Archive for June 2011

30: The next wave of newspaper consolidation begins: Now, management is being laid off (1)

We’ve seen newspapers merge their “production,” copy-editing and design teams. I’ve seen papers merge their photo departments. The Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News & Observer long ago merged — to a large degree — their sports and features staffs. But now management is being affected. The Bay Area News Group — a group of papers owned by Dean Singleton‘s [...]

30: Why bakeries that decorate cakes for copy editors need copy editors (5)

Hunter Bretzius — editor of the Gaston Gazette in Gastonia, N.C. — writes today: Today, we had a send off party for Hugh Koontz, who is retiring after copy editing for The Star (Shelby, N.C.) and The Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) for more than nine years. Hugh is looking forward to spending time with his family and pursuing this favorite hobby [...]

30: Baltimore Sun’s free daily ‘b’ youth tab going weekly

Poynter’s Jim Romenesko reports today that b — the free youth tab published daily by the Baltimore Sun — will be switching to weekly publication next month. Already, the spinning has started. Romenesko reports that Don Farley — publisher of the weekly Baltimore City Paper – says: Obviously cutting back to one issue is admitting it’s a failure. Yet, Tim [...]

30: Vanity Fair responds to Newsweek’s Diana cover

Back on Monday, I showed you the cover to the new issue of Newsweek, in which Photoshop art firm R. Mutt Studios showed us what Diana, Princess of Wales might have looked like had she lived to turn 50 this week. I called it revolting. Not many people have taken issue with that description. Vanity Fair responded yesterday: Is it [...]

30: How New Mexico papers are covering the wild fires (2)

Let’s take a quick look at how two papers in New Mexico are playing the wildfires there on page one… — SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN Santa Fe, N.M. Circulation 22,506 This map from today’s New Mexican should give you an idea of where the Las Conchas fire has been burning this week. The fire area buts up against the southwest [...]

30: Birthdays for Thursday, June 30

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to two wonderful visual journalists… Kristin Askelson is managing editor of the Daily Advertiser in Lafayette, La. A 1991 graduate of Michigan State University, Kristin spent two-and-a-half years as copy desk chief of the Journal-News of Hamilton, Ohio. She moved to the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer in 1998, serving as assistant features editor, features editor [...]

29: Birthdays for Wednesday, June 29

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to four talented journalists… Diane Graham is a freelance writer and editor in Des Moines, Iowa. A graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Diane spent 32 years at the Des Moines Register, starting out as a college intern and leaving in 2005 as a managing editor. Betsy Simnacher is a content coordinator for [...]

28: How many ways can you say “guilty on 17 counts”? (6)

There are only so many ways to say “guilty on 17 out of 20 counts.” That is the deduction I make after my daily spin through the Newseum to see how Chicago-area newspapers presented the verdict in the retrial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. — CHICAGO TRIBUNE Chicago, Ill. Circulation: 437,205 Or perhaps this is a story in which [...]

28: An endorsement of Apple’s new Final Cut Pro version X

The folks who work on Conan O’Brien‘s new TV show have happily endorsed the new version of Final Cut Pro. Sort of. Enjoy.

28: The stupidest news story you’ll enjoy reading today (1)

OK, let me get this straight. 1. In September 2009, Joe Lipari of New York visits his local Apple store genius bar for help with his iPhone. 2. Unhappy with the service, he logs into Facebook and, like a total idiot, types into his status update: Joe Lipari might walk into an Apple store on Fifth Avenue with an Armalite [...]

28: Monday’s news photo of the day

The best news photo for Monday was this one by staffer Eddie Moore, on the front of the  Albuquerque Journal. Be sure you click on it for maximum impact… What you’re looking at should have been a gorgeous Sunday evening sunset. The view, however, was blocked by smoke from a wildfire in Las Conchas, N.M., just west of Santa Fe. [...]

28: Birthday for Tuesday, June 28 (1)

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to Martin Gee, features design supervisor for the Boston Globe. Martin studied illustration at San Jose State University and interned at the San Jose Mercury News and the Miami Herald before joining the Orange County Register in 1998. In 2000, Martin left newspapers to work as a designer for the House of Blues. He [...]

27: Prepare to be revolted by… the cover illustration of Newsweek? (1)

The cover of this week’s Newsweek shows Princess Diana — as she might have looked today had she not been killed in a car crash back in 1997. Here’s a secondary illustration that appears on Newsweek‘s web site — and, perhaps, inside this week’s issue as well: Diana uses her brand-new white iPhone 4. My take on this: This terribly [...]

27: Close, but not quite there for Monday’s flooding front pages

The big Midwestern flooding story today is the situation around the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, less than 20 miles upsteam of Omaha. A dam protecting the plant from the Missouri River failed Sunday, resulting in two feet of water surrounding the nuclear plant buildings themselves. The plant itself has been offline since April, for refueling anyway. Needless to say, officials [...]

27: The Marines’ Illustrator of the Year

Did you know the U.S. Department of Defense names an graphic artist of the year? Me, neither. But now I know, thanks to my newspaper home 18 years ago, the Herald of Rock Hill, S.C. The winner of this year’s illustration category is 20-year-old lance corporal Michael Petersheim, a graduate of nearby Fort Mill High School. Petersheim has been trained [...]

27: Birthdays for Monday, June 27

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to five terrific visual journalists… Holly Braford is a news designer based in Minneapolis, Minn. A 2000 graduate of Kent State University, Holly spent three years as a designer for the Columbus Dispatch and another two at the Wichita Eagle before joining the St. Petersburg Times in 2005. When her husband — Andrew Braford, [...]

26: A couple of wonderful page-one infographics from the Midwest

My daily sweep through the Newseum resulted in two front pages that featured wonderfully-executed infographics in order to tell the day’s news. — WORLD-HERALD Omaha, Neb. Circulation 142,283 As I’m sure you’ve heard, the flooding along the Missouri River this year is extensive. The World-Herald‘s David Hendee reports: Imagine roughly 55 million acres — the entire surface of Nebraska and [...]

26: Birthdays for Sunday, June 26

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to six wonderful journalists… Crystal Dempsey is communications manager for the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, N.C. A 1986 graduate of West Virginia University, Crystal spent two years as a copy editor for the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail before moving to the Charlotte Observer as Style editor in 2000. She also [...]

25: Why mobile apps need a copy editor

Operations that push content to readers via mobile apps desperately need copy editors to keep them from making errors like this one. Aw, man. That would be a scream. If not for the bad news. KWTX Channel 10 is a TV station in Waco, Texas. The screen cap is from the station’s mobile app. Thanks to G.W. Babb for the [...]

25: How New York papers played the gay marriage law on A1 today

New York might not have been the first state to pass a law legalizing same-sex marriage. But it’s certainly the largest. And already, the four conservative state senators who decided to “vote their conscience” and support the bill last night are under heavy fire by their party for “betrayal.” Read about that here. Here are the most notable front pages [...]