SUGGESTIONS
- Read proof word by word.
- Cover with a card all lines following the one being read.
- Always compare with copy all names, figures, and unusual terms.
- Put all correction signs in the margin of proof.
- Indicate clearly the element to be changed.
- Make changes and corrections so that they cannot be misunderstood.
- Watch for errors in punctuation.
- Be on the lookout for omission of quotation marks.
- Put in one or more words to fill space created by taking out other words.
- Take out one or more words to make room for those inserted.
- Make only such changes as are absolutely necessary.
- Read proof accurately and rapidly.
CHAPTER XIII
MAKING UP THE PAPER
Importance of the “Make-Up.” Although the editing of a newspaper is often regarded as completed when the managing editor has passed upon the proofs of all the matter that the newspaper is to contain, yet the arranging of this material on the several pages, the so-called “making up,” still remains to be done under the direction of one of the editors. The arrangement, or “make-up,” particularly of the front page, plays a very important part in the success of the newspaper. To display the important news of the day in the most effective way is to attract readers. What has been said elsewhere of the advertising value of headlines applies equally to the “make-up.” The best arrangement is that in which the important news stands out prominently, and can therefore be most easily read. A symmetrical balancing of the headlines, half-tones, and cartoons adds greatly to the attractiveness and readableness of the newspaper. Although the average reader does not analyze this element any more than he does any of the other elements of the newspaper that he reads daily, still the “make-up” doubtless leaves an impression upon him.
How the “Make-Up” Varies. Newspaper practice regarding make-up varies as greatly as it does in the case of headlines. The seven-column page is still the normal type, but the eight-column page is rapidly superseding it, because the narrower columns and margins make possible a considerable saving in paper. Some papers like the New York Sun, the New York Evening Post, the Chicago Daily News, and the Springfield (Mass.) Republican, follow a very simple plan of placing large heads at the top of alternate columns, and of having small heads on all the other stories on the front page, so that the four top heads in the first, third, fifth, and last columns are the only ones that stand out prominently. Other papers, like the Chicago Tribune, put a three-column cartoon in the fourth, fifth, and sixth columns, an arrangement which makes possible large heads in the first, third and last columns and somewhat smaller heads of several decks in the fourth and sixth columns under the cartoon. Still other papers, keeping to the general scheme of alternate columns for large heads, use one-, two-, three-, or four-column cuts of people, places, or events that figure in the news, at the top of the columns and then use slightly smaller heads under these cuts. Two-column heads in the first and second columns are often balanced with two-column heads in the sixth and seventh columns. Some newspapers have practically abandoned the symmetrical arrangement of the front page, and spread headlines in black, red, or green ink, and cuts over the front page in a way that seems to have no other purpose than to produce as bizarre an effect as possible.
Principle of Contrast. The two general principles that underlie the make-up are those of contrast and symmetry. Large heads are alternated at the top of the column with smaller heads so that the large heads will stand out in contrast with the other columns of less prominence. Two or more large heads side by side at the top of the columns do not stand out with as marked effect as when they alternate with smaller heads or no heads at all at the tops of the columns. The same is true when cuts or cartoons serve to furnish the contrast. With heads not at the top of the columns, effort is made to secure contrast by some form of alternation. A careful study of a number of papers will show a variety of ways in which the principle of contrast determines the arrangement of material on each page.
Principle of Symmetry. That this alternation of the prominent and the less prominent should be closely related to symmetry in arrangement, is evident. In the seven-column form, which is the usual one, the large heads in alternate columns produce a naturally symmetrical effect. When somewhat smaller heads are used lower down on the page, a similar alternation continues to carry out the symmetry. Large two-column heads in the first and second and in the sixth and seventh columns, or smaller two-column ones in the second and third and in the fifth and sixth columns, produce an even balance. In an eight-column page, in which this regular alternation is impossible, some symmetry is often maintained by means of cuts. Many papers do not attempt to have perfect balance on the front page, because of the desire to have the daily cartoon or a cut at the top of the right half of the page where it will attract most attention. Usually when symmetry is sacrificed, the regularity of arrangement is departed from by putting the largest heads, or the illustrations, on the right half of the front page.
Positions of Prominence. The most important news is generally put in the last column to the right on the first page. This is done for two reasons: first, because a long story in this column can run on continuously to the first column of the second page without a jump-head; and second, because, as the papers are laid out on the news stand, the right side of the paper is prominently displayed. This fact accounts for the placing of cuts and cartoons on the right side. If there are two very important stories carrying larger heads than usual, the one second in importance is put into the first column, partly for symmetry and partly for the reason that, as the paper is read, the first column is prominent. In fact, some papers, especially those that do not count much on street sales, put the most important news in the first column in preference to the last. On all pages except the front one, the first column is usually considered the best.