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‘Charles Apple’ archive

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Feb. 9: What it’s like to sit in on a news meeting held in Afrikaans

From time to time, folks ask me what it was like working for months at a time in South African newspapers. It was a lot like working in U.S. newspapers, really. Except much of the time, everyone spoke Afrikaans. So attending planning meetings can be like going to a meeting in the U.S. in which they’re discussing, say, programming. Or [...]

Feb. 8: It’s a minor anniversary today for your blogger (8)

Today, I observe a bit of a landmark in my post-newsroom career: It’s now been 40 months since I lost my last full-time job. In late 2007, the Virginian-Pilot informed me that — despite all the good work I had done for them as graphics editor over the previous 4+ years — it was eliminating my department and my position. [...]

Jan. 18: Virginian-Pilot publisher earned bonus of ‘more than a quarter-million dollars’ (2)

Did you know the publisher of the Virginian-Pilot — Maurice Jones — has been nominated by the White House to become deputy secretary of the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development? Perhaps you did. Did you know that he sailed through his Senate confirmation hearings in November? Perhaps you knew that, too. Did you know that while the Pilot was [...]

Jan. 13: Use the news about Paula Deen to think about your own health, people (1)

The story about Food Network superstar Paula Deen a) planning to officially announce she has Type II diabetes and b) also announcing she’s signed a multimillion dollar deal to endorse the drug she’s now taking caught my attention today. The Daily reports: Deen has faced withering criticism for the high amounts of fat, salt and sugar in her dishes. When [...]

Dec. 16, 2011: He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake…

The gentleman on the right is my dad. Seriously. So yes: Apparently, I’m Polish. (Not Poland, silly. The North Pole.) Perhaps I can clear up a few things you may have wondered about over the years… Santa’s North Pole headquarters is just for show. In fact, he operates out of Thomson, Ga. Santa is a graduate of Clemson University. Mrs. [...]

Dec. 6, 2011: Beeld of Johannesburg, South Africa, redesigns (1)

Beeld — a 73,344-circulation daily based in Johannesburg, South Africa — launched a redesign today. This is the third of three Afrikaans-language dailies owned by the Media24 company to redesign this spring (they’re in the Southern hemisphere, so it’s spring there). On the left is Monday’s front page. On the right is today’s. I think it’s fair to say [...]

Nov. 22, 2011: South African newspapers observe ‘Black Tuesday’

Tuesday is a huge day for press freedom in my home-away-from-home, South Africa. The nation’s Press Association has asked South Africans to observe a “Black Tuesday” to support freedom of the press by wearing black clothing. Or, at least, a black armband. My good friend Arlene Prinsloo sent me this picture this morning of folks protesting in front of Parliament. [...]

Nov. 21, 2011: Die Burger of Cape Town, South Africa, launches a redesign

Die Burger — a 59,808-circulation Afrikaans-language daily based in Cape Town, South Africa — launched a redesign today. On the left is a front from last January. On the right is today’s launch day front. As I wrote two weeks ago, all three Media24 Afrikaans-language dailies in South Africa are redesigning this summer (summer for them; winter for us [...]

Nov. 8, 2011: Volksblad of Bloemfontein, South Africa, launches redesign (2)

Volksblad — a 21,025-circulation Afrikaans-language daily based in Bloemfontein, South Africa — launched a redesign today. On the left is Monday’s front page. On the right is today’s launch edition. Let’s see what I can tell you about the redesign… This redesign was started more than a year ago by Australian-based redesign consultant Peter Ong and then completed by [...]

Nov. 3, 2011: Who IS that handsome bastard?

If you’ve ever attended a seminar at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., then you may have received one of these flyers over the past couple of weeks or so. When I received my flyer, I noted right off the bat a couple of familiar faces in that photo tucked into the corner of the bright blue panel. I [...]

Oct. 31, 2011: Halloween pumpkin carving with the Apples

Here in the Apple household, we just love Halloween. We love the sounds and the smells. We love the spooky decorations. We love scaring the bejeezus out of graciously handing out candy to the neighborhood kids. Most of all, though, we love our annual pumpkin-carving exercise. It’s not nearly as elaborate as what some folks do. But we’ve been doing [...]

Oct. 29, 2011: Why PaidContent.org needs a copy editor

PaidContent.org — a site owned by Guardian News that provides “global coverage on the economics of digital content” — needs a copy editor to keep it from inserting questionable links into its news stories. Friday, the site posted a story about the consolidation going on at Cox Media Group. The story quoted my own story from Thursday night, which is [...]

Oct. 10, 2011: It’s going to be one of those days… (1)

It might not surprise you that I get a lot of my blog material via Google Alerts. I have a dizzying array of them. Some days my Alerts pull in some fascinating stuff. And some days I don’t get squat. Today, apparently, is one of the latter. Among my Google Alerts is one for my own name. This is how [...]

Oct. 2, 2011: SND/STL: A few stray thoughts on the way home

I’m on my way back home from the Society for News Design workshop, which was held this past few days in St. Louis. I posted quite a bit Friday and Saturday. I have a few stray thoughts and notes left over. So let me get them out of my system. Remember when I said to collect business cards? I really [...]

Oct. 1, 2011: SND/STL: My Friday presentation on reinventing yourself (2)

Yes, I spoke Friday morning. Yes, I have pictures. No, I didn’t blog about it. I got busy meeting folks and shaking hands and networking and then next thing I knew, it was time to crash. But you might remember the issue: I was asked here to speak on the topic of reinventing yourself. I knew right off the bat [...]

Sept. 30, 2011: SND/STL: Make sure you visit the annual silent auction

The proceeds go to the SND Foundation to pay for scholarships and grants for students to attend things like this very event. Here’s how the annual silent auction works: Folks donate items. You check ‘em over and bid on them via a piece of paper. The winner gets the item. It’s that easy. There was a lot of great stuff [...]

Sept. 30, 2011: SND/STL: Notes for Friday morning

Good morning, all. I don’t know about you guys, but I found Friday exhausting but exhilarating. The next two days are going to be a blur for all of us, I promise you. Things you’ll want to know about this morning… — DID YOU SET YOUR WATCH OR CELL PHONE CLOCK? Here in St. Louis, we’re on Central Time. If [...]

Sept. 30, 2011: SND/STL: This is why I love coming to Society for News Design workshops

Check this out: Two of my favorite people in the world: On the left is the award-winning Ryan Huddle, formerly of the Victoria (Texas) Advocate and now with the Boston Globe. Longtime blog readers will remember all the cool features packages he masterminded over the past few years. On the right is the award-winning Adonis Durado of the Times of [...]

Sept. 28, 2011: SND/STL: Reporting live from St. Louis (1)

I’m in St. Louis this week for the annual workshop of the Society for News Design on Friday. The conference begins tomorrow will a number of full-day sessions on a number of topics. I’ll spend the afternoon in the college designer session, critiquing portfolios and offering career advice. Things really get going Thursday night with the official opening reception, down [...]