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Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 

‘Industry woes’ archive

Number of comments in parentheses

Feb. 8: GateHouse reverses course on location of new design, editing hub

Reports emerged three weeks ago that GateHouse Media planned to consolidate design and copy editing functions of its newspapers to hubs at sites in the suburbs of Chicago and Boston. GateHouse’s Rockford Register Star reports this afternoon that the first hub — originally slated for the company’s headquarters in Downers Grove, west of downtown Chicago — will instead be a [...]

Feb. 6: How does a college paper shake up its content for a cool new Friday edition?

The hugely talented Greg Mees — visual managing editor for the student paper at Colorado State University, Rocky Mountain Collegian — wrote me a week or so ago. Greg wrote: We are just getting back into the swing of things here at the Collegian for the spring semester and, with that, we have launched the Weekender. This is our new [...]

Feb. 3: The Associated Press needed a copy editor for its Super Bowl interactive

Tonight, I spotted this note from the Associated Press on Twitter. Ah, great! An interactive look at Super Bowl history. That would be a fun read tonight. So I gave it a look-see. That particular link the AP offered sent me to the web site of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where I settled in for a look at 45 years [...]

Feb. 3: Jon Fisch and Kevin Fujii — laid off last month by Seattle Times — are hired by MSN.com

Jon Fisch — laid off a month ago by the Seattle Times — writes via Facebook: Want a follow-up to your post about the Times laying us all off? Both Kevin Fujii and I have been hired by MSN.com. Kevin as a photo editor. I’ll be working as a content editor. Kevin started a few weeks ago. I start next [...]

Feb. 2: Why you don’t mess around with a live page

Granted, it’s a student newspaper at Boston’s Suffolk University. But that’s no excuse. You mess around with a live page or with dummy copy and you’ll get burned. Eventually. Jim Romenesko posted this today and quotes the paper’s official apology. He’s also put in a call to the paper to find out what reaction has been on campus. Read it [...]

Jan. 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 [...]

Jan. 25: A sales pitch for citizen journalists

Have you heard of OneNews? It’s one of those “citizen journalist” operations that, some say, are the future of journalism. Today, a blogging friend forwarded the sales pitch OneNews made to him. My friend writes: As if there weren’t enough problems in journalism, apparently someone has decided to turn everyone with a smart phone into a reporter. Who knew being [...]

Jan. 24: We don’t need no stinkin’ pictures (1)

Having learned my lesson a couple of times over the years, I dislike naming people who have been laid off. Exceptions: 1) If they announce it themselves via social media, 2) If their company announces it (which never happens), or 3) If another media outlet names them. That’s why I’m not going to mention the paper — except to say [...]

Jan. 22: No, this is NOT a real front page from the Washington Post (17)

Have you seen this? It’s been making the rounds today. At first, it looks like a surreal juxtaposition — the kind I’ve been writing about lately (here and here). That looks nothing like the Washington Post you’ll find at the Newseum today. Most folks passing it around are claiming it’s an earlier edition. No, it’s not an earlier edition. It’s [...]

Jan. 22: Newsroom staffers receive iPhones; a visuals manager reacts (1)

I swore to someone, a while back, that I’d never ever post one of those ubiquitous Hitler rant videos. I lied. This one nails a very real problem we have in newspapers. Plus, it’s funny as shit. Enjoy: Thanks to David Sheets of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for tweeting about this today.

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. 17: GateHouse Media to consolidate design, copy desks in Chicago and Boston (1)

GateHouse Media plans to consolidate design and copy editing functions of its newspapers to hubs in Chicago and Boston, a report says tonight. The first of the company’s 97 dailies to be moved to the hubs:  The Springfield, Ill., State Journal-Register and the Galesburg, Ill., Register-Mail. Design and copy editing desks of those two papers will be moved to Chicago [...]

Jan. 17: A few thoughts about the Great Online Protest Blackout of 2012 (6)

The great online blackout — aimed at protesting the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act and related legislation — begins tonight at midnight, Eastern Time. Or, at least, that’s when the blackout begins at Wikipedia. Where it will be observed for 24 hours. At Reddit, the blackout won’t begin until 8 a.m. Wednesday and will last only 12 hours. Twitter declined [...]

Jan. 12: The future of advertising and media (1)

Forget everything you’ve read about the future of media and advertising. I saw this brilliant, brilliant cartoon today by Zach Weiner of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. I can just about see this really happening… You saw it here first. Zach’s work is terrific. He posts daily. Find SMBC here.

Jan. 9: A little TOO much information, perhaps, about Twitter users (1)

Gavin Sheridan, innovation director of Storiful, blogs today about his attempts to put geocoded Twitter info to use in finding patterns that could be turned into stories. He ran searches on Twitter and fed the results into Datasift. What you’re seeing in the map below are 135,000 tweets over this past weekend from users who mentioned GOP candidates by name. [...]

Jan. 9: Roger Black gives a thumbs-down to changes in the Houston Chronicle (6)

Roger Black notes today that no one has written about the recent typographical changes made to the Houston Chronicle. He’s quite right. I try to note all redesigns and tweaks — big and small — here in the blog. But so many papers are making changes to make their looks compatible with design hub practices that it’s difficult to keep [...]

Jan. 5: Among those laid off by the Seattle Times: Jon Fisch and two photographers

The Seattle Times won seven SND awards last year, all in either photo or sports design. That’s why the news is rather stunning that, among the five layoffs the Times is making this winter, are: Jon Fisch, assistant sports editor/presentation Barry Fitzsimmons, director of photography Kevin Fujii, A1 and sports photo editor Also laid off: Two news clerks. Jon’s last [...]

Jan. 1: Name change kicks in for St. Pete Times

For the record, here is the first edition of today’s newly-renamed Tampa Bay Times: The editorial down the left side is about the name change. Which is a bit better than yesterday’s centerpiece, which I thought was rather overplayed. Read the editorial here. Here is today’s front, side-by-side with Friday’s edition:   And, of course, here are the nameplates: Here’s [...]

Dec. 28, 2011: Leaving the newspaper business: Craig Runyon of Eugene, Ore., Register-Guard (2)

Craig Runyon, a designer for the Register-Guard in Eugene, Ore., covered the news pretty well in a Facebook post today. So here it is, nearly verbatim: I’m about to embark on a life-changing event. I’m switching to decaf. I’m kidding. I’m not that stupid. Actually, I’m leaving journalism. After 15 years in the newspaper business, tens of thousands of pages [...]

Dec. 27, 2011: McClatchy considering consolidating copy desks of five California dailies

McClatchy is considering consolidating copy desk operations among its five California-based papers, reports Ed Fishbein of the Sacramento Bee newspaper guild. Fishbein reported last week: Bee human resources director Linda Brooks said that it wasn’t clear whether the desks would in fact be consolidated, or where that would happen if they were. But she did say that an announcement on [...]

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