file:///C:/Users/Casey/Downloads/1211152213_001%20(3).mp4
(I originally wanted to have the video itself but the file wasn’t supported, so here is a link instead.)
Classmate Interview
The Roll of the Editor
The newspaper has been around serving as the main conduit for delivery of information for generations. While it has been declining in recent years, it still remains a prominent staple of news deliverance. When in the newspaper or any news-providing business, one must be familiar with the many roles that are available and what functions said roles are responsible to fulfill.
There are the journalists/reporters who are responsible for writing article proposals and, if approved, obtain information through researching, interviews with the right people, and, if opinion, their own mouths. They then write the official report. There are company lawyers who read stories that may be sensitive to certain people or are controversial. They decide if such a story is safe to run or not. There are photographers who take the pictures with their artistic eye of people, places, or things to illustrate the article. There is the online staff that “produces the web content, flash animations, and edits Web-only features (Bloggers sometimes write about stories appearing in that day’s journal).” Due to the increasing interest in technology over traditional methods, they have become a major factor in the sharing of news and have since become a necessity for every newspaper. There are market data group who “collects information from stock exchanges to produce stock tables and, as a result, create the 4 p.m. ‘synthetic close’ so the Journal has one, authoritative, ‘closing price’ for each stock and a similar policy for after-hours quotations and answer research questions from reporters.” (Quora)
As stated by study.com, newspaper editors in general “have the daily responsibility of deciding which news stories are printed in the paper. Long before the paper is published, the editor assigns reporters to cover the news, checks for accuracy and fairness in the newspaper’s articles and writes headlines. It is not unusual for a newspaper editor to have worked as a journalist or proofreader before becoming an editor.”
The role of an editor covers many aspects in the newspaper office. Due to the high number of responsibilities, their field is split into subgroups. In fact, there are around five subgroups. While each subfield is similar with similar responsibilities, there are notable difference between them. The differences of each type of editor’s responsivities depends on which subgroup they are in.
The first would be the Bureau chief / editor who has perhaps the highest job in the newspaper totem pole. Their role can be summed up as the “Boss,” (hence why they can be called ‘chief’ as well as ‘editor’). They hire and evaluate reporter, assign beats, have authority on which story proposals get written, and edits a reporter’s story proposal as well as other duties. They are very important in the hierarchy totem pole of the full newspaper’s staff.
The next one would be the section editor who is in charge of the feature pages. They receive story proposals and green-light them as well; unless, of course, the article isn’t right to make it to the print. They also edit the finished pieces of their sections in the newspaper. All in all, they handle the feature sections of the paper.
After that is the copy editor who edits for clarity, double-checks numbers and names to ensure everything is correct. They can also fill in facts that were not known at the time the article has been written. They serve as the figure head of editors as they proofread the reporters’ articles, which seem to be the primary act of editing.
The news editor “edits the stories that are going inside a section rather than on the front. They also “maintain the ‘sked’ of which stories are slated to go on which page and in which editions,” (Quora). These articles tend to be missed or ignored due to not being front page but the effort that goes into ensuring their perfection is no less than any of the others.
The last subgroup is managing editor/editor in chief/deputy managing editor. Quora.com claims that “from the cub reporter’s perspective, they seemed to get directly involved in probably three or four stories a day, focusing on the front page.” These editors have to doubly make sure their work is right as they have the stories that are most read and mistakes are more likely to be noticed.
Note that a common responsibility is to decide what stories make it into the papers and which do not. The editors determine this by deciding if the story has enough detail and is in-depth enough to warrant a spot. Whether or not the news is “hard” or “soft” also helps where the story goes.
The serious news such as politics, economics, crime, war, and so on are considered hard news and, naturally, more likely to get past the editor’s red-light. Soft news, which can be referred to as infotainment, is usually just the reporter’s curiosity fueling a certain story and is therefore more likely to get cut, unless there would be a public interest in the topic alongside the reporter; that would increase its chances to get published in the newspaper. How it looks next to other articles can influence this to. Is it too similar or too different than the other stories? Is it in-depth or vague when compared to the article next to it? So many things must be considered before an article can be put in the paper.
However, editing is not solely for newspapers. Anyone who writes anything in hopes of getting the piece published must see an editor first. Sokanu.com states that “An editor is someone who is a critical reader, and a lover of words. They will prepare a client’s manuscript for publication by polishing, refining and enhancing it. An editor is seen as a gatekeeper between the writer and audience, and they have to take a dual sided point of view in order to keep both parties happy.”
An editor is one of the most important roles a newspaper worker or any career involving writing can have. They ensure that the articles are safe and sound to publish and can be taken for truth. They make sure everything is correct and can be taken for fact. They have a job and they must do it well.
Sources
https://www.sokanu.com/careers/editor/
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Media-Guide/html/editor_duties.html
The Importance of Typography
Typography is defined as “the style and appearance of printed matter; the art or procedure of arranging type or processing data and printing from it (Dictionary). It is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed, according to its Wikipedia page. This involves the selection of a particular typeface, the point size, the line length and spacing (which is referred to as leading), letter-spacing (which is referred to as tracking), and the adjustment of the space within letter pairs (which is referred to as kerning). The style, arrangement, and appearance of the letters are another concept of typography; this also includes numbers and symbols. Typography is a sister to type design; however people in each field do not consider belonging to the other. Needless to say, typography is used as a decorative device, which can be related or unrelated to information communication (Wiki).
“Typography is the work of typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic designers, art directors, manga artists, comic book artists, graffiti artists, and now—anyone who arranges words, letters, numbers, and symbols for publication, display, or distribution—from clerical workers and newsletter writers to anyone self-publishing materials. Until the Digital Age, typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography to new generations of previously unrelated designers and lay users, and David Jury, head of graphic design at Colchester Institute in England, states that ‘typography is now something everybody does.’ As the capability to create typography has become ubiquitous, the application of principles and best practices developed over generations of skilled workers and professionals has diminished. Ironically, at a time when scientific techniques can support the proven traditions (e.g. greater legibility with the use of serifs, upper and lower case, contrast, etc.) through understanding the limitations of human vision, typography often encountered may fail to achieve its principle objective, effective communication,” (Wiki).
The history of a typographer itself first emerged around the beginning of the 20th century; this is when it became possible to separate the role of designing a page using that setting of that type. Bruce Rogers was perhaps one of the first to be able to properly identify himself as an typographer.
The fame of Bruce Rodgers first came to be because of his “elegant and careful book designs and even designed his own book typeface, the now-classic Centaur, but who never (as far as I know) actually set type. (Certainly, if Rogers ever did hold a composing stick in his hand, it was not part of his regular job. I doubt he ever sat down at the keyboard of a Monotype or a Linotype machine.)” (Creative Pro).
Rogers’s book designs and his book itself were one person’s works of many people’s works in the long tradition of literary book design. However, it is worth noting that there were others who were using newer and more radical traditions. They used different tactics other than typography. For example, there was Jan Tschichold who wrote about the workman who were actually involved in the process of producing printed matter. His topic was one of unique selection. This piece’s research took place in Weimar, Germany. Creative Pro claimed that they were responsible for the designed pages that were in the asymmetrical style of the New Typography, and proselytized for that new, revolutionary approach to putting words on the page. Tschichold himself did not set his own type, but he became a master of specifying for the typesetter precisely how he wanted every detail to be set.
As indirectly stated numerous times, typography plays a relatively large role in the designing of a page layout. It does more than just decide the form of the text of the size of the text, although that is a part of it. The design of the stuff people saw every day — magazines and ads and packaging and billboards — was in the hands of “commercial artists,” a catch-all term with the emphasis on “artist,” implying that any type used was subservient to the overall graphic effect. (Well, actually, the real emphasis was always on “commercial.”) as stated by Creative Pro. The article continues to say that “as advances in printing technology made it easier to adopt a more visual style of page layout, commercial artists were becoming more concerned with illustration and the arrangement of photographs. By mid-century, in this country, commercial artists were calling themselves ‘graphic designers,’ in an effort to take away the blue-collar connotations of ‘commercial artist’ and position themselves as highly paid professionals. Most graphic designers did work with type, or at least with lettering, but they left the execution of that work to regular typesetters or to lettering artists.”
Creative Pro continues to explain that once everyone began using the same tools—same computers such as PCs and MACs and same programs such as Photoshop and QuarkXPress, PageMaker and Illustrator—the division of labor changed once more. They now had to take on the task of setting their own typography or hoping that a particular program, whether it was theirs or someone else, and its default settings would be able to do the job form them. Since most modern-day graphic designers have never sat at a production keyboard (much less picked up a composing stick and set foundry type by hand — a much older production method), they have never had the opportunity to learn how to handle type on a day-to-day basis; but there are fewer and fewer trained typesetters or type houses that they can turn to for practical help, (Creative Pro).
Even when graphic designers have been through an art or design school, where presumably they have been exposed to at least a basic education about type, most of them don’t seem to have absorbed much understanding of the nuances of typography. They’re practicing a graphic discipline that has become detached from its principal mode of communication; all too often, they simply don’t know how to deal with words. However, through the use of the decodeunicode, which serves as the world’s writing systems, may make it a little easier to learn. Or it may do the opposite and make it more difficult as there are exactly 98,994 graphic characters on different plans.
The job of a typographer is a tough but creative one. They are the ones who make certain articles pop out more than others and, hopefully, prevent text walls from completely overwhelming the reader on sight alone. They add a certain level of imagination to every form of text they touch.
References
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/typography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typography
http://creativepro.com/dot-font-being-a-typographer/
Type Poster
How to Write a News Story
Every newspaper, whether it is electronic or physical paper and where it can found, all share a common characteristic. They tell news (Duh). That’s why they are named NEWSpapers. Such detail on certain stories however can come in a variety of subjects. It can cover many different fields of interest; and in order to organize such a vast array of topics, every newspaper is split into sections that determine in which where a certain story/article belongs to if it is going to be published.
Depending on the scope of the paper, there can be dozens of sections; some of which are naturally bigger and more important than others. For example, there are the news Section, the opinion Section, the entertainment or art Section, the feature section, the sport section, and the classified section. As stated before, this is subject to be diminished or expanded upon. However, perhaps one of the most important and most viewed of the newspaper sections is the news section. Please don’t let the surprise overwhelm you.
Similar to news stations on TV, the news sections is responsible for covering local community, state, national and international news events. This section is generally found in the beginning of the paper on the front page. This isn’t a surprise as it covers the most current and news.
In order to write a story for the news section, one must first find a story of relevant interest; a story of an event that has recently transpired and the public would be interested on knowing more information. After a topic is decided, as quoted by Open High School Courses, “a news story always has a lead, which is the first couple of sentences of the article. The lead will always include the most important details of the story: who, what, where, when, why, and how. One can find out what has happened by only reading the lead of an article.”
It is always a good idea to plan before one starts writing about the topic that has been chosen. People have been taught this since grammar school. Knowing what one wants to say before actually saying it lessens the chance of mistakes. However, some writers actually find this first step a hindrance. They see it as an unnecessary limitation that wastes time and effort and nothing is gained from the process. And that’s fine. Some writers can just sit down and write. Naturally, they then go through the paper or article afterwards for any mistakes that may or may not have slipped through. This is also when they change anything or add something that wasn’t there before. Some writers enjoy that process more than planning everything in advance. Both process can be used to reached the best article or paper, it all depends on the individual writer herself or himself.
When one begins to actually start writing, research into whatever topic the article or paper is about. Research can be accomplished through interviews and consulting sources of fact such as a published books. This research provides the body of the article and the more accurate and current the research is, the more accurate and current the article or paper would be. “To begin writing a news article you need to research the topic you will be writing about extensively. In order to have a credible, well written, well structured article, you have to know the topic intimately,” (wikihow). This process could be related to planning.
Once a writer has their topic of interest and research relating to said topic, the article must first start with a headline that captures the readers’ attention. Generally, readers are not interested in reading every article in the paper. They will instead just skim over the headlines and, judging by those, will either read that article or not. The more interesting the headline is, the more likely the people will stop skimming and actually read the article itself. This goes without saying, but the headline must also be related to the story itself. Don’t just write the most unique or weird thing that pops into mind. Be creative but still be truthful.
There must be a byline in order to give the writer credit. Any photography that may or may not coincide with the article must also receive the proper credit it(s) deserves. The spelling of the name is a make-it-or-break-it scenario. The writer is either right or wrong, and being wrong can upset a lot of people. So make sure the spelling is right. Despite the fact that this piece of information on the article is hardly looked at, it is still important to include this detail.
And finally, perhaps the most crucial piece is the body, which contains all of the information, facts, and first-hand quotes the writer has divulged through interviews and research. Any “facts” used must be undeniably true with no room for argument. When writing the body, it is imperative that no personal opinions be placed in a news article unless in a quote. That will cause the article to become bias and lose its status as a news article and be changed to an opinion piece. Writing in the third person is another important concept when writing a news piece. When all of these steps are used, the piece is written well and the research is sound, odds are that one has achieved writing a news story.
Writing a news piece can be the hardest story to write for a newspaper. The strict requirements for what facts make the cut and the almost detached persona one must undergo when writing it so no personal statements hinder the story can really increase the pressure to write a decent story. It deserves the truth and nothing but the truth! While writing the news story can be difficult, it is these stories that are read the most often and the stories the public is the most concerned with. They are the backbone of the whole paper. And a good newspaper needs a good back.
Sources
http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-News-Article
http://openhighschoolcourses.org/mod/book/tool/print/index.php?id=924
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper
http://www.mediacollege.com/journalism/news/write-stories.html
Real Tabloid Page
How to Write a Feature Story
A newspaper, or any news-delivering source, has a vastly selection of stories. How does one organize them all? The answer is that they are split into sections. For example, heavy news such as international or political stories can be found in the news section; any stories that revolve around the topic of sports can be found in the sports section, naturally. The art section is similar except this part of the paper is responsible for stories that are involved in the arts. The feature section, however, is different. When compared to the other newspaper section, the feature story section is unique.
The feature section of the newspaper is not …by the topic of the articles but rather by how the article is written. This section is distinguished by the quality of the writing instead. “Ask most people what a feature story is, and they’ll say something soft and puffy, written for the arts or fashion section of the newspaper or website. But in fact, features can be about any subject, from the fluffiest lifestyle piece to the toughest investigative report,” (About).
According to Entrepreneur, feature articles are articles “that speaks to a topic that’s of interest to a target audience but isn’t dependent on being newsworthy right at the moment it’s sent. That type of article is called a feature. A feature is an in-depth look at a topic, product or industry–it’s a complex story designed to be read at a leisurely pace. And a feature can benefit your company by linking your brand or product to a larger trend or industry focus while also showcasing you, the entrepreneur, as a thought-leader in your field. While a news release is designed to entice the reporter into finding out more information themselves, a feature’s designed to be used as is, or merely edited to fit the space available.” Despite this, certain topics are more likely to make this section then others. For example analysis and opinion on current issues, profiles of, or interviews with well known-people, humorous reflections, personal experience or anecdotes, online articles, background information on local, national or international events, magazine articles, human interest stories, background information and personal opinion on your interests (HubPages!).
When one is about to undertake the task of writing a feature article, regardless whether its for a newspaper or online source of news or something else entirely, there are a number of steps one must consider. Before even starting to write, a topic must be decided. As stated before, it is recommend to choose something that will draw the audience’s attention; so something current and interesting to a large section of people is ideal. It is also recommended that one choose something unique. While every topic is worthy of reporting, there a few of them that are constantly being talked about; such as global warming. That is interesting but overdone. Choose something that is different but still interesting enough to report, research, and write an article on it.
Research, which is always going to be step in writing any newspaper article, will be the next step. Student Voices from the New York Times claims that in order to properly research for a feature article one must interview. These interviews must be filled with asking good questions, in-depth details, listening well, keeping an opinion mind, and be willing and ready to probe for anecdotes. Using other sources of research are greatly recommended.
The next step is to devise a headline. “The headline is the most vital part of your feature. Treat the headline as if it were a summary of the article. Ask yourself, why is this story important? What about it will it grab readers’ interest? A good headline answers those questions by telling the reader something new, different or useful–in 20 words or less. Keep the wording simple, and avoid superlatives and emotive language. Also, avoid using a brand or client name in the headline unless it’s very well known. Instead, focus on what’s most interesting about your topic.” (Entrepreneur). The lead is a brief yet detailed paragraph or two that are only a mere 2 to three sentences that which provides a extension of the headline. This gives the reader a stronger idea of what the article is about and helps the reader determine whether or not they want to continue reading the article. It follows the headline. This is important, as most readers don’t have the time or patience to read the whole article.
The body of the article is the bulk of the written piece. This is when the writer complies all the research and puts it all into a single written piece. When writing the body, there are a few things that the reporter must keep in mind. For example “because a feature should be written from a journalistic perspective, you should emphasize information over outright promotion. Ideally, a feature editor won’t change the story at all and will use it when it’s needed as part of a theme or to fill space,” (Entrepreneur). It is advised to focus on the human element as well. This is what separates the feature section from the others and why the reader even picked it up in the first place. It should be embraced.
As for writing the article, Entrepreneur states that a reporter should start with an expansion on the lead; this means that feature articles start with the bare essential details because if the article has sections that need to be cut, then at least the concept of the story was still understood.
As the article expands, provide more details. Using quotations is an excellent way to do this. They lend authority to the article, introduce an export, and further the story. They also introduce personal feelings, comments, and opinions. Naturally, this is where the reporter would use superlatives without sounding false. Quotes should also be written in a conversational manner. Quotes are a useful tool as people are more likely to pay attention if there are more than just stated facts.
The amount of detail added to the article should develop the story further and hold the interest of the reader. This is where all the extra information should be placed. This adds strength to the article but if the reader stops reading, then they are only missing the icing on the cake. Photos are helpful in explaining the story and can draw the attention to the article in the first place. Adding one can determine the difference between the article getting published or it being rejected.
The feature article is a unique story among the other newspaper sections. While certain topics are more likely to get chosen, the quality of how it is written is what makes it for it really is. It is different but special and should be treated as such.
References
http://journalism.about.com/od/writing/a/whatarefeatures.htm
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/166662
http://similarsam.hubpages.com/hub/feature-article
https://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/writing/voices.html
http://freelancewritingsolutions.com/how-to-write-a-feature-article/
Tw0 Page Magazine Spread
How to Write Strong Headlines
Upon first opening a newspaper, the first thing that catches the eye, other than the picture if there is one, is the story’s headline. The headline is the “title” of the article. It is usually found near the top of the article and in a larger font than the story, although not always. It is a one-sentence summarization of the story that readers use to determine whether or not the article is of interest and/or importance to them. As a result, it is the headline that determines whether the article will be read or if the article will be completely ignored in favor of one of the other stories. “The importance of headlines cannot be understated. For many editors, can seem like added burdens; the stories are what really count. Headlines are far too often written last (often quickly and under deadline pressure),” (Columbia). Contrary to this claim, writing a strong headline is imperative to any journalist (or any provider of news).
Writing a headline is a step in the article process that either receives a quantity of attention or barely any. In disregard to the journalist’s opinion of its importance, the headline must be written and there are a number of little ’tips’ to ensure the headline is the best it could be. For example, Columbia.edu states that when writing a headline one should highlight intrigue, contrast or conflict within central theme, and to use key words. They continue to advise to avoid lazy writing; to not settle for the first attempt. Seeking the input of others and listen to those who object is another piece of advice they had stated.
When writing a headline, Columbia continues to on the subject and states that the headline must be correct (in fact and implication), must connect to ordinary readers (be easily understood), must attract attention (using interesting, active words), and must set (or match) tone of the article. They also advise to “Never allow cute, creative headlines to blind you to the need for accuracy. Be alert to headlines that have unintended meanings.”
There are other Headline Rules, according to Radford. For example, “Headlines should tell something – Don’t write non-heads… Conjunctions, prepositions and modifiers should not be placed at the end of a line. Don’t split modifiers…Don’t modify modifiers…Headlines should usually have a verb; if not, it should be a better head without it…Fill out the count. Don’t leave trapped white space…Cutting can improve most stories.”
If the story is a news or feature article, then Columbia states that when writing a headline one include keywords from the article and the journalist should be quick but not to hurry; “don’t allow the goal of “pushing pages” before deadline to short-circuit the need to write accurate, clear, tasteful headlines. Remember: readers start here.”
If the article is news, “Play it straight, summarize the news.” If the article is feature, “Be creative. Tease, flirt, hint – but don’t give away lead. Use freshened clichés, creative puns, twists of ad slogans, well-known sayings,” (Columbia).
When verbs are going to be included in it, the headline should be written in active action verbs. Short verbs are better. Connotations should be examined as well as the context for unintended messages. If no verbs are going to be used, “use creative, attractive hammers of one to three words,” (Columbia).
According to G.S Virdi (Ten Secretes of Writing Effective Headlines), the TACT test is one way to ensure an effective headline. Go through The Taste-Attractiveness-Clarity-Truth Test and make sure each category is YES. Is it in good taste, would it offend anyone in anyway? Does it attract the reader’s attention? Does it communicate clearly, quickly? Is it accurate, true? If there is a single NO, then re-write the headline.
Columbia.edu’s page on how to write a strong headline had a list of Do-and-Don’ts. For example, “Make the headline easy to read. The key purpose of the head: to communicate…Don’t mislead reader…Don’t exaggerate; maintain neutrality…Remember the rules of grammar and use them…Don’t begin with a verb …Use present tense to indicate past…Don’t use present tense to indicate future unless necessary; add time element for clarity….Don’t use said, when you mean said to be…Don’t use feel, believes or thinks…Avoid slang unless relevant to feature story and headline. These tips are only few of a vast list.
Writing a headline is a unavoidable part of writing a story. Some newspaper journalists don’t have to write their headlines while other papers require it. Some find it annoying while others find it as a chance to be clever and witty. Regardless of whether or not one enjoys writing it, the headline is one of the first things the eye is drawn to and as a result, one of the most important parts of the whole article.
Sources
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/isaacs/client_edit/Headlines.html
http://www.radford.edu/~wkovarik/class/design/328/328.headlines.html
The 10th Muse 