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Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 

Archive for March 2012

Number of comments in parentheses

31: Birthdays for Saturday, March 31

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to three wonderful visual journalists… Jeff Bash is the lead marketing specialist for Bankers Trust in Des Moines, Iowa, where he supervises the creative staff. As a student at Grand View College, Jeff worked for me as a graphics intern at the Des Moines Register in the summer of 2000. We kept him on [...]

30: A little perspective from the Midwest

Here in the airport in Newark — Yes, I’m still here enduring an extended layover on my way home from Nigeria — everybody is talking about the megamillions lottery. And I mean everybody. Thankfully, Gary Varvel of the Indianapolis Star…   …steps up to put that story into perspective for us: That apparently ran in today’s paper. I’ve written about [...]

30: For your Friday enjoyment: Two truly clever illustrations

As you know, I spent the past two weeks in Nigeria teaching infographics. But all of you who have attended any of my sessions over the years know: I never teach just what I’ve been hired to teach. I see the job of a visual journalist as being much bigger than that. Our job is to tell the story, no [...]

30: Hello again from Frankfurt, Germany

Once again, I find myself in Frankfurt Germany — a place of beauty, a place of history but most of all, a place where I’m pretty much trapped in the airport for several hours, away from all that beauty and history. The airport sure ain’t historic or beautiful. No offense intended. I feared the worst for the first leg of [...]

30: Here’s an ad department that needs [an additional] copy editor

Wednesday, the Bangor (Maine) Daily News accidentally ran a fake legal ad — one written apparently as an in-house joke. Amanda Terkel of the Huffington Post reports the ad… …promised that representatives from the agency would show up and “listen, with fake sympathy” to the problems of the locals. It also said that candid photos would be “sneakily taken of [...]

30: A busy, busy week for the Shelby (N.C.) Star

It’s been a busy week or so for the Star, a 14,164-circulation  daily of Shelby, N.C., maybe 40 miles west of Charlotte. Last week, as you might recall, a new movie opened nationwide: the Hunger Games. Much of that movie was filmed in the backwoods of Cleveland County. Go here to find a photo gallery by the Star‘s Ben Earp [...]

30: Birthdays for Friday, March 30

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to six brilliant visual journalists… Adolfo Arranz is a senior infographic artist for the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Previously, Adolfo worked as an infographics artist for Madrid’s El Mundo. Find his portfolio here and here, his blog here and his Twitter feed here. Denise Bridges is director of newsroom operations and [...]

29: Goodbye, Nigeria

I’m now in my last day teaching here in Nigeria. I’ve enjoyed my time here very much. I’ve even managed to find areas in which the Transcorp Hilton may need a copy editor. There’s no sense in wasting a not-quite-perfectly etched brass plaque. You can still make out the message, right? I’ve written before about how much I’ve enjoyed the [...]

29: Birthdays for Thursday, March 29

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to three superlative visual journalists… Ryan Hildebrandt is the creative director of the Louisville, Ky., design hub for Gannett. A 2002 graduate of Indiana University, Ryan began work as a temporary designer at the Indianapolis Star and then moved through the ranks, designing in every section. He left Indy last year as news design [...]

28: My next-to-last day here in Nigeria

Despite what Tuesday’s headline might imply, I’ve been perfectly safe here in Abuja, Nigeria. According to the story, the U.S. Embassy here in town says shots were fired nearby. But local law enforcement officials say it was just fireworks. Either way, I’ve had no issues at all with security or even the slightest hit of crime. Had I not seen [...]

27: Sun-Herald tabloid of Sydney, Australia, redesigns

The Sun-Herald — a 406,470-circulation Sunday tab edition of the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald — launched a redesign this past weekend. Managing editor for presentation Matt Martel sends along a big batch of pages and tells us: We launched a big redesign of our Sunday paper at the weekend. Biggest relaunch we’ve ever done and backed by a multi-million dollar [...]

27: Meet the new GateHouse ‘design house’ managers (5)

GateHouse Media — in the process of centralizing all design and editing functions of its entire chain of newspapers into two locations in Rockford, Ill. and in Framingham, Mass. — has named directors for each.   On the left is Conor Plunkett, director of the Framingham facility, where GateHouse’s weekly and small daily newpapers will be edited and designed. On [...]

27: Birthdays for Tuesday, March 27

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to three extraordinary visual journalists… Elisa Glass is art director for Northern Virginia magazine, a 150,000-circulation monthly based in McLean. Originally from Virginia Beach, Elisa earned a bachelors degree in Spanish at the University of Virginia before heading to the University of Missouri. She worked for the Missourian and for Vox magazine, earning a [...]

26: Seriously: Take the equivalent of a graduate course in iPad design by reading this one article (3)

There are a lot of talented people in visual journalism. I write about them every day here in the blog. But then there are a few certain individuals who transcend visual journalism. Individuals who operate at a whole ‘nother level than the rest of us and who always will operate at that level. I’m thinking of geniuses like Karl Gude, [...]

26: News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., launches a redesign (2)

The News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C. — my own newspaper home for the early-to-mid 1990s — launched a redesign this morning. On the left is a front page from last December. On the right is today’s edition.   There are a number of changes here — many you won’t see on the front — but the major one is [...]

26: *Gulp*…

I’ve not yet been outside today. And I’m not looking forward to it, either. According to the Weather Underground… The temperature at this very moment here in Abuja, Nigeria — where it’s only 9:20 a.m. — is 93 degrees Farenheit. The high forecast for today is 106 degrees. The high forecast for Tuesday is 109 degrees. The high forecast for [...]

26: Let’s kick off Monday with two amusing sports copy-editing foul-ups (1)

Khari Williams of Congressional Quarterly has been on a real roll lately finding copy-editing foul-ups. My last two installments of “why they need a copy editor” were from Khari (here and here). And then he passed along two more this morning. Khari tells us: Check out the attached headline. That looks like a pretty low salary cap hit to be [...]

26: Birthdays for Monday, March 26

Here’s wishing the happiest of birthdays to three brilliant visual journalists… Rick Crotts is editor of the Sunday business and sports sections of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A 1981 graduate of the University of Florida, Rick has also taught journalism and visual communication at the University of Georgia, Georgia State University and Kennesaw State University. Rick turns 53 today. Peggy Earle [...]

25: R.I.P. longtime Kinston (N.C.) Free Press photog Charles Buchanan

Kinston (N.C.) Free Press photographer Charles Buchanan — an employee of the paper for 35 years — passed away of a heart attack Thursday. He was 63. Charles grew up in Kinston, attended the University of North Carolina and then joined the Free Press in 1976. Included in the story by managing editor Bryan Hanks are quotes about Charles from [...]

25: What it’s like to live in Nigeria for two weeks

Yesterday, I told you about how work has been going here in Abuja, Nigeria. Today’s let’s take “your questions” about what it’s like to live and work in Nigeria. Q: So, have you gotten out to see the city? Not really. And for a very good reason: You can’t really see much of the city. From the time the sun [...]

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