Responses
Jeff Angelo, 4/1/2005, 2:08:57 PM
I've got nothing to add to your proposal, except to say that I'd love to see it when it's done! Good luck.
Stephen Yeargin, The Pacer, 4/1/2005, 9:30:38 PM
The Pacer's stylebook, while formulated back in 1995, recently made its transition to the web. It can be found at http://pacer.utm.edu/stylebook/.
Comments or questions are always welcome.
Stephen Yeargin
Executive Editor
-
The Pacer
314 Gooch Hall
Martin, TN 38238
pacer@utm.edu
Michael, 4/4/2005, 11:07:52 AM
Stephen,
I like your Wiki solution. Allowing future editors to update the stylebook is something I'm interested in, so I think I'll be going Wiki also. Thanks for sharing!
-Michael
Jessica Hines, 4/8/2005, 3:25:23 PM
The Appalachian compiled a stylebook years ago. We just recently put it online. Feel free to browse:
www.studentmedia.appstate.edu/mediastaff/theapp.html
Michelle, The Oswegonian, 5/4/2005, 6:23:36 PM
I am currently in the middle of putting together a little stylebook for my writers and editors to use starting next year. A lot of my manual is moreso usage, grammar and style, but then I have a part for each section of the newspaper (news, opinion, arts, sports) and how to use correct terminology, who to interview stuff like that.
When I finalize it, it's going online so our writers (some of whom are terrible) will have no excuse to make mistakes after a while.
Good luck with your stylebook!
-Michelle
Andrew Welfle, 7/11/2005, 3:37:43 PM
Michael,
I, too, am compiling a stylebook PLUS design stylebook PLUS an employee handbook. I wrote a proposal because I am receiving class credit for it, but mainly because it was LONG overdue for my newspaper. (That proposal is at the end of this message.) I was the EIC last semester and in fact have taking a student advisor position so I can work on it. I am making it in Adobe InDesign with a fairly easy-to-follow uniformly designed format. If anyone wants a PDF copy of what I have so far, let me know!
-Andrew Welfle
Student Advisor, The Communicator
awelfle@ipfwcommunicator.org
www.ipfwcommunicator.org
-------
From the time that I started working at The Communicator, IPFW’s student newspaper in Fall 2001 to the present, I have held a number of positions, including editor-in-chief in Spring of 2005.
Almost every aspect of the technical side of The Communicator’s production has changed since then. When I started, the editorial staff was still pasting the text and pictures onto a pasteboard. Every issue was no bigger than six pages with very little color. There were four terminals, running an outdated operating system and a four year-old page layout program.
Today, The Communicator prints an average of 12 pages a week, color on no less than four pages, and submits the issue to the publisher electronically. The newsroom has six terminals (not including the terminal for the advertising department) which runs the newest operating system and an top-of-the-line page layout program.
But this is not an advertisement for The Communicator. There is a problem that needs to be fixed; one of inconsistency. Every semester or two bring a change in the administration, and often times, the incoming editors do not know the policies and procedures to keep the paper looking good and running smoothly. The paper does not have a formal training procedure, or any clearly written policies relating to newspaper design, style, or newsroom practices. I would like to change that.
I intend on compiling a handbook for The Communicator consisting mainly of four sections:
1. A stylebook/styleguide outlining specific elements of the paper’s design elements and AP elements not found in the AP styleguide
2. A series of essays and informative documents discussing student journalism as it relates to The Communicator
3. A personnel policy drafted by K.E. Casey, the Spring 2005 managing editor
4. Various appendices with the bylaws, job descriptions, etc.
SECTION ONE—STYLEGUIDE
In Fall 2004 when I served as the Managing Editor, a group of the staff (myself included) attended a workshop in newspaper design, given by Tim Harrower, the writer of several books on the subject and the man responsible for the redesign of the award winning Portland-based Oregonian. His workshop made us realize that The Communicator was in dire need of a redesign. As is evident by the following semester’s publication lineup, we accomplished that. Wanting a way to be able to reinforce the design we worked so hard to maintain,
I contacted Harrower and he consented to send me a copy of the Oregonian’s easy-to-read comprehensive design styleguide.
The Oregonian’s styleguide broke down the design elements involved in headlines, body text, sidebars, headers, mastheads, flags, etc. Using that as a model, I would like to create a similar guide for The Communicator, so any editor laying out pages can reference each element to be consistent with the rest of the paper.
This will require me to work closely with the senior staff this fall, in creating and recording a defined style for the newspaper, based on the redesign created last semester. I also will need to employ layout and design skills of my own to create this stylebook, because of its intended graphic elements and ease of referencing.
SECTION TWO—ESSAYS, TIPSHEETS
In 1994, Steven Hollander and other members of The Communicator and the IPFW journalism program wrote a style book with a series of informative essays and tipsheets outlining several journalistic aspects with which students may struggle. Such documents include: “Tips for Good Headlines,” “Writing Not Protected by the First Amendment,” “Who Has the Final Say?,” among others.
These documents are extremely valuable and, I believe, are still a good tool for the staff today. I will work with the editorial staff to determine the validity of these works and update them if needed.
SECTION THREE—PERSONNEL POLICY
The past two years brought many changes to The Communicator, including an expectation by the senior editorial staff for improved performance and higher standards. There are always editors and writers who either do not accept this or believe that the student newspaper is a “club”—a purely social affair that does not or should not require actual work on their part.
There have been numerous conflicts where a personnel policy would have been very useful. The “boss” could have pointed to the policy, explained how the employee violated it, and taken actions based on the policy.
K.E. Casey recognized this need and drafted a policy based on the policy of other similar organizations. I intend on publishing it in the handbook as well as in a separate brochure to distribute to new hires.
SECTION FOUR—APPENDICES
This section is indended for various official company information such as the bylaws for Indiana-Purdue Student Newspaper, Inc. (The Communicator’s corporate moniker), pay scale, a division of power within the newsroom/advertising dept, etc. I will work with the senior editorial staff to determine what is necessary.
This is a semester-long project, and one that I hope the future administration of this publication keeps up-to-date and uses consistently.
