Design: Resources for Designers

Being a designer at a college newspaper can be a lonely job. Students on the design team often come from different academic departments than the writers and editors, and sometimes it may feel like you speak a different language.

On a small paper the designer or art director may be the only one who understands fonts and visual hierarchy. Sometimes you may think, “If the editor asks me to put a 40 percent screen on a sidebar one more time I’m going to scream!”

So today, for you, the college newspaper designers of the world, we present a list of cyberspots where you can find solace, information and inspiration.

College Front Page--Consider this site your home away from home. Here you can browse pages from college newspapers around the country, including the professional-quality Indiana Daily Student and The State News at Michigan State University, which produces pages so beautiful you may just want to hang them up in your dorm room for decoration (like the one to the left). The site offers guest lectures and critiques (design and photo) by professionals, as well as forums and links to other design-oriented Web sites. But that’s not all. Designers and photographers can create personal Web pages on the site to showcase their work. College Front Page used to host monthly page design contests. The last one was April ’06, so they seem to be a thing of the past. But there’s still lots of other fresh, new stuff on the site so check it out.

NewsDesigner.com--This irreverent, wacky blog is written by Mark Friesen, a news designer at The Oregonian in Portland, Oregon. He’s kind of like Tim Harrower on Ecstasy, but he puts together some really cool stuff about design, drawing from newspapers all over the world.

Newseum--Want to see what the Los Angeles Times put on its front page today? How about the Manteca Bulletin or the Beijing News? In addition to promoting its new “interactive museum of news,” set to open in the first quarter of 2008, the Newseum Web site showcases the front pages of more than 500 newspapers from 52 countries. Most are updated daily, so you can see how different newspapers played the same big story. It’s a great place to look for inspiration.

News Page Designer--This message board allows designers at all levels (students and pros) to upload pages and get feedback from other designers. It's operated by Society for News Design members Tim Frank and Eric Kaiser. Students can share their work, get comments from the pros and get noticed.

Best Front Page Design--Brass Tacks Design, newspaper design consultants in Norfolk, Virginia, offers commentary and images on newspaper redesign projects. It’s a great place to learn about new trends in newspaper design. Be sure to check out the Before and After Gallery.

Tim Harrower--You gotta love this guy. His Newspaper Designer’s Handbook (the sixth edition just came out in July) is the bible for student newspaper designers everywhere and his Web site is pretty cool too, with features like The Design Doctor.

Society for News Design--The Web site for the professional association for news designers is packed with resources and sources of inspiration. Many of the events are open to students.

Student Society for News Design--The student chapter of SND at the Missouri School of Journalism hosts the annual College News Design Contest. Check out the 2007 winners.

News University--The online training arm of the Poynter Institute offers several free online courses on design, including Color in News Design, Converting to Tabloid, Mario Garcia on the WSJ Tabloid Design and Typography for News Design.

A cure for the summer publishing hiatus

Your college newspaper office is closed for the summer, but there's big news: the university president resigns, or a student is brutally murdered or there's a fire in the Humanities Building. What do you do?

The Johns Hopkins News-Letter has a solution: Blog it.

This summer editors at the Baltimore, MD university newspaper decided to keep readers up to date with blogs. In a May 14 letter to readers, Editor in Chief Sal Gentile introduced two new blogs with the promise they would "provide, for the first time in the history of the News-Letter, regularly updated, web-exclusive content during the summer, when the newspaper is not in print."

The two blogs are “What’s Next?" covering breakthroughs and controversies in science and technology, with an emphasis on research done at Hopkins, and “Town and Gown,” which covers news and politics about the university and the city. To their credit, the bloggers didn't wait for earth-shattering news. During the summer they covered everything from the university president's announcement on a new vision for achieving “carbon neutrality” to a price hike on soda.

So, Sal, how did the experiment go? We'd love to hear what kind of feedback you've received on the new blogs and if you have any advice for other college newspapers stuck in the summer doldrums. Leave a comment here or write to us at collegenewspaper@gmail.com.

Is college media behind the times?

Are college newspapers lagging behind their professional counterparts when it comes to new media? Are journalism programs failing to equip graduates with the skills they need to get a job in the industry? Are journalism students sticking to narrow, outdated ideas about the kind of journalist they want to be?

These are some of the questions discussed in a recent article, "New Media Meets Campus Media" published by InsideHigherEd.com. The article reports on a panel discussion held Friday at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in Washington, DC.

Scheduled speakers for the panel, entitled "Issues and Challenges Facing Campus Media," included Dave Wendelken and Toni B. Mehling of James Madison University; Daniel Reimold of Ohio University; and Bryan Murley of Eastern Illinois University.

Perhaps even more interesting than the article itself -- after all, journalism students and professors have been discussing these issues for years -- are the comments in response to the piece. Journalism educators, students, recent graduates, even a self-described blogomist all weigh in, and several offer interesting insights.

Check it out -- and feel free to add your own two cents, either at InsideHigherEd.com or here.

Podcast your world

If your student newspaper hasn’t already started podcasting, put it at the top of your to-do list for the new school year. And if you do occasional podcasts, think about new ways to use this powerful and fun medium.

Podcasts, or digital audio files published on the Web, are a great way to build user interest in your news products – online, broadcast and even print -- in an integrated media operation. You should publicize your podcast offerings in your print edition and refer back to the newspaper in your podcasts.

Among the ways to use podcasts:

News Podcasts. A number of student papers feature podcasts that recap the top stories of the day or week. One example is The Battalion Radio News, regular audio news reports from The Battalion, the independent student newspaper of Texas A&M University. Kudos to The Battalion staff for keeping up podcasts through the summer.

Sports Podcasts. Other papers offer podcasts that focus on sports coverage. Some good examples can be found at The Towerlight at Towson University.

Event Coverage. Take an audio recorder to a lecture, conference, rally or other news event and you can create a podcast of the event.

Q&As. This format works great for interviewing student government candidates, campus officials, noted visitors to campus and other newsmakers. For some examples check out Purdue University’s Exponent. The Daily Eastern News at Eastern Illinois University, where students have interviewed college sports figures, musicians, the departing university president and even a recovering methamphetamine addict.

The Arbiter at Boise State did a moving two-part interview with Vietnam veteran Tom Titus about the life and death of his son, Brandon Titus, who was the sixth soldier from Idaho killed in Iraq. Check out this and other podcasts out at The Arbiter’s extensive collection here.

Interviews with Reporters. The Oregon Daily Emerald at the University of Oregon runs an interesting “In the Newsroom” podcast featuring interviews with staff reporters and special guests about stories in the news. These not only offer the back story on issues of the day, but also create a window that allows readers to see how the newspaper works.

Group Discussions. The State Hornet at Sacramento State University has been experimenting with podcast discussions of film, sports and sex. “My favorite was a short one in which the sports editor interviewed several stars from our championship women's golf team,” adviser Holly Heyser wrote in an email to me. “It was the kind of interview that was really fun - sometimes serious, sometimes silly - in audio, but would have been lost completely in a written story.” If you want a laugh, be sure the check out the “Sex Ed(itors)” discussion of “Mistakes Women Make in Bed.”

Speaking of podcasts, the American Civil Liberties Union has extended to Oct. 4, 2007 the deadline for its Third Annual Stand Up For Freedom Contest. The contest encourages students to get creative about defending American’s civil rights by producing a video PSA or an audio podcast about how the government is abusing its power. Prizes include $2,000 for Best PSA and $1,000 for Best Podcast with additional awards for originality, production and humor. For more information see the contest Web page.

Do you have other great examples of student newspaper podcasts? Share them in a comment here or email collegenewspaper@gmail.com. We'll post more on podcasting later this week.

Bill Moyers wants you

Veteran broadcast journalist Bill Moyers is looking for journalism students to write for The Moyers Blog, a companion Web site to the weekly PBS series Bill Moyers Journal.

Student journalists chosen for the project will hold a regular beat on the blog, covering topics such as politics, arts and culture, the media, the economy and social issues. The blog also encourages students "to cover the subjects they feel passionate about," according to the Web site. "The Moyers Blog will showcase students' work to a national audience, and will allow them to receive and respond to reader reaction."

Journalism instructors can receive assignments for students by e-mailing MoyersBlog@thirteen.org and putting "JStudents" in the title. Topics will also be posted at an assignments page on the Web site. In addition, journalism professors and students can submit other noteworthy student work for review.

The first assignment, due Oct. 1, 2007, will be a reflection on "Bill Moyers Joural: Buying the War," which can be viewed in its entirety online. Students are being asked to write an op-ed piece of no more than 400 words on the role of journalism in the lead up to the war. For more detailed instructions go to the assignment page.

Submissions should be about 400 words and be thoroughly sourced. Published articles will be attributed to the student, the academic adviser or professor and the journalism school, all of which should be noted on the entry.


There's no monetary compensation for work published by The Moyers Blog. However, students whose work is published will receive an autographed copy of the book Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times. And getting on The Moyers Blog would be a nice line on any student's resume.

Journalism students and professors who have questions about the blog entries can contact Diane Domondon at DomondonD@thirteen.org or MoyersBlog@thirteen.org.

You can find out more about Bill Moyers and hear his 2001 talk to the National Press Club here.

A day without technology

Could you live for a day without electronic media -- no TV, no cell phone, no iPod (or any other kind of MP3 player), no radio, no CD player, no computer, no video games?

That's the challenge Danna Walker, a professor at American University, posed to her "Understanding Mass Media" students last term. You can read her fascinating account of "The Longest Day" , which ran Sunday in the Washington Post Magazine. (If you get a dialog box asking if you are registered, don't worry. You can register for free.)

Danielle Marsh, a reporter for The Gargoyle, the student newspaper at Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL, took on a similar experiment last January. Check out her first-person story about her technology-free 24 hours.

According to Brian Thompson, the newspaper's adviser. Marsh's experiment was inspired by a study on Internet addiction that the paper had reported on. "It made a good package for us that was pretty widely read by students," he wrote in a discussion on the College Media Advisers' listserv. "Might be fun for others to try, too."

Marsh's piece is a great example of how to make an engaging, readable personal feature out of a hard news story.

How He Got That Story

Story of the Month Winner Stu Wong of the Brown Daily Herald describes how he got the interview with Reade Seligmann, the Duke University lacrosse player who was acquitted of raping an exotic dancer:

About two weeks before our summer issue deadline, one of my editors called me to ask me to track down Seligmann, who had committed to Brown in May.

I didn't know where to start (I figured his lawyer would never forward the request), so I called some of my old bosses at the Chronicle of Higher Education, where I interned last fall. One of them who had been following the case suggested KC Johnson's blog, Durham Wonderland. A history professor at Brooklyn College, Johnson had pretty much the most authoritative blog on the Duke case; he's actually co-authoring a book about it.

I e-mailed Johnson, asking if he would forward an interview request to Seligmann, which kindly he did. Seligmann e-mailed me back the same day from his work account, telling me that he would love to talk to the Brown paper. I e-mailed him back a day later, asking if I could have his phone number. He quickly e-mailed me back from his account at Bear Stearns, a New York investment bank, and asked for my number instead. So I gave him mine, and he e-mailed me again, telling me that he would call me that night, which he didn't.

I e-mailed him back the next day, asking to talk to him, and he said again that he would call me that night. But he didn't, and we again bounced e-mails back and forth for a week, until he stopped e-mailing for a few days.

So finally, the Tuesday before my Saturday deadline, I e-mailed him again, telling him I needed to talk to him before the weekend. He said again that he would call me that night, but he didn't. So finally on Thursday, I asked him if I could just drive down to New York that night and meet him at a cafe. He e-mailed me back, telling me that he had a company dinner in Times Square until 8 p.m., but he could meet me at 8:30. So I suggested the Times Square Starbucks, and he said it was good.

I have an internship at the Providence Journal, so I asked my editor if I could leave early since I was planning on work on Sunday anyway. I got off around 3 p.m. and drove straight to Brooklyn Heights, where I planned to spend the night with a friend. I got caught in rush hour, but somehow didn't manage to get lost and parked in Brooklyn around 7:45 p.m. I scribbled down all my notes in my notepad on the subway (totally prepared, I was not) and read some clips I printed from the New York Times. When I arrived at 8:20, he was already there.

I knew what he looked like from all the photos/mug shots in the paper. So I greeted him, got an iced tea and sat down.

To break the ice, we started talking about Brown. I feel that was the only reason I was able to get the interview — because we were going to be students at the same college. He had declined to give interviews with many media outlets. So I took advantage of what we had in common, and it turned out great because he had many questions about the university.

I really didn't need to prod him at all in my questioning. He is a talker, and he spoke freely about everything. The only things he wouldn't talk about was how he really felt toward Mike Nifong, the Duke case prosecutor, and the woman who accused him of rape. I prodded him on details about what he did when he found out he was accused, and especially about his arrest and his time in jail. I asked him what he did to pass the time in the cell, what he remembered doing, which got him to tell me about about reading the Spanish on the walls. Whenever he mentioned something interesting (about seeing his name on the Bloomberg ticker, for instance), I tried to get him to tell me every single detail: exactly where he was sitting, whom he was with, what was going through his mind, etc.

About the lead: When the lady who asked Seligmann for the psychic reading came up to our table, I was a little flustered at first, but Seligmann totally kept his cool. It was about a minute after she left our table when I realized, Holy shit! That's my lead. Then I looked around the Starbucks and finally found her, and scribble down notes about her appearance. It was a surreal, one-in-a-million perfect-interview experience, and I am just glad I was able to recognize its significance. (I have no idea how; I was pretty scatterbrained all day.)

So that's pretty much it. I interviewed Seligmann's mom the next day during my lunch period, which is where I got some more information about her. I was lucky enough to catch the Brown lacrosse coach, Lars Tiffany, Friday evening. I spent all day Saturday writing and I have to thank my editors — as well as my former editor at the Chronicle, Brad Wolverton, who took time off a vacation to look at it — for making it as polished as it could be.

First Story of the Month Winner

I've been thinking of starting Story of the Month and Photo of the Month contests in the fall. But I saw such a good story on the Brown Daily Herald site today that I decided to start a month early.

Stu Woo of the Herald staff wrote a compelling profile of Reade Seligmann, one of the Duke Lacrosse players who was charged with and then acquitted of rape. Seligmann decided to leave Duke and transfer to Brown. The story is an excellent example of narrative writing and includes great scenes and description. Check out "Exonerated Duke suspect awaits fresh start at Brown." He also shot the environmental portrait that goes with the story.

Kudos to Stu Woo, our first Story of the Month winner!

Stu--If you're out there, send us a message about how you got the story and we'll post it on The Student Newspaper Survival Blog. If you can, send a photo of yourself, too.

Investigative Reporting for College Newspapers

One of the best ways to distinguish your student newspaper is to take on some investigative stories. Such hard-hitting stories will bring attention to your paper--and possibly even awards. Don't forget it's your job as a student newspaper to serve as watchdog for your campus. If the cafeteria is cited for health violations or a campus official is embezzling money or the university president is sleeping with students you should be telling the world.

But investigative stories don't just come out of thin air. You have to look for them and when you find them you have to be ready to report them in a thorough and responsible manner. Here are some tips to get your newspaper started on an investigative path:

1.If you don’t already have one, create an investigative team with some of your newspaper’s most experienced reporters. Pick one or two manageable projects to start with. Invite a professional investigative reporter to act as mentor for the team.

2.Look to Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. for inspiration. The Web site of the nation's leading investigative journalism organization is chock full of examples of great investigative stories. (Look in particular for student award winners.) Send a delegation to an investigative reporting conference or training workshop. (IRE. and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting each hold an annual national convention and many regional workshops throughout the year.) Have participants share what they learned in a workshop for the staff.

3. Organize a brainstorming session for editors or for the whole staff focused on investigative reporting. Have people throw out ideas around the theme “What’s not working on campus?”

4. Organize an investigative reporting workshop for your staff or regional or state college press association. The IRE Web site has information on how to do this. You might be able to collaborate with professional newspapers or other student papers in your area.

5. Invite an investigative reporter from a local news organization to give a lecture or workshop for your staff.

6. Find an interesting database (faculty salaries, campus crime statistics, parking ticket fine information) and assign a team to crunch the numbers in Excel or another spreadsheet program. Have them look for possible story ideas.

7. Get a copy of your school’s most recent budget and one from five years ago and assign a team of reporters to delve into it in search of story ideas. Which programs are getting more funding, and which programs have been cut?

8. Run key school officials--the chancellor, president, provost, deans, controversial professors--through a criminal records check. Do the same for high-profile students, such as members of the football team or student governing board or leaders of student groups.

9. Check health inspection reports on the cafeterias and other food service establishments on or near campus. Find out which popular bars near campus have been cited for serving underage drinkers.

10. Request salary data for all faculty members. Find the highest paid professors and compare how professors in different departments are paid. Look for patterns. Are women or minority professors paid less than white men? Does the average English professor make half the salary of the average business professor? Your readers have a right to know.

Ice Breakers for Staff Orientation and Training Sessions

As you plan your orientation or staff training for the fall semester think about ways to get staff members to get to know each other better in an informal way. Such ice breakers can ease tensions and help build relationships right from the start. Here are some suggested ice breakers:

• Interview Introductions: Pair up staff members and have them interview each other for five minutes. Ask each student to find out three interesting or unusual facts about the person they're interviewing. Encourage staffers to go beyond the obvious questions: major, position on the paper, where the person is from, etc., and ask deeper questions, such as the most exciting place they’ve ever been or the craziest thing they’ve ever done. Have each person introduce the person they interviewed -- and the three things they learned -- to the rest of the staff in 30 seconds or less.

• Hopes and Fears – Have each staff member introduce themselves and talk about one thing they are excited about for the coming semester and one fear or thing they are anxious about. This gets people’s anxieties out on the table right from the start and builds an instance sense of intimacy.

• Line Up: Organize participants into equal-size groups of 8 to 10. Direct each team to line up in order of their birthdays. When a team is finished they should all clap their hands. Then check that they've got it right. The first team to line up successfully wins. (A variation of this is to have people line up by height, smallest to tallest, but not allow them to use words.)

• People Bingo: Draw or print a 5 X 5 grid, like a bingo card, on a piece of paper and write things such as "born in another country," "is the oldest child in family," “plays a musical instrument” into each square. (If you know the people, you can actually tailor the criteria to specifically fit your group). You might want to throw in some journalism references, such as “has seen the movie Shattered Glass,” “has read The Elements of Journalism” or "has done an internship at a newspaper." Make a copy of the sheet for each person. Instruct people to mingle and get the signature of one person who meets the criteria for each square. Unless you have fewer than 25 participants, don't let people collect the same signature twice. The first person with a completed card wins.

• Pocketbook Scavenger Hunt: Divide participants into two or more equal-sized teams of four to seven people. Give each group a pocketbook scavenger hunt sheet and give them three minutes to come up with as many of the items as they can from their pockets, purses, or other belongings they have with him.
Pocketbook Scavenger Hunt List
A yellow highlighter
Mint
Business card
Thumb drive
A frequent-customer card from a bookstore, cafe or restaurant
Hair pin
Black comb
Restaurant receipt
AAA card
Picture of a close relative
Hair scrunchie
Something with your college or university’s logo
Contact lens case
Restaurant coupon
College ID
Planning calendar
Tissues
Lipstick

If you’ve got other ice breakers to share, describe them in a comment below.