You know who else needs copy editors? Drive-in movie theater managers. And Home Depot and manufacturers of “hoodies.” And CNN. And college athletic department ticket offices. And [...]

31: Birthdays for Tuesday, Aug. 31 (1)

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to three outstanding visual journalists… Mark McTyre is a senior editor for NBC Sports’ online operation, which is powered by MSNBC in Redmond, Wash. A 1997 graduate of the University of Oregon, Mark worked at the Olympian and the Eastside Journal of Bellevue, Wash., before landing in 1998 as lead sports designer for the [...]

30: Fort Lauderdale’s Chris Mihal moves to Creative Loafing in Atlanta (1)

Chris Mihal — news design director at the SunSentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — is now the creative director of Creative Loafing, a weekly tabloid in Atlanta. Monday was his first day on the new job, he tells us: My last day at the SunSentinel was a couple Fridays ago, I think. I’m really excited about the opportunity to continue [...]

30: Cool hurricane imagery from NASA

Isn’t this cool? It’s not every day you can get two full-blown (heh) hurricanes into one photo: Up top in this photo is Hurricane Danielle. Down low is Hurricane Earl. This satellite photo was taken Sunday morning. You can click here for a larger view, but go to the original source — NASA — for a much larger version as [...]

30: Why drive-in movie theater managers need copy editors

They need copy editors — and specifically copy editors with dirty minds — to keep them from making mistakes like this one: That is a drive-in theater in Warren, Ohio. The photo was apparently taken this week. Those two movies are still playing (as of this weekend). This was originally posted on Reddit by ZachSka87. A while back we looked [...]

30: Birthdays for Monday, Aug. 30

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to six wonderful visual journalists… Bert Dalmer is an investigator with the Iowa state Ombudsman’s office in Des Moines, Iowa. A 1994 graduate of the University of Illinois, Bert spent three years with the City News Bureau of Chicago before joining the Register Star of Rockford, Ill. In 2000, he moved to the Des [...]

29: Birthdays for Sunday, Aug. 29

Here’s wishing a very happy birthday to two wonderful visual journalists… Michelle Irwin is a designer and artist for the News-Press of Fort Myers, Fla. A 2003 graduate of Oklahoma State University, Michelle spent four years as a designer and artist for Freedom Communications papers in Havelock and Kinston, N.C., before moving to Fort Myers in 2007. She illustrates features [...]

28: Better not to use a stock photo at all if you’re going to use it like this (3)

Isn’t this horrible? If this is the only way you can think to illustrate your story, then don’t use art at all. It’s as simple as that. That’s the web site of the Daily Express tabloid, based in London. Shameful. Just shameful. Find the Daily Express site here. Find this actual story here. I found this posted at Fark today.

28: Interesting use of photography on Saturday front pages (2)

My morning swing through the daily archive at the Newseum resulted in four pages that caught my eye with interesting use of photography today. The first — and perhaps most spectacular — was the Star-Advertiser of Honolulu, Hawaii, which used an Associated Press photo of a local little-league baseball team playing in a national championship tournament in Pennsylvania to dynamic [...]

28: Birthday for Saturday, Aug. 28

Here’s wishing a very happy birthday to Randy Evans, assistant managing editor of the Des Moines Register. A 1972 graduate of the University of Iowa, Randy has worked at the Register 36 years. Randy shares a birthday with actors Jack Black, Jason Priestley, Daniel Stern, David Soul, Amanda Tapping and Charles Boyer; musicians LeAnn Rimes and Eilleen Regina Edwards (better [...]

27: Rockford’s Billy Kulpa moving to GateHouse Media (4)

Billy Kulpa of the Rockford, Ill., Register Star is moving down the road to the suburbs of Chicago. Billy tells us: I’ll be designing pages for GateHouse News Service starting Sept. 7. They operate out of Downers Grove, which is about 90 minutes from the Register Star. I’m going to commute it for awhile until the girlfriend and I are [...]

27: Birthdays for Friday, Aug. 27

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to a pair of excellent visual journalists… Mia Bush is copy desk chief and leader of the national/international team at the Portland Oregonian. A 1986 graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Mia spent 16 years as a copy editor, page designer and finally news editor of the Des Moines Register before moving west [...]

26: “I’m a Mac.” “And I’m a PC.”

That was the first thing I thought of this evening (Thursday) when I saw the front pages of the two Las Vegas newspapers. Click either for a larger view: The lead art for the Las Vegas Review Journal: The winner of the 2010 Ms. Senior Nevada pageant. The lead art for the Las Vegas Sun: A sequined-bikini-clad gogo dancer atop [...]

26: The way online video SHOULD be done. I think. Maybe. (6)

Leave it to the New York Times. From the morning mailbag comes this note from William Neff of Cleveland’s Plain Dealer: Hey, this pot’s boiling fairly furiously, but with an unusual level of intelligence and civility. I know you’re a bit busy at the moment, but think this merits throwing it open to the wider AppleSphere? I stand 100% behind [...]

26: Michael Eisner being pursued for top Tribune job?

That’s what the Los Angeles Times — a Tribune paper, of course — reported Wednesday afternoon. But why is this so difficult to believe? After all, one could easily argue that the current management is Goofy. Admittedly, I have nothing to add to this story. Other than a couple of wisecracks. I sure hope Tribune can get things back on [...]

26: Birthday for Thursday, Aug. 26 (2)

Here’s wishing a very happy birthday today to Dennis Bolt, a freelance graphic artist and illustrator and proprietor of Dennis Bolt Studio in Sebastopol, Calif. A 1997 graduate of the University of Oregon, Dennis spent seven years as an artist for the Marin Independent Journal in Novato, Calif., before becoming graphics editor of the Press Democrat in Santa Rosa. He [...]

25: Why Home Depot needs copy editors (2)

They need copy editors to keep them from making mistakes like this one: Ouch. That’s from a Home Depot in central Ohio, found last month by the author of the Sprockets Inside blog. Thanks to the author for tipping me off. The author posted: I told the CEO that unless his store is carrying tools for grabbing prostitutes, they have [...]

25: Birthday for Wednesday, Aug. 25

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to Marc Rapport, manager of media relations for the South Carolina Dept. of Parks, Recreation and Tourism in Columbia. A 1978 graduate of Ohio’s Kent State University, Marc worked at a number of papers including the Herald in Rock Hill, S.C. and The State in Columbia before joining PRT several years ago. Marc turns [...]

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