Newspaper and Story
On-line students:
Return to COMM 313 on line assignments.
Return to COMM 313 on line lecture list.
Dummy sheets and copy control
(Based on a lecture by Ross Collins, associate professor of communication, North Dakota State University)
Watch a video demonstration! Dummy sheets for editors.
We all know that the concept of placing photos, illustrations and stories on a page is important, and more than just a mechanical process. The way articles are displayed, their size, and their headlines tell readers the importance you are giving to each story. Bigger, more prominently placed equals more important. Smaller, less prominently placed equals less important. Who has not at times looked at a publication and said, "of course, they put that story on page 18Z at the bottom--they are biased against that topic." Or "of course that's a big story, and a big headline, right on the cover, because they are obsessed with that topic."
That's why the process of placing elements on a page involves decisions made by editors. Normally editors are responsible for certain sections of a large publication. In a newspaper, for instance, a "wire editor" may be responsible for choice and placement of national and international news, which comes over the wire (well, now computer) news services. A sports editor will be responsible for sport pages. An editorial page editor will be responsible for editorial pages, etc.
This involves important choices, as well as a knowledge of the mechanical way a publication gets made, and the operation of the publication that makes sure everything gets done correctly, and on time. Most publications of any size have a standardized, routinized, never-vary set of guidelines for the mechanical process of placing elements on a page. Why? Well, for the same reasons that a pilot has a chart of routine checks before taking off, which must be followed in order, and must never vary. It guarantees you won't forget something important.
In the
Return to COMM 313 on line assignments.
Return to COMM 313 on line lecture list.
Dummy sheets and copy control
(Based on a lecture by Ross Collins, associate professor of communication, North Dakota State University)
Watch a video demonstration! Dummy sheets for editors.
We all know that the concept of placing photos, illustrations and stories on a page is important, and more than just a mechanical process. The way articles are displayed, their size, and their headlines tell readers the importance you are giving to each story. Bigger, more prominently placed equals more important. Smaller, less prominently placed equals less important. Who has not at times looked at a publication and said, "of course, they put that story on page 18Z at the bottom--they are biased against that topic." Or "of course that's a big story, and a big headline, right on the cover, because they are obsessed with that topic."
That's why the process of placing elements on a page involves decisions made by editors. Normally editors are responsible for certain sections of a large publication. In a newspaper, for instance, a "wire editor" may be responsible for choice and placement of national and international news, which comes over the wire (well, now computer) news services. A sports editor will be responsible for sport pages. An editorial page editor will be responsible for editorial pages, etc.
This involves important choices, as well as a knowledge of the mechanical way a publication gets made, and the operation of the publication that makes sure everything gets done correctly, and on time. Most publications of any size have a standardized, routinized, never-vary set of guidelines for the mechanical process of placing elements on a page. Why? Well, for the same reasons that a pilot has a chart of routine checks before taking off, which must be followed in order, and must never vary. It guarantees you won't forget something important.
In the