What Happens After Proofreading

Figure 8-23.—Proofreader’s marks using the guideline system. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER PROOFREADING After the corrections have been made and you have approved the galley proofs, the publisher takes and assembles type, along with photographs and other art, into pages according to the layout plan you submitted. From these, the publisher makes page proofs — and usually gives you a final chance to make sure there are no errors. Make sure headlines are with the proper stories, stories “jump” to the correct pages, paragraphs are in proper sequence and cutlines are under the correct photographs. Check the body type too. Sometimes a slug gets misplaced or jumbled, but routine typesetting errors should have been caught long before you reach this point. You will make a permanent enemy of the publisher if you start making unnecessary alterations. After the final proofs are reviewed and approved, the publisher produces a “blueline” version of the newspaper for the editor to review. The blueline is a replica of the newspaper in reverse and is comparable to a blueprint. After the blueline is approved by the editor, the newspaper is published and distributed. Additional information on the blueline can be found in the JO 1 & C TRAMAN. If you work on a newspaper staff, you will do a lot of proofreading. For this reason, you should ask for a tour of the newspaper printing plant. Observing the printshop in operation makes you more aware of the publisher’s problems than you might otherwise be and helps you give clearer, more usefull directions for what you want on the galley proofs. FRONTPAGE PATTERNS LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Identify the patterns used to design the front page of a ship or station newspaper. So far in this chapter, we have concerned ourselves with the tools and the basic principles of producing a newspaper. In this final section, we will examine the patterns followed in designing the front page of newspapers to give you, as a potential or current editor, a starting point for designing your own. The following are three different meanings to the word design in the newspaper lexicon: 1. It refers to the basic format of the entire newspaper. 2. It refers to the arrangement of news on an individual page after that page has been made up. 3. It is used as a slightly altered form of the word makeup. “Makeup” consists of building a page, element by element, until all the space on a page is filled, but “design,” using the third definition, means to plan for the total structure of a page before any layout is done. Logically, it requires more time to “design” a page than to “makeup” one. Consequently, when the pressure of a deadline is present, your most important concern is meeting that deadline. However, when there is ample time for preplanning, as is the case with most weekly issues of a newspaper, you should “design” the front page, if not every page. The primary purpose of designing a page is to make it easier to read. This enables your readers to rover the material faster, and as a result, it encourages more of them to read all that is written. Remember, unread copy serves no usefull purpose. When you design your front page, it is important for you to note that there is no “best” pattern, only different patterns. Any design repeated too often loses any freshness it may have had, and of itself, becomes a deterrent to the enjoyment of the reader. Consequently, a good editor will vary those patterns from issue to issue. Not unlike other aspects of our culture, newspapers have changed over the years and are still changing. A number of editors, however, remain devoted to what is called “traditional” style and continue to design their publications accordingly. Others have opted to follow or to lead the way in developing modem journalistic trends by producing newspapers with a “contemporary” style. Undoubtedly additional styles will be forthcoming as tastes continue to change. Meanwhile, the traditional patterns currently in use are covered in the following text. 8-31