guilt trip

Ok, so, I'm not big on the whole guilt trip thing, but I've sent a ton of you e-mail about sending news and stuff to me. I don't even want stuff just for the blog--I've got to make a report to SND twice a year!! Please, if you can, send me what you can, even if you don't want it posted. If you want confidentiality, I'll provide it. Also, I've decided to turn the comments back on for everyone because I want the discussion. If certain trolls ever make it back here please just ignore them and continue with the intellegent conversation I know we're capable of. Please enjoy and participate in the news and exchange of ideas that come from this forum.

Savannah redesign week

It's now!!

Francie Krantz sends this along from Executive News Editor Susan Catron (oh, yes. I'm posting it all):

In a recent note I said there would be changes coming for the Savannah Morning News.

While we've made a few, there are many more in store.

On March 6, you'll see most of them as we bring you a fresh look at Savannah-area news. There will be changes in the structure of the paper, the type and many features, all driven by reader research over the past year.

While you will notice new color, bigger type and new sections, it won't all be cosmetic because we understand that a newspaper is much more than, well, paper and ink.

What you've told us you really want is useful information that's timely, clear and accurate.

Providing that at the level you deserve requires a new organization and a fresh view of how we do our jobs.

A few weeks ago, we rebuilt the newsroom newsgathering and editing structure to improve our internal communication and reflect the changes we believe you want to see.

We've added more muscle to our business reporting and to our regional staff. A separate group of reporters and editors tracks trends and entertainment to give you more information about ways to plan your play time.

Here's a look at the newsroom organization:

l Metro news desk: Editors and reporters who handle breaking news and governmental activities, as well as keep an eye on police and court work.

l Region desk: Responsible for news from municipalities and counties outside Savannah proper, including Effingham and Bryan and Liberty counties. This desk coordinates news for the weekly Closeups section that focuses on your neighbors and schools. If you move to the outskirts of Savannah and Chatham County, we'll still be the newspaper bringing you photos of your kids, basic news and entertainment information.

Business desk: Coordinates our daily report on growth, jobs and the area's economy.

Features desk: Gathers news about issues that matter to you daily from entertainment to health to shopping and your faith.

Sports desk: Presents the day's sports news from area high schools to NASCAR.

Photo desk: Six photographers bring you images daily of your neighborhoods and area events.

Presentation desk: Assembles the daily papers clearly so you can find what you want quickly. There are more copy editors behind the scenes who are checking copy for clarity and accuracy. We know typos and unclear writing distract and frustrate you, and they hamper our ability to be clear.

While we won't be perfect overnight, we're aiming higher.

And we know that's something you want, too.

From negatives to positives

Scott Walker, AME for the Birmingham News, sends along a special section running Sunday's (that's today) paper. Apparently a photo intern was rummaging through an old equipment closet when he/she came across a box marked "Keep. Do not sell." In the box was more than 5,000 unpublished images of the civil rights movement from 1950-1965. Read the full story here. There are dozens more images online here. You can get your very own PDF of the section here.

Scott says:

For the first time, we're publishing dozens of previously lost images of the civil rights movement in Alabama. From segregation and the Freedom Riders in Birmingham to "Bloody Sunday" in Selma – the pictures are remarkable and have never been seen by the public. Until now.

Wow. That's just remarkable work.

Katrina coverage

The SND judges unanimously awarded the Times-Picayune and the Biloxi Sun-Herald with a Judges' Special Recognition for their Hurricane Katrina coverage. Read all about it here.

“It’s difficult enough to make a well-designed newspaper under the best daily circumstances, but these papers did not have the best circumstances: They had the worst,” judge Phil Ritzenberg said. “The people who made The Times-Picayune and the Sun Herald come out so beautifully during those most-trying first days after the hurricane hit deserve both our highest recognition and our deepest thanks."

Horn tooting

Congratulations to myself and my collegues for being in the top ten of SND award winners! Now, if only someone would tell us what we won.

Another SND winner

The Atlanta Business Chronicle won an award of excellence for news page design according to the judging Web site. Congrats to the Chronicle!

SND photo winner

Director of Photography Al Anderson at The State has graciously passed along this winning image in the sports photo category. The State's award was one of those randomly announced during this past weekend's judging. Congrats to The State!

Birmingham News Zambia reprint and SND award winner

Designer Napo Monasterio sends along his award winning reprint with this to add:

I'm sending it to you as as spreads, but it actually ran in book format -- stapled and everything, with thick, book-like paper and a thicker cover. It turned out really cool, actually!

I couldn't possibly, well, I guess technically I could, post all the pages here, so this is a sampling of the 52 page section.

I am a slacker

I cannot tell a lie. I saw this over the weekend, well my weekend, and decided to watch reruns of Law & Order and eat Indian food instead of posting. Newsdesigner has done a lovely job, so I'll just send you there.

St. Pete weekly tab to go daily.

Another region 3 winner!

Congratulations to The Birmingham News for their award of excellence in the reprints category! I think this is the original 1A from the entry.

For your viewing and discussing plesure

Here's a page from the Vero Beach (Fla.) Press Journal. An interesting presentation regarding a new law that might go into effect barring sex offenders from living within a certain distance from schools. Ethical question of the day: Do we single these people out? Do we do it on the front page? Certainly this information is available to the public through other means, so it's perfectly legal, but is this ethical?


Here's a page from the Northeast Mississipi Daily Journal in Tupelo (Long live The King!) Original story by John Armisted, though it's not clear who painted the, uh, paintings. The story is a work of fiction and will run in the paper over the next seven days (so, eight days total). Question of the day, pt. 2: Is the newspaper a place for this kind of writing? Is the front page?

Region Three-er is Random Winner!

In case you haven't, go check out this link for judging coverage. The coordinators this year have thought up an evil little treat for us, too. Every now and then they are announcing a random winner from a completed category. One of today's random Award of Excellence winners is Columbia, S.C.'s, The State for Sports Photography. Congrats to The State!

Big brother is watching

Why haven't you sent me any news? Let's get on it folks! We're famous!

Page o' the day!

I'd really like to see the rest of the pages with this series. A bold move to use the whole front starting on a Friday. A bold story, of course, even if I did read the head as Katrina is dead at first.

World's best judging complete

But in order to avoid tainting the rest of the judging the results will be kept secret until Feb. 20. This is new, no? I have to say it doesn't satisfy my curiosity, but I'm behind it for ethical reasons. What do you guys think?

NC native wins gold

Here are the pages:





































These pages are a great example of all the different presentation options available to us. Starting at the top: The Charlotte Observer had a container out there on Cheek paired with a box on who to root for today, which I think is a great idea. The Winston-Salem Journal paired action with feature to tell a complete story. The News & Record went with a columnist's take and the News & Observer played it straight. None was right or wrong and all are good.

A couple of quick notes on Charlotte: The top right refer above the flag actually sends readers to to a story on 1A below the fold. I remember a few years ago USA Today doing something like, but honestly I don't read them enough to know if it stuck. I do know we made a heck of a lot of fun of them. With the industry slowing dying and all, it's not so funny anymore. Also, the rail on left is new, and I believe it was even wider yesterday...is this a sign of things to come? Sarah Franquet, are you reading?

Students are designers, too

Here's a couple good illos from Allison Cianci at the Red & Black in Athens, Ga. I'd only advise to stay away from the novelty fonts, but good work!

Apologies to the ignored

So, it's a big week for sports, you know, with the Olympics and all...I've been too busy watching them (I seriously don't care that the couple from China fell and almost bowed out...they kicked the Russians' butt) to post pages. Here's a couple from NPD. Orlando, can you tell us more about your page toppers? If you've got special sections or exceptional pages send 'em to me at nicole.bogdas@gmail.com and I'll get 'em up here. Good luck and good deadlines.

Update: I apparently am not the only one to ask about Orlando's olympic treatment. Chris Olds passes this along (follow the link for more pages):

The Olympics flag is made up of Italian marble tiles. Something simple and earthy that has oomph, but not too much. (It was a risk, but was liked here. You aren't the 1st one to ask what they are, either.)

Judging begins

Go to this link to view Quicktime movies of the World's Best Designed coverage.

Shop talk

As some of you might have noticed, someone, who shall remain nameless, has showed up here. I'm probably inadvertantly provoking with this post, but I wanted to apologize that I've had to change the settings from allowing anyone to comment to just Blogger members. Please don't let this deter you from joining the discussion.

Mmmmm....Chocolate

The white space draws you in, and the red touches say Valentine's Day. But the best part about this package is the question is poses and promises to answer...inside. How do you tell what's in a chocolate without breaking it open? A simple question that we've all struggled with. What better way to get people into the paper? The stats at the bottom add context and interest. I ate it up.

Hmmm...

I don't know what's scarier, this picture or the fact that there's a Trent Lott Middle School.

Today's favorite page

It must have been so much fun to do this illustration. Jim McBee: comments?

Grammy pages!

Apparently there was not a lot of stuff going on in South Florida, where most of these pages come from. I'll throw this out there: I said in our news meeting yesterday that I don't think newspapers are where people go for this kind of coverage and suggested that we had better LOCAL news to put out front, even with average photos. I mean, I'm over here in Fort Lauderdale and the Grammys are way over there in LA and we put a photo of a band from Ireland on the front, and it was the biggest thing on our page today. It was suggested that some people who care about the Grammys might have to work in the morning or might be, ahem, older and therefore fall asleep during the broadcast. I say if that's the case they're just as likey to find it on 14A with a big-ass refer as they are if we centerpiece it. Orlando did a nice job getting it out there with some oomph while not overplaying it. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

Non-Grammy page of the day

I really like this page from the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, Ga. There's a lot going on but it doesn't compete with itself. There are mega refers at the top and bottom of the page and a good mix of content, offering readers a lot of choices. Plus, the red type helps guide you around without being in your face. Nice work!

As promised, if late

Here's more funeral pages from the AJC:

SND ethics code

The Society has been working hard on drafting an ethics code for us. The most recent draft is available here. Please read it and send any comments to Bill Gaspard who's coordinating at sndethics@yahoo.com.

Full-frontal page design

I know I'm a bad designer for not checking out this site earlier, but does anyone else think the Syracuse SSND site is just a bit too, ahem, enthusiastic about LIVE STREAMING VIDEO FROM THE JUDGING? How about the "Hot SND Coverage" they promise?

I totally dig it. Keep up the good work, guys.

AJC Coretta Scott King special section

More to come when I get to the office...