We've been working on the new Web site for four days now, and we still have a few glitches but the e-Edition is up and running. Check out the link at the top of our home page. It's a lot more user friendly. For example, on page 1A, you can now click on the line at the bottom of the story that tells you on what page the story continues and the program will automatically take you to that page. You can also search the PDFs in the e-Edition to find a specific name or topic. The pages are now listed in a drop-down menu at the top of the first page, so you don't have to keep going back and forth from a page to a list as you did before.
The archives are still available under the button in the navigation bar at the top of the home page.
We've had a few complaints from those who don't like change in any form, but most people are enjoying the added features, including the videos and being able to comment on stories. Some of the photo galleries are up already, and soon you'll be able to buy a photo you saw in the pages of Laredo Morning Times. We've had a couple of suggestions, and we're looking into the feasibility of those.
We'd love to hear from you. Please let me know what you think.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The basics
First things first.
Reporters do not write headlines. That's an editor's job. So don't blame the reporter if you don't like the headline.
Here's the process of how a news story gets into the paper, in brief. A reporter suggests a story or gets an assignment. He or she covers the story, conducting interviews and doing research. The line editor - in the case of Laredo Morning Times, it's usually City Editor Julie Daffern (sometimes it's me) - reads the story. The line editor may have suggestions for making changes, such as adding or taking something out. She talks with the reporter, and changes are made, if necessary. The story then goes to the copy editor, who reviews the story for spelling mistakes, typos, grammar, style and consistency (is someone's last name spelled the same way throughout the story? do the numbers add up?). If the copy editor spots something that he believes need clarifying, he talks with the line editor or directly with the reporter. More changes are made, if necessary. The copy editor may put a headline on the story, or it may go to the news editor for a headline. The news editor arranges stories on pages, sketching the pages out on paper, and submits those drawings to the designer/paginator, who actually places stories, headlines and photos on the computer pages. In the case of the front page, the designer/paginator designs the page. The designer/paginator then prints a copy of the page and it goes to the copy editor or news editor. One of them proofs the page and gives it back to the designer/paginator for corrections. Corrections are made and another proof is printed. It is reviewed, and once it's approved, the designer/paginator sends the page electronically to camera, where it comes out as a negative and it's processed for production.
Now, that's how things are supposed to work. In reality, putting out a newspaper is frequently a frenzied dance of cooperation, with everyone pitching in to get things done by deadline. In the rush of meeting deadline, some of those steps occasionally are missed. That's when an error could be edited into a story, or a headline bust (misspelled word) is overlooked, or the wrong photo is used. We abhor those things and we try very hard to avoid them - it's infinitely embarassing - but when you're putting out tens of thousands of words, problems do arise. Laredo Morning Times publishes something like 14,000 pages per year. That's a whole lot of words, folks. We do our best, and we'll continue to shoot for perfection. We set high goals for ourselves. We believe our readers should expect nothing less.
Reporters do not write headlines. That's an editor's job. So don't blame the reporter if you don't like the headline.
Here's the process of how a news story gets into the paper, in brief. A reporter suggests a story or gets an assignment. He or she covers the story, conducting interviews and doing research. The line editor - in the case of Laredo Morning Times, it's usually City Editor Julie Daffern (sometimes it's me) - reads the story. The line editor may have suggestions for making changes, such as adding or taking something out. She talks with the reporter, and changes are made, if necessary. The story then goes to the copy editor, who reviews the story for spelling mistakes, typos, grammar, style and consistency (is someone's last name spelled the same way throughout the story? do the numbers add up?). If the copy editor spots something that he believes need clarifying, he talks with the line editor or directly with the reporter. More changes are made, if necessary. The copy editor may put a headline on the story, or it may go to the news editor for a headline. The news editor arranges stories on pages, sketching the pages out on paper, and submits those drawings to the designer/paginator, who actually places stories, headlines and photos on the computer pages. In the case of the front page, the designer/paginator designs the page. The designer/paginator then prints a copy of the page and it goes to the copy editor or news editor. One of them proofs the page and gives it back to the designer/paginator for corrections. Corrections are made and another proof is printed. It is reviewed, and once it's approved, the designer/paginator sends the page electronically to camera, where it comes out as a negative and it's processed for production.
Now, that's how things are supposed to work. In reality, putting out a newspaper is frequently a frenzied dance of cooperation, with everyone pitching in to get things done by deadline. In the rush of meeting deadline, some of those steps occasionally are missed. That's when an error could be edited into a story, or a headline bust (misspelled word) is overlooked, or the wrong photo is used. We abhor those things and we try very hard to avoid them - it's infinitely embarassing - but when you're putting out tens of thousands of words, problems do arise. Laredo Morning Times publishes something like 14,000 pages per year. That's a whole lot of words, folks. We do our best, and we'll continue to shoot for perfection. We set high goals for ourselves. We believe our readers should expect nothing less.
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