Figure 8-23.—Proofreader’s marks using the guideline system.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER PROOFREADING
After the corrections have been made and you have
approved the galley proofs, the publisher takes and
assembles type, along with photographs and other art,
into pages according to the layout plan you submitted.
From these, the publisher makes page proofs — and
usually gives you a final chance to make sure there are
no errors. Make sure headlines are with the proper
stories, stories “jump” to the correct pages, paragraphs
are in proper sequence and cutlines are under the correct
photographs. Check the body type too. Sometimes a
slug gets misplaced or jumbled, but routine typesetting
errors should have been caught long before you reach
this point. You will make a permanent enemy of the
publisher if you start making unnecessary alterations.
After the final proofs are reviewed and approved,
the publisher produces a “blueline” version of the
newspaper for the editor to review. The blueline is a
replica of the newspaper in reverse and is comparable
to a blueprint. After the blueline is approved by the
editor, the newspaper is published and distributed.
Additional information on the blueline can be found in
the JO 1 & C TRAMAN.
If you work on a newspaper staff, you will do a lot
of proofreading. For this reason, you should ask for a
tour of the newspaper printing plant. Observing the
printshop in operation makes you more aware of the
publisher’s problems than you might otherwise be and
helps you give clearer, more usefull directions for what
you want on the galley proofs.
FRONTPAGE PATTERNS
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Identify the patterns
used to design the front page of a ship or station
newspaper.
So far in this chapter, we have concerned ourselves
with the tools and the basic principles of producing a
newspaper. In this final section, we will examine the
patterns followed in designing the front page of
newspapers to give you, as a potential or current editor,
a starting point for designing your own.
The following are three different meanings to the
word design in the newspaper lexicon:
1. It refers to the basic format of the entire
newspaper.
2. It refers to the arrangement of news on an
individual page after that page has been made up.
3. It is used as a slightly altered form of the word
makeup.
“Makeup” consists of building a page, element by
element, until all the space on a page is filled, but
“design,” using the third definition, means to plan for
the total structure of a page before any layout is done.
Logically, it requires more time to “design” a page
than to “makeup” one. Consequently, when the pressure
of a deadline is present, your most important concern is
meeting that deadline. However, when there is ample
time for preplanning, as is the case with most weekly
issues of a newspaper, you should “design” the front
page, if not every page.
The primary purpose of designing a page is to make
it easier to read. This enables your readers to rover the
material faster, and as a result, it encourages more of
them to read all that is written. Remember, unread copy
serves no usefull purpose. When you design your front
page, it is important for you to note that there is no “best”
pattern, only different patterns. Any design repeated too
often loses any freshness it may have had, and of itself,
becomes a deterrent to the enjoyment of the reader.
Consequently, a good editor will vary those patterns
from issue to issue.
Not unlike other aspects of our culture, newspapers
have changed over the years and are still changing. A
number of editors, however, remain devoted to what is
called “traditional” style and continue to design their
publications accordingly. Others have opted to follow
or to lead the way in developing modem journalistic
trends by producing newspapers with a “contemporary”
style. Undoubtedly additional styles will be forthcoming
as tastes continue to change. Meanwhile, the traditional
patterns currently in use are covered in the following
text.
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