Charles Apple

St. Petersburg Times media critic Eric Deggans wrote last week about a possible downsizing of the daily Tampa Tribune.

Deggans reported:

My inbox has been buzzing with rumors that the Tampa Tribune may soon begin publishing as a one-section broadsheet newspaper weekdays, with very few stories “jumping” or continued off the front page. Under this scenario, weekend papers would remain the same and some specialized sections might also publish on Wednesdays.

I asked Tribune Executive Editor Janet Coats about the rumor, and she declined to speak about specifics.

…”I think everybody’s looking at paging,” she added, noting the impact of redesigns at Tribune Co. newspapers such as the Orlando Sentinel and Chicago Tribune. “Changes to the paper that we deliver, you’re constantly looking at that now. But that’s one of those things where, when we come to a final decision, I’ll be talking my readers and not yours first.”

Oooh, snap!

Seriously, though, University of South Carolina j-school professor Doug Fisher adds in his Common Sense Journalism blog:

It’s more than rumor. From contacts inside the Newscenter: They’ve been prototyping a one section paper with a few longer stories on front (even fewer of which jump) and nothing much longer than a few inches inside.

As described by eyes that have seen it: One section for everything, though business and sports have separate covers inside the main section. An all-local front, with only two stories jumping. Inside, are what are described as “charticles” and briefs, with few stand-alones more than a few inches.

…Saturdays and Sundays will have stand-alone sections, with feature sections only on weekends as the Home and Flavor sections are combined into a Sunday tab. Oh, and the width gets trimmed again, too.

Read Deggans’ piece here. Find Fisher’s piece here.

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Amazing designer, incredible illustrator and all-around nice guy Martin Gee — laid off in June by the boneheads at the San Jose Mercury News — is employed again.

Martin is the new art director for Oregon Business, a 20,000-circulation monthly magazine based in Portland. His first day will be Sept. 19.

Martin lurks with his camera at SND/
Boston. Photo by William Couch.
—

A few samples of Martin’s design work:

See more here.

Here are a few examples of his illustration work:

See more here.

Find all this and a bunch more at Martin’s web site. Find his Twitter feed here.

Martin says he’ll be in Vegas next week at the SND annual workshop. Congratulate him there.

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Several papers around the country have resorted to sharing content in order to preserve (or cut back on) resources. Earlier this year, for example, McClatchy combined sports departments of the Raleigh News & Observer and the Charlotte Observer.

This one seems a bit bolder. For starters, the three papers are not owned by the same chain. In fact, they’re fiercely competitive.

The announcement, which was made at noon today:

The top editors of the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post and the Sun Sentinel announced today a content-sharing initiative that the editors say will serve South Florida readers with unprecedented local coverage while maintaining the competitive nature of each paper.

Anders Gyllenhaall, executive editor of the Herald, John Bartosek, editor of the Palm Beach Post, and Earl Maucker, editor of the Sun Sentinel, announced the sharing arrangement, in which each newspaper can publish stories from one of the other newspapers or web sites.

In each case where an article from one newspaper is published in another, that story would carry attribution to the contributing newspaper or web site.

The three editors, in a statement released Friday, said they believe they can protect the competitive character of each publication by limiting the content sharing to municipal, governmental, courts and political coverage, police reports and entertainment. Enterprise and Investigative stories would be off limits from the sharing agreement, they said.

“Our goal is to better serve our South Florida audiences while protecting the individual brands and identities of our respective newspapers,” a release from the three editors said.

“As each newspaper experienced recent staff reductions of our reporting staffs, we believe sharing some content assures thorough coverage, particularly in overlapping areas, and allows us to direct even more resources to enterprise, watchdog and investigative reporting exclusive to each newspaper.”

The initiative will begin in September.

Read it in the Sun Sentinel.

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Oh, man, does this one make me ill.

I hired Jeff Bash in the summer of 1999 while he was still a student at Grand View College to work for me in the graphics department of The Des Moines Register. He had done a fabulous job that summer as my intern. I had two positions to fill and was having no luck recruiting candidates; Jeff wanted part-time and weekend work.

Me, Jeff Bash and illustrator and page
designer Mark Marturello in 2003.
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So we extended his internship into a part-time gig. By that November, I knew: I wanted him full-time. So I made a deal with him: I’ll hire you now; work whatever hours you can. But you have to graduate on time.

And he did. Not only did he become my first full-time hire in Des Moines, but also he directed my attention to his college buddy Katie VanDalsem, designer and researcher. Hiring Jeff and Katie were two of the best moves I ever made as a newspaper manager. They both kicked ass. They both made me look smart as hell.

A couple of years in, I was taking a giant Ed Miller-taught management class via the Poynter Institute and, in need of a challenging project, I dreamt up a classic: I’ll train this kid to be my successor. Folks in Des Moines thought I was nuts: Are you sure? He’s so young. He’s so quiet.

Oh, yeah. I was sure.

I spent a lot of time working with him, one-on-one. I sent him off to the local community college to take a class in business writing: Grammar was not his strong point, and in a newsroom full of world-class writers, that could be a liability.

And when I finally left Des Moines for the Virginian-Pilot in 2003, I made only one recommendation: Hire Jeff to replace me.

They did. And they weren’t sorry. Hell, I think it’s a hoot that Jeff was actually graphics editor of the Register longer than I was.

So now Gannett, wishing to cut loose 600 of the hardworking journalists who put content on its pages, accepts buyouts from two incredibly talented reporters like Jerry Perkins and Ken Fuson — hell, Ken is one of the best writers working in journalism today! How can any paper let Ken Fuson leave?

But that’s not enough blood from the Des Moines turnip. So the Register laid off five people today. Four of them, I remember from my time there.

But only one of them was Jeff Bash.

Sigh.

Jeff is 31 years old. He has four years of experience as a news artist and five years of experience as a graphics editor/art director.

A few samples of Jeff’s work:

Find more in his NewsPageDesigner gallery.

This comes on the heels of a big, big news year in Iowa. Jeff’s staff has been doing superb work in print and online, covering floods and tornadoes and 15-year-old Olympians.

One of his Des Moines co-workers — who might not want to be quoted by name — writes:

He was so darned good, I was totally shocked.

He was the one who did the popular pumpkin carving templates (huge response) and the map/diagram/graphic of the DM levee system failure, if I remember correctly.

I can’t imagine what they are thinking …

I can’t either. I can’t either.

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 Longtime Chicago Tribune designer and graphic artist Steve Ravenscraft has taken a buyout.

It was a buyout, not a layoff. Despite what you see in the Chicago Reader.

Photo by Rick Tuma
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Classy guy that he is, Steve laughs off the misreporting:

It’s funny being on the other side of the news and having your story told incorrectly.

After 18 years at the Tribune I’m starting a new adventure and making a go of it as a full-time freelancer. I’m taking a week or two off and shaking out nearly twenty years of Tribune Blue. Then it’s on to refining my business identity and posting my site.

Even though at first it didn’t seem like the best time to take this leap, after looking from all of the angles it made sense to Lee and I. Everything started to fall into place and I must say it quickly became one of those experiences that seemed right. For us I don’t think we’ll see it as anything else even if things don’t come together as we hope. There’s to many signals that indicate God’s direction in it and that gives me a tremendous amount of peace as we step out.

That’s the short version.

Joe Knowles, the Tribune’s AME for visuals, writes this about Steve:

I have never met an actual saint, but when I do, I expect that he or she will pale in comparison to Steve Ravenscraft. I have worked with many talented people but I cannot say that any of them impressed me more than Steve. He is a terrific graphic artist and designer, a fine illustrator and a well-rounded visual journalist… the complete package, a five-tool player. Most of all, he is just a wonderful person to be around. If you know him at all, you know what I mean. I’ll miss him greatly.

Tribune graphics editor Steve Cavendish writes:

Steve Ravenscraft has more talent in his pinkie than I do in my whole body (which, admittedly, ain’t that much). He is a supreme illustrator, has the ability conceptualize everything from entire sections to small design pieces and can create graphics better than the rest of the staff. He collaborates as well as anyone. And, for kicks, he’s a helluva flash designer as well.

Now imagine all of that wrapped up in a person who is 10 times nicer than he is talented.

You have no idea what a kick to the nuts his leaving is. I look forward to seeing his stuff in publications all over the country as others realize what a gi-normous talent he is.

Mike Kellams, sports editor of the Tribune, writes:

I see these notes praising Steve, a man I teamed with as an art director on A&E and teamed with again for a time to manage the art director staff. The effusive, gushing recounting of Mr. Ravenscraft is relentless.

I hated him.

Hated that he was an amazing artist (and I’m not) who was thoughtful enough to paint a wonderful scene of a stream as a wedding gift. It still hangs in our house. Where the hell does he get off?

Hated that he always – always – played well with the other children in the Tribune sandbox and always shared his toys—and talents. What’s that all about?

Hated that his steady and calming hand with section editors and Graphics and Design staff alike smoothed often choppy waters. Fine, be that way.

Hated that, from the time I arrived in 1998, I would look at his work and truly wonder how the heck he did that. Or that. Or that. And so I would go ask him and he would simply tell me, show me the secret, let me behind the curtain of the great Oz. I swear, I could just scream.

And now he’s gone. And more than anything, I hate that the most.

Robert Dorrell — graphics editor of the Sacramento Bee who worked at the Tribune for a while a few years back — writes:

Steve Ravenscraft has an immediately positive effect on you when you first meet him.  His intelligence leaps from his eyes and the quality of his work leaped from the pages of the Tribune.  He was welcoming and friendly from the get-go, and his work created a standard to which one aspired.  I wish I knew Steve better, but I can say that for me he was one of the bright spots of the Tribune.  His wit and sense of humor made work more fun.  Good luck in whatever you choose to do with your time and your expansive skills, Steve.

Last September, Tribune artist Rick Tuma wrote about his good friend:

Steve is one of those people that can wear every hat you put upon his head in the news business – and wear it damn well!

I’m getting to see this up close and personal as I assist him moving Design and Graphics onto the CT.com site. There are many days when I leave the building shaking my head. I’ll be happy if just half of his natural skills and abilities rub off on me by the time this is all over.

He quickly gains the confidence of the leaders above us and always delivers – setting the stage for even greater opportunities for our small group. What I admire the most is his ability to provide constant streams of ideas and better ways to do things. It’s hard to sit still around him.

A few examples of Steve’s work:

Steve doesn’t post his stuff online. You can see more, however, in just about any SND award annual.

Rick tells me that Steve will come in Tuesday to finalize his paperwork. The folks there may be planning to say their goodbyes then.

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A blogger named PaulineyM posted an amusing piece about Editor & Publisher magazine and its web site. Editor & Publisher is one of my favorite sources of news about the newspaper business.

Apparently, PaulineM was the web master there for the past nine months. She was recently laid off by E&P’s parent company, Nielsen. At the same time, E&P is starting a column aimed at young journalists — a column to feature “blog-like comments.”

But the E&P web site has a little problem. It won’t work with current technology, PaulineyM writes:

My job was to make sure the site looked as 21st century as possible. From day one I complained about the CMS, which made users type in HTML code manually and couldn’t handle embedded code for video. In short, it was very 1998. I complained to anyone who would listen that if they didn’t upgrade their system, readers were going to go elsewhere, since web users expect a certain benchmark of basic features on a site.

There’s a lesson in all this. Traffic at E&P isn’t going down because the newspaper industry is in a bind. Traffic is going down because their web site lives in a time warp, and someone in the pipeline is too cheap to redesign and upgrade it. Anyone with half a brain knows that the web is not some “special project” to hand over to an intern or maybe some of the less bright members on staff. It’s the first impression people have of your brand, and you should invest all you can in it.

Not surprising. Many of you aren’t old enough to remember the history of Editor & Publisher’s print edition. I subscribed at home for a number of years in the mid-to-late 1980s. It was badly designed — extraordinarily so — and featured a huge front-page ad in lieu of a centerpiece. I don’t know when they upgraded their dead tree edition, but it was long after I had given up on it.

Here’s the brief at Gawker that prompted PaulineyM’s broadshot. Here’s the original announcement about the new E&P column.

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