Mansfield on Media

Goodbye blue at the Chicago Tribune

January 14, 2008 · 12 Comments

Click here (or on the image above) to download a high-rez PDF of the logos

The Blog noticed many papers getting narrower lately as the 48-inch web sweeps the nation. The Chicago Tribune is the most recent to make the transition, making the switch today (see the new front page below). The paper is using the format change to introduce other changes, perhaps the most noticeable: getting rid of the blue background on the Page 1 nameplate. Joe Knowles, the Tribune’s AME for design and graphics took a few minutes to talk with The Blog about the changes:

Keep reading →

→ 12 CommentsCategories: Region 4 · chicago tribune · industry news · redesign · typography

It’s almost that time …

January 10, 2008 · No Comments

A reminder: The deadline for entries to be received for the 29th Edition competition is January 16.

Need instructions? More entry forms? Download the Call for Entries here.

→ No CommentsCategories: Uncategorized

FROM THE SND PRESIDENT: How we’re facing new challenges

January 9, 2008 · No Comments

Dear SND members and friends,

I wish you all the best at the start of this new year.

As incoming president of the Society, I am looking forward to working with all of you in 2008. I am always impressed by the dedication and devotion of so many SND members. As we face myriad challenges in our industry, we are becoming an even more vibrant group. These are exciting times and we need to pull together to remain relevant and vital to the industry.

When elected, I made a commitment to help expand SND as an international organization. Last spring, the board approved a proposal to form a partnership with Ifra, and our first steps have included joint promotion of our training and events on the Web site and via e-mail. I’ll be working with our international director, Hans Peter Janisch, to push this forward.

Also on the international scene, SND is in discussions for form an affiliate in China. Lily Lu of the Star-Ledger in Newark has offered to serve as a liaison as we work together with visual journalists in China. We hope to have a proposal for board approval to create a Chinese-language affiliate by the April 6 meeting in Las Vegas.

Latin America is exploring a regional newspaper design competition. Alex Belman of Record in Mexico City and Gabi Schmidt, Region 11 director, will recruit an organizing committee from Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. This increased activity in Latin America is especially exciting in advance of our 2009 workshop in Buenos Aires!

The board has worked together and accomplished much in the drive to be the central organization for visual journalists around the world. As we continue to develop our Web site, we are offering more benefits to our international membership. The Blog is lively and provides links to our worldwide regions.

New challenges are everywhere. Newsrooms are in transition and many are in the process of reinventing themselves. SND, as a global organization has the potential to become an inspiration and a resource for these journalists everywhere.

We are putting significant effort into addressing the huge growth in online journalism where print and the Web converge. SND will strive to become a leader in this integration. Quick Courses have become so much more relevant with more hands-on workshops, and we’re helping traditional print designers in making the transition to new skills.

Meantime, expect to see increased visibility for the Society’s Web awards, The SNDies: The Best of Multimedia Design, which recognize achievement in this fast-growing area. The multimedia designers and artists in this amazing new arena are creating inspirational work. We should all take notice.

I am also making a commitment to help SND’s Foundation president, Bill Gaspard, mark the upcoming 30th anniversary of SND with a major fund-raising effort for the Foundation. Watch for more details on the Foundation’s expanding outreach on snd.org.

We are making good progress on many fronts, but there is still much to do. I am asking all of you to join me in keeping up the effort to ensure the Society is moving forward. Our organization is needed more than ever!

If I can help you in any way, please be sure to e-mail me.

Gayle Grin
SND President
mailto:ggrin@nationalpost.com

→ No CommentsCategories: SND · board

Quick Course Q&A with Sara Quinn

January 7, 2008 · No Comments

The first Quick Courses of 2008 are just a few days away.

Jan. 18-19: Audio & Video Editing, Cerritos College, Cerritos, California
Jan. 18-19: Story Forms Boot Camp, The Poynter Institute, St. Petersburg, Florida

The Quick Course at the Poynter Institute provides the excellent opportunity to have Sara Quinn speak on what the EyeTrack07 study says about Alternative Story Forms.

Sara teaches in the areas of design, graphics, photojournalism and leadership at The Poynter Institute. She is the director of Poynter’s EyeTrack07 study of print and online news. Prior to joining Poynter, Quinn was AME for visuals at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune; presentation director at the Wichita Eagle; and design director, magazine editor, illustrator and book designer at other posts.

She has been juror for competitions such as the SND annual competition, the Association of Alternative News Weeklies, Scripps Howard Foundation and Best of Cox; board member of SND and the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

Recent work has taken Quinn into the newsrooms of the Toronto Star, The Oregonian, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Miami Herald, The Columbus Dispatch and the Orlando Sentinel. She has also worked with Ball State University, Ringling School of Art and Design and the University of Missouri in the last few months.

Quinn directs Poynter’s summer fellowship for recent college grads — a six week program with a focus on multimedia that’s considered to be a finishing school for some of the brightest, most innovative young journalists in the business. Quinn helps visual journalists to find their voice in the newsroom and to think beyond traditional job descriptions for ways to contribute their ideas, passions and abilities. She has a B.A. in journalism and graphic design from Wichita State University and an M.A. in illustration from Syracuse University.

Sara recently answered a few of our questions about ASFs.

What does EyeTrack 2007 tell us about ASFs?
We tested 600 regular readers of newspapers in four U.S. cities. Our findings showed that alternative story forms (things like a Q&A, a timeline, a short list or by-the-numbers box) helped readers to retain facts about something they’d read. These forms were popular, too, receiving much more attention than the standard written story form — particularly in broadsheet. Readers in the study also reported greater satisfaction with what they read when it involved alternative story forms.

What advice do you have for news organizations in light of the study?
Only about 4 percent of everything that was available to be read in 30 days of testing during our study could be categorized as an alternative story form. This seems to echo trends on an average day in most U.S. newspapers. To me, this means that there is a lot of room for growth and development toward making daily papers more engaging. It’s something we can act on.

Do you think readers vary among markets?
I think there are some differences, particularly related to a commuter market — and readers will sometimes show a greater personal connection to a publication than another. It was interesting, in an anecdotal way, to meet almost 600 readers and talk with them about their local papers during our study.

If you were starting from scratch, would you design a paper or Web site?
Great question. I think paper still makes sense at this point, from a business perspective. That’s still where the money would be for advertising. I would put money (if I had it :) ) into a niche publication.

What’s the first ASF you remember working on?
I’m sure it wasn’t the very first, but I remember something that outlined how much it would cost to put one new community police officer on the street in Wichita, Kansas. We set it up as sort of an equation, including costs for recruiting, hiring, training and outfitting an officer with gun, handcuffs, uniforms, cars, etc.

Do you have a favorite form of ASF? If yes, what is it and why?
I really like them all, collectively. I do enjoy reading a Q&A that’s done well. There’s an art to asking questions that elicit an unguarded response and that flow from one question to the next.

Register for the Story Forms Boot Camp at the Poynter Institute, or choose one of the many other Quick Courses.

→ No CommentsCategories: ASFs · Quick Courses · poynter

AN IOWA CAUCUS BAKER’S DOZEN

January 4, 2008 · 1 Comment

Here’s a couple two three pages The Blog enjoyed during its morning rounds on Newseum. And be sure to check out the Iowa caucus front page gallery over at Newsdesigner.com!


*NOTE: Yes, The Blog liked its own front page. If any readers take issue with that, we’ll call in a Conflict Blogger.

→ 1 CommentCategories: elections · front pages

Make 2008 Your Year for Tech

December 30, 2007 · 1 Comment

If you read this blog, you’re probably fairly technologically-inclined. But on the off-chance that you aren’t (or if you’ve got a colleague who isn’t), check out this post by Howard Owens. He encourages you to play around on services like Flickr, YouTube and Twitter to understand what happens on them, and to think about ways journalists could utilize them. There’s even a reward involved ($100 Amazon Gift Card) for a non-techie who puts a little time into each of the services.

I certainly find merit in playing with these services (although, I’d recommend Vimeo or blip.tv over YouTube - more creative content, less trash-talk). While it can seem like a nuisance managing and keeping up with each of these services, they’re succeeding because they each do one thing, and do that thing well. Plus, it allows you to tap into a community the print edition of your paper may not already be reaching…

Play around. There’s plenty of innovation yet to be had…

(A thanks to Erica Smith, who shared this link on Facebook…)

→ 1 CommentCategories: 2008 · blip.tv · flickr · technology · twitter · youtube

SND 2007: The year that was …

December 29, 2007 · 1 Comment

~ by Matt Mansfield

The end of any given year presents an opportunity to reflect. We’re not immune to that impulse here at The Blog, so let’s take a look back at 2007, a banner year for the Society for News Design and this here fledgling online publication. In a chunky bits/alternative story form sort of way, we cue the music (and, please, read this with a Bob Costas’ intonation) …

Most Amazing Example of Volunteer Spirit: Witnessing the cast of crew of The Boston Globe pull off the success that was SNDBoston. The annual workshop reached near-record attendance, an amazing feat in a year marked by terrible industry news. SNDBoston was an important reminder of the critical roles we have as storytellers and presenters of the news. Dan Zedek, Emily Kehe, Kristin Lenz, Greg Klee, Chin Wang and what seemed liked a multitude of good-natured New Englanders showed SND members what it means to be giving of your time and talent. The event also gave us all the chance to party in a town that knows how to get down, which we appreciated. The Blog tips its hat (a Red Sox stocking cap, in our case) to SND’s Globe (+ Courant) friends for a solid source of inspiration, just when we needed it most.

Sweetest Sweetness of a Sweet Workshop: Seeing design greats Lynn Staley and Rolf Rehe honored with the Society’s Lifetime Achievement Awards on the final night in Boston. The Blog has looked up to both these legends for a long time. Being there for their honors was nothing short of astounding.

Best Embrace of The New: Denise M. Reagan, Stephen Komives, Don Wittekind, Jeff Goertzen and Ellen Meany deserve credit for completely overhauling the Society’s Quick Course lineup for next year to reflect the shifts in our field, looking hard at our offerings and seeing how SND can help train for the skills all of us will need to be competitive in the year ahead. There’s a bunch more hands-on multimedia work planned, as well as added courses on applicable print design skills in the new century. Plus all these courses are staffed by a stellar roster of faculty members. Kudos … And, um, signing up now!

Most-Convincing Case for a Trip to Spain: The Blog decamped to the friendly environs of Pamplona for the magic that is Malofiej, the world’s largest and most-prestigious news graphics workshop and competition. Don’t be worried, though, there’s not a shard of pretense among the welcoming Spaniards, all of whom are eager to share stories about our craft and the importance of information graphics in showing the world how the world works. They will also take you to the best Irish pub in Spain, the Jumping Jester, where graphics greats hold court each night among a global gathering of people committed to making a difference. A hint: The next Malofiej is March 9-14, 2008!

Best Chance to Get to Know Someone New: The SND board OK’d a new cost structure for international members in several countries where an SND membership is simply not realistic for individuals. (Example: The US $105 membership fee is a month’s salary for many designers in Eastern Europe) We changed corporate memberships in these countries, in the hope that more newspapers will purchase memberships for up to three individuals on one account — creating additional SND members in these under-served countries. So reach out … and let any of us in the SND leadership know how we can help.

Easiest Chance to Get to Know Someone New: Attend SND/Scandinavia. A bunch of folks from North America made their way to Stockholm this spring for a truly memorable event. By all accounts, the workshop was a great tool for networking and seeing new approaches. Hint: SND/S hosts its next annual gathering in Copenhagen from May 22-24, 2008!

Most-Underrated Performer: Because he’s good at what he does and recedes to the background in the way folks like that do, it’s easy to forget that Jonathon Berlin actually does orchestrate Design — and that he’s among the great editors of the Society’s quarterly journal. Jonathon’s deft touch is seen in everything from the provocative story solicitation + editing to the presentation of each edition, which reinvents itself with every issue. In JB’s hands, Design has become intent on expanding its global author and illustrator base, something done to great effect in 2007. For making Design a vibrant part of the visual journalism dialogue, JB, we owe you one.

Most-Underrated Performer Whose Name You May Not Know: Because she’s good at what she does, too … Susan Santoro may not be a name that rolls off your tongue. That’s too bad. Susan really does it all behind the scenes for SND’s members, every step of the way as your advocate in the main office. She’s always making sure that member needs come first, a tough act in a far-flung organization. Ever need something (really, just anything)? Send Susan an email. We always do. Thanks, Ms. S, for all you do on our behalf!

Most-Overdue Praise: That would be for outgoing SND prez Scott Goldman of the Indy Star, a swell president during a time of crazy change. Grace under pressure? Check. Ability to move the Society forward? Check. Niceness every step of the way? Check. Check. Check … You said in Boston that you were honored to serve SND, Scott. Truth is, it’s the other way around: We were honored to have you at our service.

Most Chilling Moment: Yours truly and Ms. Reagan delivering an outdoor SND Update video report from the annual competition in sub-zero Syracuse. You can actually see our hands shaking as we read the results. Brrrr …..

Most Heart-Warming Moment: Watching the complete transformation of Mexico City’s Excelsior reveal itself on the judging tables at the 28th Best of Newspaper Design competition. The paper went from nearly out to glorious redemption as an example of what we could all do if we thought of our publications in the same holistic, zero-based way. One of the sweetest triumphs of the business case for design in a long, long time.

Best Chance at an Award: Can’t win if you don’t play, right? Enter the 29th Annual Best of Newspaper Design for a shot at greatness in that brilliant annual book. Deadline happens fast in 2008. Like fast.

OK. That’s probably all we have. At least all we can remember. If we forgot something, add it to the comments and know that, when we see you, we will buy you a drink to make up for it. You know we’re good for a beverage or three here at The Blog.

Here’s to a great 2008!

~ Matt Mansfield is the incoming Vice President of the Society for News Design and a deputy managing editor at the San Jose Mercury News.

→ 1 CommentCategories: 2007 · milestones · reflections · snd update

Newspapers in pop culture: The Sun in HBO’s The Wire

December 28, 2007 · 1 Comment

Newspapers have long been portrayed in movies and television, that’s not news. But HBO’s fifth and final season of The Wire will focus on the stories of Charm City’s darker sides through the prism of the newsroom of The Baltimore Sun. The paper has played a supporting role throughout the series, but this season will focus around the media, and the paper in particular, according to recent trailers and a special 30 minute preview aired on HBO this week.

According to Variety magazine “The Wire gets the newsroom right”

“The best look at newspapers in movies or TV? Hands down, the prize goes to ‘The Wire.’ “

According to HBO’s website:

“This season of ‘The Wire’ is based in large part on series creator David Simon’s experiences in 13 years at The Baltimore Sun. Simon decries recent trends in the newspaper industry that have conspired to make high-end journalism vulnerable: out-of-town chain ownership, an economic climate in which the share price of media companies matters more to industry leaders than the product itself, and a newsroom culture in which prizes, personal ambition and the cult of the “impact” story has replaced consistent and detailed coverage of complex issues as the primary goal.”

Before The Wire, Simon penned two books of narrative nonfiction, ‘Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets,’ which inspired the hit series ‘Homicide: Life on the Street,’ and ‘The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood,’ which inspired the Emmy(R)-winning HBO miniseries ‘The Corner.’

→ 1 CommentCategories: industry news · media · pop culture · video

Michael Whitley promoted to AME Design at L.A. Times

December 18, 2007 · 16 Comments

(Clockwise from top left) Whitley, in an earlier, frosted era, showed the LAT how to inject a little temporary tattoo ‘tude. At the Boston SND conference, he displays his latest hat trick — a stunning Stanley Cup special section. Later at Boston, he and Tyson Evans brought the tech to the closing ceremonies once again.


Michael Whitley has been named Assistant Managing Editor for Design of the Los Angeles Times. He’ll oversee news, features, graphics and the magazine.

“I feel excited and slightly nervous,” said Michael.


Here is today’s memo announcing the news:

Dec. 18, 2007

From: John Arthur, managing editor
To: The Staff

I’m pleased to announce that Michael Whitley has been promoted to Assistant Managing Editor for Design, reporting to me.

Michael is known not only for his outstanding design skills and dignified attire — dark suits, round the clock — but for his easygoing manner, gracious collegiality, deep interest in photojournalism and in stories of all types. In his tenure at The Times, Michael has had a hand in some of the paper’s most important projects and consistently receives praise from colleagues for his high standards and ability to work as part of a team.


Michael joined The Times in April, 2003, as deputy design director for news after serving as team leader for news and projects at the Charlotte Observer for three years. In January, 2006, Michael was named design director for news, overseeing design for the A, California, Business and Sports sections.

Effective today, features design, graphics and magazine design will also will report to Michael. He inherits an incredibly talented group. From the the wonderful work done by Christian Potter-Drury and the features design department, Les Dunseith and the graphics department and Heidi Volpe and the magazine design department, The Times is recognized throughout the industry for both our high-quality journalism and the creative and intelligent ways we present it.

Before joining The Times, Michael was the projects designer at the San Diego Union-Tribune and the deputy design director for news and sports at the Copley Suburban Chicago Newspapers. His first newspaper job was at the Princeton (Ind.) Daily Clarion, an 8,000-circulation paper where he served as reporter, photographer, designer, sometimes plate-maker and even wrote a weekly column.

Michael is from Versailles, Ky., home to thoroughbred horse racing and Woodford Reserve Bourbon, both of which he enjoys in moderation. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Evansville (Ind.) in journalism with specializations in photojournalism and investigative reporting.

Michael lives in Culver City with his wife, Jacqueline, and their dog, Reiley. For two years, the Design Department has reported to Deputy Managing Editor Melissa McCoy, who has ably juggled that assignment, leadership of the entire copy desk and a variety of other tasks. I want to thank Melissa for her contributions to the management of what is clearly one of the best design desks in American journalism. More interesting responsibilities will continue to come Melissa’s way!

.

→ 16 CommentsCategories: industry news · member moves · promotion

WANT TO ESCAPE THE COLD? BOOK YOUR HOTEL ROOM NOW!

December 17, 2007 · No Comments


If you’re sitting in the middle of a bunch of ice and snow, you might be thinking that Florida or California in January sounds like a great idea.

It is.

Not only can you escape the winter doldrums, but you can gain some mighty useful new skills at the same time.

Jan. 18-19: Audio & Video Editing, Cerritos College, Cerritos, California
Jan. 18-19: Story Forms Boot Camp, The Poynter Institute, St. Petersburg, Florida

But January in these locales is popular, so you need to book your room early.

ST. PETERSBURG
The Heritage Hotel
234 Third Avenue North
(727) 822-4814
Mention The Poynter Institute for the group rate of $129.95.
This block will be released on 12/17 so make your reservations now.

The Hilton Hotel
333 First Street South
(727) 825-7005
Mention The Poynter Institute or the Society for News Design for the group rate of $155.
This block will be released 12/19 so make your reservations now.

CERRITOS
Quality Inn & Suites
16905 S. Pioneer Blvd.
Artesia, Calif.
The hotel is two miles from Cerritos College.
(562) 402-2202.
Mention the Society for News Design for the group rate of $59.
This block will be released on 12/27 so make your reservations now.

Check out the full calendar and an interactive map of locations.

→ No CommentsCategories: Uncategorized