And yet another post about the start-up paper in Liberal, Kansas
Two folks have pointed this out:
On the left is the State Journal of Pocatello, Idaho, as redesigned two years ago by Alan Jacobson. Circulation: 17,000.
On the right is the High Plains Daily Leader of Liberal, Kansas, which we’ve written about twice in the past two days.
My comment: *Heavy sigh.*
For a larger look, tickle the thumbnail.
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UPDATE
Please enjoy reading the comments to this post and then check out the latest here.Â
May 8th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Well, there is no doubt about the Liberal Kansas paper loving Alan’s design. As well they should. It’s a strong, simple, elegant solution. I just wish the kansas paper could have taken it a step further instead of copying it virtually whole. Sad at a time we need more innovation before we go into that dark night.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:45 am
The words “Liberal High” are set apart. Is there some hidden message? Inquiring minds want to know.
Oh, yes, that is plagiarism, and it’s blatant as hell. Paging Mr. Jacobson… paging Mr. Jacobson….
May 8th, 2008 at 11:12 am
This is not going to help their long-term prospects as a newspaper.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Maybe your next entry on this paper will be “Plagiarism suit brings quick death to new paper”. I usually dont’ get worked up over claims of visual plagiarism, but that is probably the most blatant case I’ve ever seen.
May 8th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Whoa…plagarism???
For those of you not in the newspaper biz, theft is the greatest form of flattery… always has been, always will be. There is no law against that. In fact, every year we go to the Kansas Press Association Editorial Awards convention, everybody checks out what everbody else is doing. New ideas are what keeps papers interesting. We have copied design ideas from the Bakersfield paper, from the Oregonian and many others. We liked the Idaho look, and I guarantee you it will evolve further as we go along. Also keep in mind we have won the sweepstakes award for our size paper (with the old Brand X paper) two out of the last five years, and finished second those other three. We plan to take the High Plains Daily Leader to even new heights, because we believe there is no exact “BOX” we have to stay within. Thanks to those who have appreciated our “(R)evolution.”
Larry Phillips
Managing Editor
High Plains Daily Leader
May 8th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Whoa…plagiarism???
For those of you not in the newspaper biz, theft is the greatest form of flattery… always has been, always will be. There is no law against that. In fact, every year we go to the Kansas Press Association Editorial Awards convention, everybody checks out what everbody else is doing. New ideas are what keeps papers interesting. We have copied design ideas from the Bakersfield paper, from the Oregonian and many others. We liked the Idaho look, and I guarantee you it will evolve further as we go along. Also keep in mind we have won the sweepstakes award for our size paper (with the old Brand X paper) two out of the last five years, and finished second those other three. We plan to take the High Plains Daily Leader to even new heights, because we believe there is no exact “BOX†we have to stay within. Thanks to those who have appreciated our “(R)evolution.â€
Larry Phillips
Managing Editor
High Plains Daily Leader
May 8th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Since my words apparently weren’t barbed enough before, considering your response:
Borrowing ideas is taking inspiration.
Stealing is what you guys did.
I think you owe Alan Jacobson an apology. That, my friend, is wholesale theft.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
It’s one thing to check out what other newspapers are doing and incorporate or adapt elements of them for your own use, or even to use a similar approach to presentation, but it’s quite another thing to take another newspaper’s look and identity as your own.
This is a serious flub, Mr. Phillips, and it will mar your newspaper’s reputation for years to come.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
This is a blatant ripoff and a mindless one at that. Every decision Alan made about that design was to tailor the ISJ to its audience. The color palette was made from the colors of southeast Idaho, which I doubt are the same in Liberal, Kansas.
Alan put a lot of thought into this design; you did not. You not only owe him an apology but your readers on as well for using such a cynical ploy.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:33 am
By the way, Ryan worked at the ISJ when the redesign was launched, if I remember right. He probably has a better insight as to Alan’s intent as a result.
I have to imagine your staff was in a major rush to come up with a workable newspaper prototype, pronto, due to the circumstances. But this is incredibly blatant theft, the kind that other journalists glaze their eyes at in disbelief.
We wouldn’t talk the way we’re talking if we didn’t think it was a major issue.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:52 am
plagiarize
Pronunciation: \ˈplÄ-jÉ™-ËŒrÄ«z also -jÄ“-É™-\
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): pla·gia·rized; pla·gia·riz·ing
Etymology: plagiary
Date: 1716
transitive verb
: to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own : use (another’s production) without crediting the source
intransitive verb
: to commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source
May 12th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Actually you’re wrong about the color palette. It applies to both communities. In fact, it matches the color of the depot buildings in Liberal.
I’ve driven through southern part of Idaho and there are many similarities in the type of climate and plant life. The exception is you all have mountains and Liberal doesn’t.
Larry you’re wrong. It’s about ethics. There’s almost no adaptation of the idea, just a copy. However, they are two different markets and the content of the papers is entirely different.
Podunk KPA awards aren’t justification for anything. They’re paper, just paper. Unless they hand you cash, they don’t count worth a poop.
I would have copied the sidebar, myself, but I don’t care for the masthead design. It’s too much color for my taste. It’s further diluted with advertising above the masthead. There needs to be more unity amongst the elements while keeping a strong identity for the masthead.
There’s certainly room to work and improve on it for Liberal’s use. I’d just like to see some new fonts. I hope you didn’t copy the woodcuts on the way out the door. That would be theft and you could be sued for that for sure.
May 12th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I’ve seen the Southest Times (the Brand X Mr. Phillips refers to, the paper he left) and as I recall, it was a blatant copy of the Bakersfield Californian.
It seems to be pathological.
And I’m dubious the put that together in a rush.
It actually looks better than the previous product. I suspect they’ve had this planned for a while and had templates page-ready to take to the new spot.
May 14th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Just a response to Darren. We are working with different fonts at the new paper. The bylines, stories, cutlines, and headlines are all in different font styles than The Times. I’m pretty fond of them, myself. Though I’m sure fonts don’t whip anyone into a frenzy.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I like the looks of the new paper, along with the content. I would not be surprised that if a few of the above commenters took a nation wide survey, that they would find many papers with similar looks. Tell me, can any of you tell a Chevy from a Pontiac from half a block away? Maybe it even looks a bit like a Toyota.
May 20th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
In a combination of criticism (some was a little over the top) and evolution (as I said would happen) our first front flag only made it 6 editions. We discovered all that color has its own set of difficulties with the press. On the May 11th edition, we dropped all color and left flag name as was. But to do a cutout for the eighth edition, we still had too much text across the whole flag. We then set it in a pyramid style, leaving lots of air on both sides, and anyone familiar with our pages knows we love to use a lot of cutouts as reefers for inside pages – which we did. We e-mailed a copy of the front last Wednesday, but apparently it wasn’t worth posting here. Sorry you didn’t get to se it.
Larry
May 21st, 2008 at 9:16 am
Larry, Charles did post it. And people did see it.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:06 am
I used to live in Liberal about 7 years ago and I received the now labeled Brand X paper. I always thought it was well written and I never complained about it. I would often find myself looking at the paper online since my relocation. I have never seen the “new and much improved” paper. With internet technology this is very important for people like me who has family and friends back home. Most larger corporation papers are cutting costs and employees, due to internet growth. So can someone please tell me where I can find this paper so that I may critique.