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The Plain Dealer High School Newspaper Workshop was a pilot program created to introduce minority high school students (although not limited to minority students) to career opportunities in the newspaper business. Forty-four students from the Cleveland Public Schools' John F. Kennedy and West Technical High School participated in the 9-week program. The workshop classes at the Plain Dealer Headquarters provided students an opportunity to learn about the business side of the newspaper industry while allowing them to create and produce their own newspaper. Staff members from the Plain Dealer volunteered their services as workshop instructors and acted as facilitators for students to learn by "doing"--having hands-on experiences, interacting in large/small groups, providing peer assistance, and becoming involved in cooperative learning. Evaluation results indicated 100 percent of the students understood the presenters; 97 percent thought the handout materials were helpful, believed the workshop was a good learning experience, and would recommend that the program be continued; 94 percent learned something about cost accounting, editorial, production, and circulation; 84 percent enjoyed producing the newspaper; and 66 percent might seriously consider working in the newspaper industry. Recommendations were made to have two programs of different lengths and to make the program part of a credit course. (Appendixes include a description of the Plain Dealer Production and Distribution Center, evaluation results, and participant lists.) (YLB)

Instructional techniques used for college-level English-as-a-Second-Language instruction using newspapers are described. The techniques begin with a class discussion of how reading newspapers can be useful to students of English, introduction of the English newspapers available locally (in this case, in Japan), and advice on getting started reading newspapers. Specific reading strategies are outlined: frequent reading; reading brief articles; reading similar articles at first; reading without a dictionary; understanding the article as a whole; and comparing Japanese and English language versions. Students are told the kinds of information they will find in a newspaper, beyond news stories, and how the paper is organized. Idiosyncratic features of headlines, including deleted words, verb tense, punctuation, and abbreviation, are explained. Organization and grammar of news articles are also detailed. Classroom activities applying and extending this knowledge are included within the text, and additional exercises are appended. Contains 23 references. (MSE)

A study examined potential variables that editors might use to lure young readers into a newspaper reading habit. A total of 204 high school students were asked to read and rate one of 20 newspapers (collected from around the country) on enjoyment, readability, and attractiveness. The newspapers' efficiency in transmitting information was also tested through knowledge recall questions. Results showed that subjects: (1) found newspapers more enjoyable if they contained fewer stories and many pullout quotes; (2) more readable with many pullout quotes and small lead photographs; and (3) more attractive with many photographs and large graphics. Results further showed that subjects were able to recall information more efficiently if the newspapers were judged to be enjoyable, used a high number of pullout quotes, used a horizontal design, scored lower on a human interest measure, jumped more stories and contained stories written at a lower grade-reading level. Four suggestions for editors include increasing the use of pullout quotes, using smaller lead photographs but larger graphics and more photos, limiting the amount of text on front pages, and stressing simpler writing styles and fewer human interest stories. (Five tables of data are included and 30 references are attached.) (Author/SR)

A review of the literature for the past 7 years reveals that the computer serves several key functions in the newsroom. Its more dominant role is in word processing, or internal copy processing regardless of the source of the copy. Computers are also useful in reviewing documents for content analysis, for survey research in public opinion polls and surveys, and for secondary research of data gathered by other sources. Graphics capabilities have helped reporters to understand complex statistics and reports and have aided advertising. Computerization is directly responsible for increasing the volume of news received by newspapers and even for how news is selected. Another recent development involves pagination, with newspapers laying out news space, headlines, and other editorial content using the computer. Other applications include the use of computerized index data bases for the storage and retrieval of information, facsimile transmission, and the printing of news on videotext. From the review of the literature, it appears that much of the research and develoment of computer applications in the newsroom in the remaining years will center on pagination, improved storage and retrieval of information, further movement toward all-terminal systems, and increased use of satellite technology for wire service transmissions of news. (A selected bibliography on computerization and the newspaper is appended.) (HOD)

This document includes findings on yearbook contracts and specifications, the cost of advertising, some of the concerns of the newspaper, the quality of printing, and an analysis of yearbook leads. The chapters in this booklet include "Financing the Yearbook,""Yearbook Contracts and Specifications,""Freedom of Communications in Senior High Schools,""Does Advertising Really Pay?""What You Can Learn from 765 Leads,""Senior High School Libraries Neglect Journalism-Mass Media Resources," and "Scope of Student Publications in Florida Nonpublic High Schools." Data is presented in both narrative and table form. (RB)

A survey was conducted during the spring and summer of 1973 to determine the media and academic backgrounds of people who are currently teaching such skills as writing, editing, photography, and layout in accredited journalism programs. Usable responses to a questionnaire sent to randomly selected faculty members of the Association for Education in Journalism showed that: teachers of skills courses tend to have considerable journalistic experience, especially with newspapers, with 47 percent having ten or more years of full-time experience; 68 percent of the teachers of skills courses have more than two years of teaching experience, while 65 percent are senior faculty members; most teachers have earned at least one graduate degree (58 percent a doctorate and another 35 percent a masters), with 75 percent having had an undergraduate major in journalism or mass communication; and about two-thirds of the teachers published at least one item in the 1970's (one-fifth reported no publication at all). Five tables of findings are included. (JM)

An examination of the "Los Angeles Times," the "Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram," the "Register," and the "Herald Examiner" as well as personal interviews conducted at the editorial and management levels reveal the effect of changing American social values. Changing values can be marked by such broad indicators as graphic renovation, regionalization of news content, creation of special sections wholly devoted to leisure and/or segmented audience interests, as well as such subtle alterations as the refinement of tables of contents, increases in news brief sections, changes in women's coverage, sectionalization, and increases in feature and entertainment materials. In addition, the management and marketing techniques of newspapers have changed. Most metropolitan area newspapers now utilize market research as an integral decision-making tool in the daily management of their newspapers. Others have established internal autonomous research departments to monitor the change taking place in the communities that they serve. The marketing of newspapers has also changed as owners seek the best possible position for their product in a fiercely competitive media environment. Most of these changes have occurred within the past three to five years. (HOD)

A study was conducted at two major midwestern newspapers to ascertain the effects of video display terminal (VDT) use on the work and perceptions of copy editors. The methodology consisted of observation of one full day of copy desk work at a VDT by a single local news desk copy editor and one full day of work at VDTs by a regular weekday shift of copy editors on the national/international news desk, as well as interviews with various editors. Data obtained through the interviews were validated by means of a content analysis of published material from two years before and two years after installation of the electronic system. The major conclusions drawn from the case study were as follows: (1) copy editing was done much the same way with a VDT as with pencil and paper; (2) adaptation and adjustment time to VDT editing systems by copy editors need not be lengthy; (3) the electronic editing system has contributed to the editing process by reducing routine tasks such as headline and story counting; (4) except during the adjustment period, the electronic editing system did not appear to be a factor in news judgments and decision making behavior for editors; and (5) while accuracy seemed to be enhanced by electronic editing systems, the issue of editing speed remained unresolved. (HTH)

Lines are elemental design devices that provide the primary structure for visual expressions in printed media. Gestalt principles of perception emphasize the role of the viewer, so the energy of the lines and the commercial viability of a particular design depend upon the designer's and photojournalist's understanding of both the viewer's programed response to lines and his or her mental set. Although the roles of intuition and "previsualization" are debated, the mechanical nature of mass media and the common link of realism probably make previsualization more important for the designer and photojournalist. The complex relationship between form and content that results when photographs are printed in the mass media depends upon cropping as well as upon lines and shapes. Framing is nothing more than the lines that mark the border between artifact and environmental space or image and border. Lines are also the primary tool of previsualization, and necessary in the creation of three dimensional effects. As physical events, lines represent a balancing of compositional forces, and they can also be perceived temporally. Although photojournalists discover lines while designers create them, students in both disciplines can benefit by instruction in their use. (A slide presentation outline is appended.) (JL)

The first section of this monograph on community newspapers describes the patterns and trends of "grassroots journalism" in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. Based on interviews with 37 newspaper editors, the following topics are covered: origins and history, goals, organization and structure, method of production, advertising, content, audience, and problems. The second section includes synopses of each newspaper and an example of the front page of each. Included is a brief history of each paper, plus a description of its goals, organization, production, advertising, content, audience, and problems. The third section discusses several topics and problems that community journalists must face. Topics include defining the news, organization and news gathering, the interview and other tools for collecting information, writing the news story, editing, writing headlines, newspaper graphics and design, advertising, and circulation and distribution. (HOD)

Research in visual communication suggests that relatively complex graphics stimulate viewer interest, while relatively simple graphics facilitate learning. A study was conducted to determine whether the graphics in two science publications ("Scientific American" and "Sciences 81") would be tailored to the ways in which their audiences use information. Presumably, "Scientific American" is geared toward a more instrumental-use audience of working scientists and science educators, while "Science 81" is geared toward a more consummatory-use audience of science "hobbyists." All graphics accompanying an article or department in the five most recent issues of each journal were coded according to three variables. Two variables, visual type and use of color, were used as indicators of graphic complexity. Another variable, perceived function, was used as an indicator of instrumental versus consummatory use of information. Results indicated that the streamlined graphics used in "Scientific American" (primarily black and white or one-color diagrams and graphs) helped to offset the complexity of the written material. In this way, they helped the instrumental-use reader to understand basic relationships between concepts. The visually "exciting" graphics used in "Science 81" (primarily full-color photographs) helped to perceptually motivate the consummatory-use readers--to capture their attention and stimulate interest in the accompanying written material. (HOD)

Through an examination of the appearance of the front pages of separately owned, competitive newspapers in 10 cities in the United States, a study explored the extent to which these newspapers have become modern in their use of graphic devices. Specifically, the study investigated (1) the relationship between a market's newspaper circulation gap and the likelihood of appearance similarity between the two daily newspapers, (2) whether the circulation trailer tended to use more modern graphic devices than the circulation leader, (3) whether morning newspapers tended to be more traditional in their appearance than evening or all-day newspapers, and (4) whether a newspaper's total circulation is related to its use of modern graphic devices. Data revealed that pairs of competing newspapers tended to be more similar in their use of graphic devices than those not in close competition, that newspaper trailers tended to use more modern graphics than leaders, and that larger circulation newspapers tended to use more traditional graphics than smaller circulation newspapers. The findings suggest that as competition increases, sameness in newspaper appearance increases. (Copies of scales used in the study are appended). (CRH)

Finds that 204 high school students preferred newspapers that used accompanying materials, such as pullout quotes and many, although smaller, photographs. Notes that writing style and the use of color had little influence. (RS)

The influences of the study of legibility on newspapers are outlined, and some of the consequences of applying science to the visual design of journalism are considered. The science of legibility began by measuring how letters were perceived, and comparing how different designs are read. The legacy of legibility research, which is traced over the years, has been to document several general observations about typography that have been generally accepted, even though the specifications of legibility science fall short as a practical guide. Some of the changes in newspaper type size result not only from legibility science, but also from the style of the times. In general, newspapers have become more legible and more aesthetically designed because of changes in type. Legibility and other principles are widely used in the field of visual literacy, but it must be recognized that compromising legibility and beauty can at times serve a greater number of readers and allow more diversity of content. (Contains 19 references.) (SLD)

Describes how a high school newspaper, in response to a large-scale readership survey, used the concept of "packaging" news (breaking story ideas down into smaller pieces to entice readers) to rethink and redesign the paper. Offers hints and staff goals based on their experience. (SR)

Describes the complete redesign of an award-winning student newspaper from a "stodgy" paper to one that presents the news in "packages." (SR)

Recently, the Communication Department at the University of Texas at Arlington offered an innovative news editing course taught collaboratively by a journalism professor and an editor of the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram," a metropolitan daily newspaper. In 1990 the course was continued on the model describes by R. L. Gates (1989), and in this class students had the opportunity to transfer the theories that they learned in the lecture to the laboratory. The subjects that were covered included: a study of the electronic newsroom, role of the copy editor, duties of the copy editor, leads, headline writing, photographs and cutlines, wire service news, libel, type, layout and supplemental material of broadcast editing, and magazine editing. The students also learned practical applications of copy editing tools, and received newsroom experience as they interacted with an academic journalist, an editor of a metropolitan newspaper, and staff personnel of the student newspaper. Participants' reactions to the lecture and laboratory sections of the course--evaluated by means of an attitude test in the form of a five-point Likert scale--were favorable. In addition, essay evaluations of the course submitted by faculty indicated that all agreed that in future courses, labs should meet every week or every other week with a maximum of four to six students in each 3-hour lab. Using a Macintosh format and adding a workshop were also suggested. The entire experience supported the principle of collaboration between academics and working editors. (Two tables are included; a list of collaborative teaching tips is attached.) (PRA)

Describes a 1994 survey examining the role, costs, revenue, and policies related to advertising in community college newspapers, which replicated a similar 1990 survey. Discusses school demographics, newspaper characteristics, page formats, advertising rates, inserts and standard advertising units, management, revenue, and advertising acceptance policies. (MAB)