The document outlines a detailed schedule for a multi-platform newspaper's production cycle, emphasizing the importance of deadlines for content, advertising, and proofing. It discusses transitioning to an online format and highlights common mistakes in production and graphic design. The author provides contact information for further inquiries and initiatives for improving the publication's online presence.

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