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Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 

‘Travelogue’ archive

Number of comments in parentheses

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 [...]

Aug. 20, 2011: Spent my last night in Pittsburgh by shooting the area around my hotel

I’ve spent the last two weeks in Pittsburgh, Pa., teaching and coaching the visual journalists of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Trib used to be the small, scrappy paper in town. No longer, I think. After having examined both products for a while, I find the Tribune to be a great read every morning. I find the other daily to be [...]

Aug. 18, 2011: A quick visit with Doug Jessmer (1)

I’ve been working hard here the past week-and-a-half at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. I’d love to get out and see more of the town in the evenings after work. But after the presentations and the one-on-one sessions we’re having and some of the sample pages I’ve been building, I find myself so tired that all I can do go down to [...]

Aug. 15, 2011: A tour of Pittsburgh. And of Gotham City, too. (4)

I’ve been way too busy to do much blogging. Or to get out and see the city of Pittsburgh. Or even to do any blogging about getting out to see the city of Pittsburgh, for that matter. Friday evening, I moved into my new home for the next week: The SpringHill Suites on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. The hotel is across [...]

Aug. 11, 2011: Broadcasting live from Gotham City, Pennsylvania…

As I wrote a few minutes ago, I’ve had a great time this week teaching and evangelizing about visual journalism in the newsroom of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Wednesday was the best day yet. Then I went to dinner last night and experienced my first travel mishap of the week. Hopefully, that little incident will fulfill my bad luck quota for [...]

Aug. 11, 2011: That’s OK. I didn’t want a front bumper anyway… (1)

It’s been a very busy three days for me so far in the offices of the Tribune-Review in Pittsburgh, where I’m teaching this week and next. Lots of great discussions. Lots of interesting things happening. The downside: I’ve been so crushed for time that I’m finding myself eating at McDonald’s, again and again. Just for convenience sake. Too often, really, [...]

Aug. 8, 2011: A visit to the Flight 93 memorial site (2)

Although I was eager to get to Pittsburgh Sunday, I couldn’t resist the temptation to pull off the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Shanksville — perhaps an hour and a half east of Pittsburgh — to check out the progress at the Flight 93 crash site. My wife and I visited this memorial the last time I passed through this area, two [...]

Aug. 7, 2011: En route to Pittsburgh, Pa.

Now that I’ve climbed off my soapbox today, let me give you a quick update. I’m writing during my lunch stop in Frederick, Md. You gotta love the free wifi at McDonald’s. And the french fries. You gotta love them, too. I’m en route to Pittsburgh, where I’m spending the next two weeks doing a little visual journalism coaching at [...]

Aug. 4, 2011: Who is that masked millionaire playboy on page one? (1)

Here’s the most unusual front-page photo I saw during my daily sweep through the Newseum. You’re looking at Batman (played by Christian Bale). He’s fighting a juiced-up Bane (Tom Hardy), on the steps of the Mellon Institute in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh. In the snow. In 90-degree weather. In August. But when you finally see the Dark Knight Rises [...]

June 16, 2011: Exploring Reno and Lake Tahoe (6)

It worked out — somehow — that Tuesday, I was given a) a day off in Reno — where I taught Monday as part of the Maynard Multimedia Editing program – and b) the use of a car for a day. I’ve not visited this area since I was 11 years old. This meant I’d have an opportunity to go [...]

June 12, 2011: Reporting live from Reno, Nevada (9)

My alarm clock went off at the insanely early hour of 3 a.m. this morning. I might add the obvious fact that 3 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time is midnight in Reno. Which was my destination today. So what does one eat for breakfast at Norfolk International Airport at 4:30 in the morning? I didn’t think anything would be open at [...]

June 2, 2011: Reporting live from beautiful Chapel Hill, N.C. (4)

I dragged myself out of bed at an insanely early hour this morning and drove down to Chapel Hill, N.C. Where I spent the afternoon — and will spend the morning Friday — talking multimedia infographics with University of North Carolina students working on the News21 project sponsored by the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education. This is [...]

Aug. 13, 2010: Move over, Jim Cantore (3)

Usually whenever we visit Sharon’s folks’ house in Lilburn — where we’re spending a long weekend — I “borrow” a neighbor’s wifi signal to stay connected. No such luck this trip. Sometime today, that signal disappeared. I have no one from whom to sponge. I’m writing this at a nearby McDonald’s. And if I’m here much longer tonight, I may [...]

Aug. 12, 2010: In Atlanta for a few days

We had a lovely drive down I-85 today to Atlanta. If you can’t tell, those italics denote sarcasm. Interstate 85 was fine for the first several hours, but on the south side of Greensboro, we ran into an awful mess with all lanes blocked and even the official detour clogged. Perhaps it was caused by work crews repainting the word [...]

Aug. 1, 2010: My week teaching visual journalism in Harrisburg, Pa. (2)

I’m wrapping up five days of visual journalism training here at the offices of the Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa., today. I thought I’d give you a peek at the paper, the city and at some of what we’ve been doing here. Back in March, the Patriot-News moved out of its longtime home on Market Street in downtown and into a [...]

July 31, 2010: Shadowing Meg Lavey as she designs A1 in Harrisburg (2)

My teaching expedition this week to Harrisburg, Pa. — at the Patriot-News, circulation 77,598 — has coincided with my good friend Meg Lavey‘s first few days designing A1. Megan, you might recall, is a talented writer, editor and designer. Her career took her from the Selma (Ala.) Times-Journal to the Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier to the Lewiston, Maine, Sun Journal [...]

July 28, 2010: Have Hawaiian shirts, will travel (1)

I’m in Harrisburg, Pa., this week teaching infographics and other visual journalism-related topics at the Patriot News. It’s been a few months since I went out on a teaching gig. It’s easy for me to forget just how colorful my traveling wardrobe is: I don’t have very far at all to travel for today’s sessions. The new suburban offices of [...]

July 27, 2010: On the road today to Harrisburg, Pa.

I’m sitting in a McDonald’s, just off I-95 in Fredericksburg, Va. Where, evidently, a race car has burst through the wall and is threatening to crush two women: Boogedy, boogedy, boogedy! Don’tcha just love the fake drywall exploding outward? The car isn’t terrifically rendered, but it’s darned near actual size. Which adds to the effect. Sharp-eyed blog readers will note [...]