Michael S., our online student, attended a class last week, which allowed for a brief pause in our online discussions. With this post, the discussions of the "Art of Editing" have returned, and this week's focus is on "Chapter 9 Using Photos, Graphics and Type" and "Chapter 10 Editing Newspapers."
In previous discussions, I started with some observations about the reading, but this week I'm asking Stechschulte and the rest of the class to lead the way, and I will be one of those who responds. The deadline to participate is midnight Sunday.
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Using graphics and photography can do wonders to help a story -- even a boring story -- become interesting. It really is true that people will become intimidated by large blocks of text and not finish reading a story -- if they even start. The best way to remedy this is by creating some kind of visual element or information that can break down the main points of a story. Even if the story itself is long, a graphic can give the reader a mental break and keep them focused on the story. However, photos and information graphics can serve two different functions. While both are important, and many stories can benefit from both, photos can be more useful with lighter, less informational stories, such as a story about children at a zoo. Information graphics, on the other hand, can be much more helpful with complex story topics, such as the structure of the infamous bailout bill(s).
Even when using photography, it is important to pick the right photos and have them cropped correctly. Lead art, more times than not, should have at least one person in it. Editors usually look not for the photo that necessarily best illustrates the main idea of the story, but the photo that shows the most emotion or allows the reader to connect personally. I had to make a decision yesterday, for example, on a story about the Michigan parks system. I had two photos: one was of the entrance sign to Fort Custer State Park, and the other was of two people on horseback. Since the story was about the parks and not horseback riding, the photo with the sign was the most relevant. However, the horseback photo was more interesting because it had people in it, which is the photo I chose. I also cropped the photo so the people in the shot were larger in an effort to see more of their faces.
Chapter 9 focuses on "using photos, graphics and type." Basically the chapter focuses on the factor that without visuals, such as pictures, large font headlines, and such, many readers would skip important stories. Newspapers must focus on using pictures, while television (such as the news) must focus on visuals and video footage. Both are huge aspects when wanting to gain attention from both readers and audiences.
The "Editing for Graphic Appeal" section gives tips for newspapers, magazines, and web sites on how to keep their readers interested. First tip given talks about side bars, which can be found next to an article, which include small bits of information, found in the story, that summarize what the story is about. While a lot of papers find this to be an important tool, I find it to be quite annoying, since many writers will just pull repeated information out of the story, sometimes word-for-word and paste it in a side bar. I think that if readers want to make this affective, they should at least change up the wording.
Another tip focuses on the theme and mood of the picture that is used for a certain story and to make sure the person being interviewed or whomever the story is about is involved in the picture. I find this to be very important. Say a story is about a woman who just celebrated her 100th birthday, do not use a picture of the family gathered in almost a posed look or something involving her grandchildren with her in the background. Make sure the woman is the focus of the picture and everything else around her is either out of focus or not important.
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