“Events” Items

Chicago Tribune Graphics Service’s 1st Catalog

The success of the Chicago Tribune’s graphics desk allowed the company to offer a service.  We would send out slick sheets of graphics via express mail service on Saturday.  The first index provided a catalog of the more than 1,000 graphics sent to subscribers in the 70 weeks since the service started.  What we have tried to do is provide a list of the material that has some shelf life [usable after a period of time] or a graphic that could provide the base for  a graphic  that can be updated with  new information.

Here are the folks who made it work:

This index was put together under the direction of  Howard Finberg, Graphics Editor of the Chicago Tribune, with the appreciated assistance of Mark Maynard, an editing  assistant. Larry Townsend, Director of the Graphics Service and editor of the KNT News Wire at the Tribune, has had the difficult task of updating the file weekly and trying to make the project as handy for other editors as it has been for us. Tony Majeri has provided help in the graphic  look of the  project.

Every Friday Larry and I would gather up velox copies of the various graphics published or planned for the Tribune.

Dual Online Strategy Memo

You need to have a memo about the plan, even though there are lots of conversations along the way.  Here’s the memo I wrote John Oppedahl (my boss), editor of The Arizona Republic.  It outlined our strategy to launch on both AOL and on the Web.  And we also had a bulletin board service for home sales.

June 2, 1995

TO:                     John Oppedahl

FROM:               Howard I. Finberg

SUBJECT:         Executive Summary/Online Plan

This is an executive summary of Phoenix Newspapers’ Online Plan:

As outlined in the “Online Opportunities” report, PNI will take a multi-platform (or multi-newsstand approach).  This will allow PNI to control where content is placed and will provide opportunities to reach readers through different services (America Online, the Internet/World Wide Web server and PNI’s existing bulletin board service). PNI will not sign an “exclusive agreement” with any online service, and hence will be free to take advantage of upcoming opportunities in 1996 and 1997 (e.g. Microsoft Network and New Century Network).

The full memo has more details about staffing and revenue expectations.  The revenue was optimistic, but realistic given the AOL bounties.

Arizona Central’s Official Launch Announcements

Even though Arizona Central (AzCentral) was live on both AOL and the Web earlier, we needed to make an official and public announcement about both services.  The Phoenix Newspapers (PNI) marketing department created an excellent package of materials, including press releases (one for each service) and screenshots of the online services.  And, of course, a FAQ about going online.  It reads quaint today, but the basic “here’s how to get online” information was essential in 1995.  The other members of the launch team were Dave Gianelli, special projects manager, Dan Hontz, online project for AzCentral on the Web, and Jeff Unger, online producer for AzCentral on AOL.

Both press releases are here: pni_annouces azcentral_12_08_1995

The FAQ about Arizona Central on AOL and on the Web are here: azcentral faq sheets_12_08_1995

How a Graphics Editor Works at the Chicago Tribune

The first edition of the journal of the Society of Newspaper Designers (SND) featured excerpts of a speech I gave the the organization’s first convention.  The gather was held in Tribune Tower, in a meeting room called Campbell Hall (if memory serves).  That meant we probably had no more than a couple of hundred folks in the room.  The editors of Design took a transcript of my speech and turned into an article.  However, I didn’t know any of this until publication.

Reading it over today still gives me lots to cringe about — I was a bit arrogant.  OK, I was a full of self-importance about this new role.  The Chicago Tribune was the leader in informational graphics.  And I was the Graphics Editor.  I wished I had remembered to talk about how this was a team activity, not a solo sport.

However, I still like my conclusion, that all of the work we do is about making it better for the audience:

You can have the prettiest looking graphics in the paper and it doesn’t mean anything  if  it doesn’t  communicate with readers. That’s the most important thing as far as the Tribune and the graphics editors go. If we’re not communicating  with  the reader, we’ve lost it all. It’s my job to go for it.

Not sure what I was going for, but I guess we did.

Here’s the article from Design

Young Readers and the Future of the Chicago Tribune

In late 1973 and early 1974 I was part of a committee at the Chicago Tribune.  The committee members were all under 30 and most of us recent hires by the newspaper.  Our task was to explore what the paper should do to attract more younger readers.  This task was less about getting young adults to read newspapers but to read the Tribune instead of the Chicago Sun-Times.  Members of the committee: Ovie Carter, Gary Deeb, Howard Finberg, Clarence Page, Don Pierson, Bill Plunkett, Karen Schickedanz, Rick Soll and Linda Winer.  Here’s what we wrote in our summary:

Simply stated, the Chicago Tribune takes itself too seriously. This is not to diminish its role as one of the nation’s best newspapers. Rather, it is a suggestion that the time has come for the Chicago Tribune to slaughter, once and for all, many of its sacred cows.

Further on, we concluded:

What we are recommending, in a general way, is a relaxation of the restraint that prohibits surprise and thought-provoking material from appearing in the Tribune.   It is not a recommendation to relax or reduce in any  way the standards of journalism: Strict reverence for the facts, a sense of fairness, and an attention to thoro reporting.

Please note the unique spelling of thorough, as the Tribune was still gripped by a style book that used simplified spelling, a cause of the previous owner/publisher:  Col. Robert McCormick.

The  is available as a PDF file: chi trib_young readers group_02_1974

Understanding the Online Future

In early 1994 I was given the task to figure out, with help of some great colleagues, the online future for Phoenix Newspapers [The Arizona Republic, the Phoenix Gazette and the Arizona Business Gazette]. Dave Gianelli and I spent a lot of time looking at different partnerships, such as America Online and Prodigy.  And we also looked at “going it alone” also known as the Web or Internet.  Remember, this was 1994.  The Web was something newer than the online services.  We created a report to help guide the company’s decision.  In the end, we urged a dual approach — partner with AOL [for the cash bounties] and go it alone, via the Web.  At the time, it was a bold and unusual strategy.

The first section is available as a PDF: PNI Online Opportunities Report 01_09_1994

 

Future of Journnalism Education Speech

I gave keynote speech at European Journalism Centre 20th Anniversary celebration in Maastricht, Netherlands, thanks to the director of the EJC’s director, Wilfried Rutten. The speech [PDF link] gave me an opportunity to build upon remarks I made the previous year at the “Picnic” conference.  I was part of a panel that addressed the future of journalism. I also wrote an article for Poynter Online about the topic.  I must admit that I love this line: “Journalism education can’t teach its way to the future.”

Here’s the start of the Poynter Online article that captures the spirit of the speech:

As we think about the changes whipping through the media industry, there is a nearby storm about to strike journalism education.

The future of journalism education will be a very different and difficult future, a future that is full of innovation and creative disruption. And, I believe, we will see an evolution and uncoupling between the value of a journalism education and a journalism degree.

When we think about the future, there’s not a single future. The future for a 20-year-old is clearly very different than the future of a 60-year-old. Each will bring a very different perspective.

The future of journalism education is linked to the future of journalism itself. Each is caught within the other’s vortex, both spinning within today’s turmoil of change.

There is a video of the speech on YouTube.

The reaction to both the speech and the article were very good, although it was part of a swirl of postings and speeches about the topic.  With the encouragement of my colleague, Vicki Krueger, I decided that this topic needed continued study and that will lead to other reports and writing.

NewsU Goes Public

Poynter’ e-learning project, News University, had its public debut on April 11, 2005 at the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington DC.  I gave the first public showing of site at a roundtable meeting on the future of journalism education.  The next day, Poynter Online ran a Q&A by Joe Grimm about the project.

Today, as NewsU is formally launched, the online school has more than 2,000 registered users from around the world. Journalists from India, Portugal, Australia, The Philippines, Canada, Uzbekistan, Albania and China have joined U.S. journalists who have participated in NewsU’s courses.

Here’s a PDF version of that story.

Here’s the stupidest prediction I made about the future of Poynter NewsU:

What do you expect the reach to be like with NewsU?

We’re already at 2,000 registered users. And that’s without any advertising or mailings. I’m sure we’ll double that number in a year. And then perhaps we’ll double again in a couple of years.

We hit those numbers in the first year. NewsU in 2013 has more than 275,000 registered users.