In early 1990, Bruce Itule and I published: “Visual Editing. A graphic guide for journlists”. This textbook was aimed at editors at newspapers who handled various elements — photos, illustrations and informational graphics. It also tied all those elements together with chapters on newspaper design. It also include some history and a section on ethics. It was a great learning opportunity and I believe it helped become a better editor and manager. The Visual Editing textbook is on this site. More on the book is here.
“Newspapers” Items
Chicago Tribune Publishes Watergate Tapes in 1 Day, 1974
One of the moments of journalism history that I had a chance to live was the Chicago Tribune’s publishing of some of the Nixon White House tapes – the Watergate tapes – in 1974. It was also a moment where I was so very proud of the Tribune and its management and staffers.
The paper created a 44-page supplement that contained every word of the transcripts. And it was done in a single day. The remarkable inside story about that publishing achievement was capture by the Tribune’s in-house publication, “The Little Tribune.” The June 1974 edition is full details and names. For example:
After the decision was made, [editor Clayton] Kirkpatrick immediately contacted Maxwell McCrohon, managing editor; Frank Starr, chief of the Washington bureau; and Charles Parvin, assistant news editor then on duty, and instructed them to begin work on the project.
Because a decision had to be made quickly on how the transcript would be printed, a team of five editorial and production men was sent by Tribune plane to Washington’s Dulles airport to meet Frank Starr who would bring copies of the transcript.
Parvin contacted Dick Leslie, an assistant news editor, at his home about 10: 30 p.m. and asked him to round up two other men for the trip. Leslie called Bob Finan, editorial production coordinator, and George Cohen, Book World production man, who had experience with setting copy in cold type. John Olson, vice president and general manager, phoned Fred Hemingston, composing room superintendent, and Fred contacted Pat Ryan, engraving superintendent.
This is a great story about the power of journalism. The Tribune managed to print the transcripts BEFORE the official government printing office.
P.S. I was also proud to play a small role as a picture editor.
[art director Gus] Hartoonian and [art director Tony] Majeri created several designs for page 1, and one of them was selected by McCrohon. The front page story for the section was written by James O. Jackson, reporter, and Casey Banas, assistant to the editor, prepared the Transcript Index. Howard Finberg, assistant picture editor, located and sized photographs for page 1, inside and back pages, and ordered Velox prints from the engraving department. [picture editor Chuck] Scott asked photographer Chuck Osgood to take the special front page picture of the tapes.
Presentation to Straits Times, Singapore
In July 1993, I was invited to give a series of workshops to the visual journalists at the Straits Times in Singapore. [Straits Times company also owned the Business Times, a tabloid call New Paper and two native language papers: Berita Harian and Zaohao.]
The workshop was for three days. Among the topics covered:
- Readership
- Typography and Readability
- Ethics
- Color [although we spelled it Colour]
- Graphics
- The Future [Year 2000 design, based on the work done at the American Press Institute seminar on the topic].
Membership, Instructions and More for API Design 2000 Seminar
I’ve uploaded a collection of memos about the American Press Institute’s J. Montgomery Curtis Memorial Seminar on the future of newspaper design. The collection starts with the invite / acceptance letter in April 1988.
On July 21, API sent out the important information about the seminar — a memo outlining a task for each seminar participant: design a front page of the future.
Each member is being asked to create a front page of the future, including content mix and design elements. These front pages (which will become a part of this year’s post-seminar publication) will be analyzed in advance by Roger Black, one of the most active and acclaimed publication designers in the United States, and discussed during the program.
There is also a schedule of events and information about discussion groups and the final round-table.
Here’s a look at the seminar schedule:
- Monday, September 12:
- 8:30 – 10:00 – “Newspapers in a Visual Society11
Speaker: John Lees, Partner, Herman and Lees Associates, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.- 10:15 – 12:15 – “The Front Page”
Speaker: Roger Black, President, Roger Black Inc., New York, N.Y.- 2:00 – 3:30 – Study I: “The Future for Newspaper Graphics”
Speaker: Howard Finberg, Assistant Managing Editor, Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Ariz.- 3:45 – 5:15 – Study II: “Color”
Speaker: Nanette Bisher, Assistant Art Director, U.S. News and World Report, Washington, DC.- Tuesday, September 13:
- 8:30 – 10:00 – Study III: “The Impact of Technology”
Speaker: David Gray, Managing Editor/Graphics, Providence Journal Company, Providence, RI.- 10:15 – 11:45 – Study IV: “The Role of Tomorrow’s Newspaper Designer”
Speaker: Marty Petty, Vice President/Deputy Executive Editor, Hartford Courant, Hartford, Conn.- 12:00 – 1:30 – The membership will be broken into small groups to discuss in greater detail specific issues raised during the seminar.
- 1:45 – 3:30 – The membership will return to the API Round-Table to hear reports from each group detailing observations and any conclusion.
One other important document: the discussion leaders biographies.
The end product of this seminar can be seen in this slideshow.
SND European Workshop
One of the most unusual and fun workshops that I have participated in was a tour of four European cities on behalf of the Society of Newspaper Design in 1993. Between May 7 and 15, six designers and editors gave workshops on design, photography, infographics and more to 300 participants from almost 20 different countries. Among the cities visited by Andrew Chapin, Juan Antonio Giner, Bill Ostendorf, Norvall Skreien, Deborah Withey and myself were Stockholm, Hamburg, Zurich and La Coruna [Spain]. Here’s what Bill wrote for an SND publication:
The EFS, patterned after SND’s successful Quick Course programs in North America, drew warm and enthusiastic responses from audiences dominated by top editors. Most attendees had never heard of SND before attending one of the workshops, but afterwards many wanted to join, help establish chapters and sponsor more SND events in their countries.
…
“Everyone was very interested in what SND has to offer. And they were very pleased with our decision to bring our biggest workshop to Europe in 1995,” said Howard Finberg.
He added that now is the ideal time to foster better design in Europe. ”While there are pockets of very good design in Europe, there are also a lot of areas that are just on the verge of the kind of design revolution that swept the U.S. in the ’70s and ’80s. While we were in Germany, you could feel that same sense of excitement when you talked to editors who saw the need for attracting new readers.”
The full article is here.
Joining the Chicago Tribune
I joined the Chicago Tribune as a copy reader sometime during the week of June 4, 1972. I’m not trying to be vague about the actual start date, I just don’t remember. However, I do have my “hire letter” from Harold E. Hutchings, executive editor:
“This confirms that, as stated in our telephone conversation today, we will start you at $230 per week and that you will be ready for work on June 4, 1972. Since this is a Sunday, it well may be that you will not be scheduled in until June 5. We can settle that matter when you reach the city.”
A weekly salary of $230 is about $12,000 a year in 1972 dollars; in 2021 dollars, that’s about $75,000. Pretty nice for my almost first job. It actually was my second job as I was working at the SF Examiner at the time. I had two years of experience. That’s not a lot, I realized.
Sidebar: Give the time difference between Chicago and that I was working the morning shift at the SF Examiner, Hutchings had to send an airmail, special delivery letter asking me to give him a call. I got the letter and called him the same day. And the rest is, as they say, history.
Presstine Magazine Covers 2000 Design Project
The industry publication Presstime covered the results of the API’s design seminar in its October, 1988 edition. The article’s lede:
Two dozen movers and shakers in the field of newspaper design pondered the substance and form of 21st century newspapers at the American Press Institute’s annual J. Montgomery Curtis Memorial Seminar.
The round-table seminar, conducted at the institute in Reston, Va., Sept. 11-13, used as a focal point hypothetical front pages dated 2000 and beyond that were designed by participants and posted on the walls of the seminar room.
Ironic, isn’t it: “posted on the walls…”
I got a mention for my presentation on the future of graphics:
Howard I. Finberg, assistant managing editor of The Arizona Republic, said the overwhelming majority of editors he questioned predicted graphics will play a greater part in newspapers in the year 2000. But this priority seems to shrink when talk turns to money: The editors told Finberg they would spend 70 percent of any extra funds for reporting and editing, and only 10 percent for graphics.
Sad and not surprising. Given the visual nature of the Internet, would newspapers be in a better position today if they had invested in something other than words? Just wondering.
Celebrating The Republic’s Centennial: How We Worked
In 1990 The Arizona Republic celebrated its 100 years — its centennial. There were many different projects that I had role in editing and/or coordinating. It was a once in a lifetime project. One of the projects involved a full page timeline [called “Paper Route”] of how a story is reported, written and edited. In addition, how do photographers and others in the newsroom work to create the still ‘daily miracle.’
Future of Design Survey. What 2020 Looks Like in 1999
This is a copy of a presentation I did at the American Press Institute in 1999 for a seminar about the future of newspaper design. We looked at the future of design in 20 years.
Pagination and a Look Into the Future of Newspapers
In 1999 I was asked to contribute to a book about pagination being published by the Society of News Design and the Association of News Editors. You can download the entire book from here.
At the end of the article I made some “bolder, out-on-a-limb” predictions:
- Design as a unique job function in newspapers will slowly dissolve into other editing responsibilities.
- Editing will encompass more than the technical aspects of copy editing and take on more responsibilities for the entire infopacks.
- Computers will automatically handle most of the routine production responsibilities, freeing editors to do lust what we have always wanted them to do – make journalistic choices on behalf of their readers and the community.
- Most, if not all, maps and charts will be produced by software. There will be fewer artists at newspapers doing “art work.”
- The presentation of information will be of such importance for the organization that the senior editor with such responsibilities will report to the publisher.
I like my final paragraph:
Newspapers are on the verge of freeing themselves from the limitations of their production equipment. While I would not predict the end of newsprint as we know it, the era of print-centric delivery is coming to an end. We need to look beyond technology to find the solutions to organize and motivate our workforce for the new millennium. If we are successful, this is the last pagination book you will ever read.