How we produce the Gazette ... some of the online stuff at the end of this slide presentation is out of date, replaced by a Prezi I did with Kyle Holmes.

1. Multi-PlatformMulti-Platform
NewspaperNewspaper
ProductionProduction
Karl Grubaugh
ASNE Institute
Reno, Nevada

2. Things to think aboutThings to think about
 Your calendar drives EVERYTHING!
– Annual calendar – how many issues each year?
– Issue deadlines? YES! (See my calendar)
 Advertising deadlines
 Below-the-Line deadline
 Above-the-line Think Sheet deadline
 Page dummy deadline
 DEATH DEADLINE NIGHT – all content on the page, although it
might not all be in final form
 Proofing fixes
 PDFing and sending the pages to the printer

3. E: Proofing fixes
S: Final reads of
posted pages,
informal
brainstorming
E: PDFs
S: Informal
brainstorming,
read outside
papers
A: Formal
brainstorming
A: Finish
brainstorming,
assign stories
A: Insert any
insert ads;
distribute issue
on campus; self-
evaluations due
A: Staff meeting;
issue debrief;
mini-lesson from
adviser or
editors?
E:
Photo/graphics
requests due;
Eds. Meet for
grading staff
A: Staff mtg;
mini-lesson?
A: ATL story
Think sheets due
A: BTL stories
due (timeliness
exceptions)
E: Page dummies
due
A: Staff mtg.;
mini-lesson?
E: Eds. Mtg. for
deadline week
A: Story
conferences
(more than one,
by next Wed.)
E: BTL stories
on pages
A: All ATL
stories due to
editors;
advertising
deadline
E: All stories on
the pages
E: DEATH
DEADLINE –
all pages with all
content printed
by MIDNIGHT
A: All
E: Editors
S: Staff
W: WebGazette calendar
W: Content needs to change EVERY WEEK DAY; Photo of the Day from everyone
each semester (sign up with photo editor); all staffers must write a LIVE GAME
STORY (sign up with the Web editor) during each nine weeks; web-only content makes
editors and advisers happy!
E: Editors/adviser
proof pages for
Monday fixes
(Story conferences
continue)

4. A Typical CycleA Typical Cycle
 Usually four weeks long
 Week 1 – finish off previous issue
on Monday (proofing) and
Tuesday (PDFs) as other staffers
pre-brainstorm; Wednesday/
Thursday formal brainstorming
and assigning of stories; Friday
distribution and begin “below the
lines”
 Week 2 – photo requests and
“Below the Lines” due; page
dummies due

5. A Typical Cycle, cont.A Typical Cycle, cont.
 Week 3 –“Below the Lines”
placed, writer/editor “Above the
Line” check-in chats/conferences
 Week 4 – final writing deadline is
Wednesday; stories get final edits
and are placed on pages; Death
Deadline is Friday Night until
midnight; adviser and editors take
home proofs over the weekend
 New cycle begins (proof fixes
Monday, PDFs on Tuesday)

6. Other issues toOther issues to
considerconsider
 Broadsheet vs. tabloid?
 Your printer … and alternatives
– Your local newspaper
– Local job printers
– Non-locals: Send PDFs, get your newspaper shipped to you in a short turnaround
 What do kids do when they’re not on an upswing in the
journalism cycle?
– Homework
– Read exchange newspapers for brainstorming purposes
– Read online reporting, looking for ways to localize the stories

7. Yet still more issuesYet still more issues
to considerto consider
 Learn how to use a Library in InDesign
 Consider, especially with rookies, using InDesign templates for
page design
 Make sure you know what format your printer wants you to use
– These days, most printers want high-quality PDFs, which are easy to
produce from InDesign using Adobe Acrobat
– Batching PDFs vs. single pages

8. Some of my mistakesSome of my mistakes
related to productionrelated to production
 Failing to embed fonts (less of a problem
with PDFs)
 Letting the schedule drive the process –
“tyranny of the urgent”
 Photo reproduction – in Photoshop >
image size, when changing photo size to
fit a specific-size photo box, DON’T
RESAMPLE THE IMAGE!!!
– Photo quality will DRAMATICALLY
IMPROVE if you don’t resample
– Clue: if, when you click resize, the photo
CHANGES SIZE on the screen, you’ve blown
it. Undo, unclick “resample,” and try it again.

9. Some more mistakesSome more mistakes
 Make sure you have some kind of check-off process for the
“little stuff” that affects the look of the newspaper
– page numbers for jumps, text for jumps, dates on page folios, credits,
heads and decks, cutlines, etc.
 I took too long to get CS3 on my machines and start using
Adobe Illustrator (We’ve had CS5 for a couple of years now)
 Where we still need to improve – information graphics!

10. Going online? Our storyGoing online? Our story
 Went to my.hsj.org
several years ago
 Basically, we produced
a print edition and then
cut-and-pasted it online
 Student inspired at
Washington, D.C.,
convention two and a
half years ago so …
 We made the leap!

11. Going online? continuedGoing online? continued
 Bought a domain name
…
granitebaygazette.com
 We use WordPress
 Staffing issues … we
were still a cut-and-
paste operation.
 Co-editor-in-chief
whose chief focus was
online, with specific
online assignments for
all staffers

12. How weHow we
changedchanged
last yearlast year Continued with a co-
editor-in-chief who has
a strong online focus
 Tried to get dedicated,
exclusive staffers – but
failed
 Required some content
from ALL STAFFERS
that was exclusive to
the web

13. ChangesChanges
for nextfor next
yearyear New site –
GraniteBayToday.org
 Two section editors
who are SOLELY
DOING ONLINE!
 Two or three web-only
staffers.
 Continue getting
content from ALL
STAFFERS when
appropriate

14. Online modelsOnline models
 Francis Howell North HS, suburban St. Louis

15. Online modelsOnline models
 Shawnee Mission East, suburban Kansas City (Kan.)

16. Online modelsOnline models
 Palo Alto High, Palo Alto, Calif.

17. So who are you?So who are you?
 How often do you publish?
 What format – broadsheet, tabloid, web
only?
 What kind of stories are you trying to tell?
 What about online?
 What’s your vision?
YOUR TASK: Take the rest of
the time to work on your
publication cycle calendar,
going online, or anything else
you’d like to focus on

18. Contact informationContact information
 Karl Grubaugh
 Granite Bay High
 1 Grizzly Way
 Granite Bay, CA 95746
 916-786-8676
 kgrubaugh@rjuhsd.us;
kgrubaugh@att.net