Archive for January 2012

31: A recap of the Poynter chat today with Scott Goldman

The live chat I hosted this afternoon at Poytner.org — with guest Scott Goldman, director of digital and visuals at the Indianapolis Star — went over pretty well. I was worried that we might not get enough great questions. I needn’t have worried. The crowd had fabulous questions. And Scott provided terrific answers. Poynter has asked me to contribute to [...]

31: Austin sports design maestro Chris Hanna moving to Newsday

Austin American-Statesman designer Chris Hanna is moving to Newsday. Chris told us a couple of weeks ago: I’m all set. Except for that part where I’m also getting married next week. It’s a busy time, to be sure. I should start at Newsday sometime the week of Feb. 6. It might be hectic for Chris, but the timing of this [...]

31: Why CNN needs a copy editor. Or, perhaps, a graphics editor. (3)

CNN needs a copy editor. Or, perhaps, a graphics editor. Or, hell, just someone who knows how to read a Rand McNally atlas… That ain’t it. London is a good 100 miles to the southwest of that dot. That map was shown on the international edition of CNN Sunday night, according to the Daily Mirror. The Mirror‘s Frances Leate reports: [...]

31: Don’t forget today’s live chat with Scott Goldman of the Indy Star

A fun cartoon illustration on the front of today’s Indianapolis Star illustrates the hoopla around town in advance for this Sunday’s Super Bowl. The cartoon was lead art on page one today… …and was drawn by editorial cartoonist Gary Varvel…   …who is the same guy who drew a large cartoon for A1 last Tuesday, as well. What other cool [...]

31: Truly horrible juxtaposition today on the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun web site (2)

Surely you remember that horrific crash on Interstate 75 in Florida this weekend. Yesterday, we looked at page-one coverage of the accident — which claimed 10 lives and injured 20 more. Toronto Globe & Mail financial columnist David Milstead today directed my attention to ongoing coverage on the home page of the 29,024-circulation Gainesville (Fla.) Sun. A number of angles [...]

31: Lots of infographics goodness in the Washington Post this week

Let’s take a look at three awesome graphics that have appeared in the Washington Post over the past two days… — REPUBLICAN DELEGATES I was so delighted to find this graphic in Monday’s Post. As I wrote in an article for Poynter a while back, the Republican nomination isn’t about state maps that get colored in, county-by-county. It’s about delegates. [...]

31: Birthdays for Tuesday, Jan. 31

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to three wonderful visual journalists… Robb Paulson is a proposal coordinator for URS Corp. in Abingdon, Md. A 1994 graduate of Florida State University, Robb worked at the Democrat of Tallahassee, Fla., the Montgomery Journal of Rockville, Md., the Carroll County Times of Westminster, Md., the Herald of Rutland, Vt., and the Republican-American of [...]

30: One of the more subtle — and powerful — magazine covers you’ll ever see

At first, the new issue of the Penn Stater — Penn State’s alumni magazine — looks like it has a solid black front cover. But look closer. There is, in fact, very thin diagonal pattern embedded in that black surface. And then, atop those diagonal lines, is the nameplate of the magazine. Which has collapsed and fallen into a heap [...]

30: Why Costa Cruises needs a copy editor… and a new marketing agency

Will Alford — product design chief of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution — tells us today: I received a brochure in the mail last week from American Express about cruise deals. Oh, and what a brochure it is… First of all, there’s a misspelled word in the headline. That should be “yourself.” Secondly — and more importantly — one of the three [...]

30: Coming Tuesday: Poynter live chat with Indy Star’s Scott Goldman

The folks at Poynter have asked me to contribute occasional articles and arrange live chat appearances for their web site. The first of these live chats is scheduled for tomorrow. I’ll host Scott Goldman, director of digital and visuals at the Indianapolis Star. Among the things we hope we can get him to talk about: What cool things his crew [...]

30: How Florida papers played a horrific highway crash on page one

Just as everyone is gearing up for the big Republican primary in Florida tomorrow, big news breaks. A horrific crash on Interstate 75 just south of Gainesville, Fla., involved 12 cars and six semi trucks, killing 10 and injuring 21. This is the nightmare scenario for anyone who travels a lot on the nation’s interstate highways. It could happen to [...]

30: Birthdays for Monday, Jan. 30

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to three talented visual journalists… Kris Goodfellow is vice president of product management at the Realtors Property Resource of Los Angeles. A 1992 graduate of Northwestern University, Kris spent three years as a graphics reporter for the Chicago Tribune before moving to the New York Times as a graphics editor in 1995. She also [...]

29: Four interesting Sunday page-one photographs (5)

Here’s a look at four great pictures that made for intriguing page-one art today in U.S. newspapers… — VICTORIA ADVOCATE Victoria, Texas Circulation: 28,900 A beautiful Texas sunset. And… a pipeline? That picture by staffer Angeli Wright was lead art today for one of my favorite small newspapers, the Victoria Advocate. The story by Dianna Wray is about a new [...]

29: Why video gamemaker Capcom needs a copy editor (1)

Capcom — makers of the popular Resident Evil line of computer games — needs a copy editor to check the title of its products before printing up its boxes. The word they were looking for, of course, is Revelations. That’s was posted Thursday via Twitter by Dan Ackerman, senior editor at CNET. Thanks to Luke Morris of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette [...]

29: How Florida papers played the upcoming GOP primary on page one today

Let’s take a look at front pages today in Florida that advance that state’s Republican primary on Tuesday… — HERALD-TRIBUNE Sarasota, Fla. Circulation: 63,864 My favorite front-page treatment of the day was this one by Sarasota. The stories emphasize the strategies employed by the candidates: 1) Don’t mention Social Security. And, if you’re Mitt Romney, 2) Take every opportunity to [...]

29: Birthdays for Sunday, Jan. 29

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to five brilliant visual journalists… Sarah Cox is team leader for mobile web design for AT&T in Atlanta, Ga. A 1985 graduate of Oklahoma State University, Sara spent two years as an assistant news editor for the Sun-News of Las Cruces, N.M. and then two more as a copy editor and designer for the [...]

28: Tampa Bay Times hires sports designer Andy Rosenthal of Casper, Wyo. (1)

The Tampa Bay Times of St. Petersburg, Fla., announced this week on its internal electronic bulletin board: Good news: Andy Rosenthal, currently of the Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune will join us as a sports designer Feb. 13. Andy is originally from the Denver area, and before working in Casper spent some time at the Savannah Morning News. Andy’s excited about working [...]

28: Your weekend belly laugh

The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Don Asmussen just keeps getting funnier and funnier. Brilliant stuff. Find Don’s online comic archive here. Previous times I’ve blogged about Don’s work: Various headlines Katy Perry and Sesame Street Chilean miners and a new logo for al-Qaeda The Tucson shootings Bankruptcy of Borders bookstores Charlie Sheen‘s nutty behavior The Osama bin Laden story Fake pictures [...]

28: Why the West Palm Beach police department needs a copy editor (1)

The police department of West Palm Beach, Fla. — or, at least, the folks who make their signs — needs a copy editor who knows how to spell the word “official.” That picture was posted Friday morning by the Palm Beach Post. The sign is located in front of the department on Rosemary Ave in West Palm, the Post reports: [...]

28: Birthdays for Saturday, Jan. 28

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to two fabulous folks… Randy Foster is managing editor of the Sun Journal of New Bern, N.C. A 1982 graduate of Cal State Northridge, Randy spent seven years as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and then worked as a private investigator and an insurance adjuster before entering journalism as a reporter for [...]