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Visual Communication Quarterly

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The designers’ toolbox: Newsroom experience and

ideal characteristics of newspaper designers
a b
Wayne Wanta & Lauren Danner
a
Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Communication , University of Oregon
b
Doctoral student in the in the School of Journalism and Communication , University of
Oregon
Published online: 06 Jun 2009.

To cite this article: Wayne Wanta & Lauren Danner (1997) The designers’ toolbox: Newsroom experience and ideal
characteristics of newspaper designers, Visual Communication Quarterly, 4:2, 8-14, DOI: 10.1080/15551399709363349

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15551399709363349

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 VCQ / SPRING 1997

The Designers' Toolbox:

Newsroom Experience and Ideal Characteristics
of Newspaper Designers
the work experience of the newspapers' copy desk chiefs and their
WAYNE WANTA and LAUREN DANNER typical copy editor. Thus, we were interested in examining whether
newspapers are utilizing journalists who are inexperienced relative to

A
s newspapers continue to change in order to meet economic other news desk employees, or if Page 1 designers are seasoned
and consumer demands and changes in technology, so too newsroom veterans who, through their experience, have earned the
do the duties of people who work for them. This is abun- important job of deciding how to visually display the day's news.
dantly clear in the case of the editors who work on the visu- Second, we asked editors about the characteristics they look for in
al aspects of the newspaper—those who incorporate photos their page designers. Do page designers need to know basic news-
and graphics into newspaper designs. These visual employ- room operation skills, such as grammar and style? Or do page
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ees go by a variety of titles, but they have become an designers need to have complex and advanced expertise in such areas
increasingly important, and integral, part of the newspaper as computer pagination systems?
staff. Largely regarded as a reaction to the success of the Third, we examined whether the designers' experience levels and
highly visual USA Today, the emphasis on visual elements has the editors' priorities differed across circulation groups. Newspapers
sparked a "design revolution."1 As design has been taking on greater with smaller circulations, and correspondingly fewer resources, like-
importance in recent years, research examining designers and char- ly will differ from larger papers.
acteristics of successful designers deserves attention. Responding newspapers were grouped into three circulation
The present study is based on survey responses from a random groups: large, or newspapers with circulation of more than 51,000;
sample of daily newspapers editors about the person who typically medium, or newspapers with circulations of between 10,000 and
designs their Page 1 and about the editors' attitudes regarding the 50,000, and small, or newspapers with circulations less than 10,000.
characteristics necessary to be a successful page designer. Analysis of variance tests examined if the three circulation groups
Designing newspaper pages is an important, but overlooked, job differed on any of the above items.
in the nation's newsrooms. Garcia2 notes that design is one of the
three basic duties in the "WED" (writing, editing, design) newsroom RESULTS
operation. Moreover, it is the designers' job to "make the page Table 1 lists the means comparing responses from the three circu-
pleasing to the eye, and thus entice the reader to sample the editorial lation groups on the experience levels of copy desk employees. Gen-
product."3 erally, the Page 1 designers had more experience than a typical copy
In addition, how stories are packaged can give readers important editor. Copy desk chiefs, however, had slightly more experience than
cues as to the relative importance of certain issues. Visuals also Page 1 designers at both the medium (1.32 years) and large papers
attract readers to an accompanying story5 and away from unrelated (0.97), but not at smaller papers, where designers had 0.55 years of
stories.6 experience more than the copy desk chief. None of the differences
While newspaper photographers and graphic artists provide the across the three circulation groups were statistically significant.
raw materials, it is the page designers who ultimately determine Experience levels, then, were very similar across circulation groups.
which visuals will be published and how they will be used. Under- Table 2 shows the mean responses from the three circulation
standing who these page designers are and their required skills, then, groups on the characteristics editors think are important for a page
may provide insight into an integral part of the newspaper industry. designer to possess. As with experience levels, the rankings of these
Data come from a mail survey involving a random sample of 400 characteristics were remarkably similar across circulation groups.
national daily newspapers in February 1994. Newspapers and All newspaper groups ranked solid news judgment as the number
addresses were randomly selected from the 1994 Editor and Publish- one characteristic they look for in their page designers. The only dif-
er International Yearbook. The questionnaire was addressed to the ference between newspaper circulation groups, in fact, involved
managing editor—or the equivalent editor if a managing editor was smaller papers, which ranked knowledge of grammar and style sec-
not listed—at each of the 400 newspapers. A total of 227 newspa- ond and knowledge of page design techniques third. Medium and
pers responded, for a 57 percent response rate, an acceptable rate, large papers had the rankings reversed for these two items.
according to Babbie.7 An analysis revealed that the circulations of Ranking fourth for all newspapers was experience with pagina-
the newspapers that returned surveys corresponded closely to the tion systems, followed by liberal arts education (fifth), knowledge of
overall circulation categories of U.S. dailies as reported in the Year- complex computer software (sixth) and appreciation of newspaper
book. history (seventh).
Three areas are addressed here. While the rankings of these characteristics were nearly identical
First, we asked editors the years of experience that their normal across newspaper circulation groups, the differences in the mean rat-
Page 1 designer has. The designers' experience was compared with ings of several items were statistically significant.

8 -
 VCQ / SPRING 1997

Table 1. Means and Analysis of Variance results for the three newspaper CONCLUSIONS
circulation groups on years of experience of employees. (N=227) Experience levels of the newspapers' Page 1 designers also
Small Medium Large F P showed little difference across circulation groups. Editors in our sur-
Page 1 designer 12.37 11.37 12.25 2.04 .133
vey generally reported that their page designers had substantial
Copy desk chief 12.11 12.31 14.66 1.55 .214
Typical copy editor 9.40 7.42 8.71 1.68 .190 amounts of newsroom experience—between 11.72 years at mid-
Difference in years of 0.55 -1.32 -.97 0.91 .489 sized papers to 12.02 at small papers and 13.10 at large papers.
experience between
designer and copy desk chief Designers' experience levels, in fact, were comparable to the experi-
Difference in years of 2.74 3.70 4.50 0.72 .486 ence levels of the newspapers' copy desks chiefs (which ranged from
experience between
designer and typical copy editor 11.66 years at small papers to 14.67 at large papers) and were sub-
stantially higher than the years of experience for the newspapers'
Table 2. Means, rankings and Analysis of Variance results for the three typical copy editor (which ranged from 7.32 years at mid-sized
newspaper circulation groups on the characteristics that editors would be papers to 9.02 at small papers).
looking for in their page designers. (N=227)
Small Medium Large F P It appears, then, that seasoned journalists with solid news judg-
Solid sense of news judgment 4.70 4.79 4.77 .74 .481 ment are entrusted with the important responsibility of designing
#1 #1 #1
Page 1. Newspapers apparently value experience in their page
Knowledge of page design 4.38 4.55 4.74 5.24 .006
designers, so much so that the experience levels of the newspapers'
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techniques #3 #2 #2

Knowledge of grammar/style 4.66 4.54 4.28 5.19 .006

designers are very similar to the experience levels of the papers' copy
#2 #3 #3 desk chiefs. Thus, journalists who work to incorporate visuals into
Experience with pagination 3.31 3.79 3.85 3.62 .028 the newspaper are as experienced in their craft as the journalists
#4 #4 #4
whose main responsibilities deal with newsroom copy. This is also
Liberal arts education 3.22 3.34 3.42 .48 .621
#5 #5 #5 pointed out by the result that news judgment is most highly valued
Knowledge of complex 3.12 2.98 3.24 1.47 .232 by the editors here.
computer software #6 #6 #6
The lack of any discernible difference in years of experience for
Appreciation of 2.84 2.72 3.20 4.13 .017 page designers across circulation groups, meanwhile, was surprising.
newspaper history #7 #7 #7
The lack of differences here might be due to the nature of the design-
er position at smaller papers. In many cases at smaller papers, the
First, knowledge of page design techniques was rated more impor- Page 1 designer is also the copy desk chief. This person also might be
tant at larger papers than at medium and smaller papers. Second, the only copy editor. This person, then, could be an "integrated edi-
knowledge of grammar and style was most important at smaller tor" 9 by necessity, and thus may have compressed the differences
papers and least important at large papers. Third, an appreciation of between the years of experience for designers, copy desk chiefs and
newspaper history was most important at large papers and least typical copy editors examined here.
important at smaller papers. Finally, experience with page pagina- The more specialized position of page designer at larger papers
tion systems was more important at larger papers than at smaller. also may explain some of the differences in the editors' ratings of
A solid sense of news judgment, liberal arts education and knowl- important page designer characteristics. Knowledge of page design
edge of complex computer software did not reach statistical signifi- techniques, for example, was more important at larger papers and
cance. less important at smaller papers. Many larger papers have design
The findings overall, then, show that editors' responses were desks, where journalists' sole responsibility is designing pages. Many
remarkably similar across newspapers of different circulation sizes in smaller papers, with fewer employees, cannot afford the luxury of a
their assessments of the characteristics necessary for page designers. design desk. Therefore, journalists at smaller papers have responsi-
According to our results, general journalism skills, such as possessing bilities other than design. At smaller papers, journalists may design
a solid news judgment and knowledge of grammar/style, were most pages, write headlines and edit stories. Thus, at smaller papers,
important for a page designer to be successful. Also important was design knowledge is but one characteristic that an editor would
knowledge of page design techniques. Indeed, these general news- expect their designers to possess.
room skills are vital to the overall quality of a newspaper. Without a Experience with page pagination systems was a lower priority
solid sense of news judgment, a designer may not select to publish with smaller papers, again perhaps because of the specialization of
the most important stories and/or the most relevant and significant skills expected at larger papers. Smaller papers cannot expect their
visual elements. Journalism and design knowledge, then, help a hires to have pagination skills. They pay their employees less, so they
designer produce the best possible visual product. likely expect less advanced skills from them. Smaller papers, on the
The findings here also showed that technical expertise, such as other hand, value grammar and style skills among their designers,
knowledge of complex computer software and experience with pagi- again pointing to the likelihood of designers being expected to fill
nation systems, was somewhat less important. General education more needs at these papers with smaller circulations.
background, such as an appreciation of newspaper history and a lib- Overall, however, it should be noted that the rankings of charac-
eral arts education, was least important. It should be noted that teristics were nearly identical across circulation groups. Thus, the
while editors here downplayed the importance of computer experi- results here point only to differences in degree. For example, while
ence, they continue to list computer expertise as a requirement in
their job opening advertisements.8 DESIGNERS' TOOLBOX, CONTINUED ON > 14

9 —
 VCQ / SPRING 1997

Christmas and the New Year was intoler- off your clothes in front of Congress and Professionals and the public disagree
ance from the authorities." your picture never appeared in the paper? about how much nudity is okay in their
The strikers' grievances began over two This line of reasoning relies on the Golden papers according to Craig Hartley's survey,
years ago after they were fired for refusing Rule approach—that you do unto others as Ethical Newsgathering Values of the Public
to clean up the homes of public officials in you would have them do unto you. and Press Photographers. Here is the hypo-
their home state. Their jobs, their lives, their Also consider these points. thetical situation he presented to citizens of
future was on the line. To make their point, Do you have the right to cut off these Austin, Texas, and photo editors around the
several garbage men had been on a hunger men's political expression even if it offends country: Two women athletes collide in a
strike for months. They had sought redress your personal sensibilities? volleyball game, with one falling in such a
in the normal court system and found none. How would feel if your were the reader way that her shorts are pulled down and her
This act of public exhibitionism was a viewing the nude photo of ten nude men bare buttocks are exposed.
expression of desperation from a group of over your breakfast of eggs and ham? While a majority of the professionals sur-
unemployed workers at the bottom of the Should you consider the impact that running veyed endorsed sending out a photo of the
economic barrel. They wanted to shock the the picture will have on street sales of the athlete's derrière, a whopping 75 percent of
legislators and the public. Their form of paper? Will a picture, in fact, of nude men the public turned thumbs-down on the bot-
Downloaded by [University of Cambridge] at 11:24 06 November 2014

expression was nudity. increase or decrease sales? toms-up picture.

Their act was political. Your job as the Finally, should you worry about the com- I have included four of the nine pictures
photo editor is journalistic. petition? Your city has competing outlets— that were published by the dailies in Mexico
Your decision might be based on an from daily and weekly newspapers to several City. I selected a range of published photos
absolute rule of ethical decision-making—no television stations. At least one paper might from one showing a total cover up by a ban-
nudity no matter what. Some individuals display the whole event. ner held in front of all the protesters,
and many newspapers have this rule. In American newspapers, nudity in pic- through pictures that showed the men in
On the other hand, your decision might tures generates more disagreement among their underwear, another that showed the
be based on looking at the benefits and editors than even the most gruesome car men's rear ends and finally one that
harm of running the pictures. The utiliarian wreck of homicide picture. An editor's revealed frontal nudity with at least one
approach says, "What will accomplish the judgement about nudity in pictures generally man's penis showing.
most good for the most people?" Do the reflects his or her understanding of readers' I'd love to hear what your decision would
readers benefit by seeing what really hap- attitudes in the host community. In most have been that day on the picture desk in
pened? How much of reality do you show cases, the standards for pictorial nudity are Mexico City. FAX or e-mail me with your
them? Will they be so offended as not to more a matter of taste than a question of decision, and please include your reasoning.
read the story? Are you as a journalist and ethics. Most American newspapers and mag-
picture editor the guardians of your readers' azines refrain from printing nudity on their Ken Kobré is a professor and the director of the
morality, their censors? pages. AP's Vince Alabiso says that to his photojournalism program at San Francisco
How would you feel if you were the pro- knowledge, the wire service hasn't ever car- State University. Phone: 415-338-7430; FAX:
tester and had gone to all the trouble to take ried frontal views of nude men or women. 415-931-6710. E-mail: [email protected].

DESIGNERS' TOOLBOX
CONTINUED FROM >• 9
1 Sandra H. Utt and Steve Pasternack, "How They Look: An Updated
editors at larger papers felt appreciation of newspaper history was Study of American Newspaper Front Pages." Journalism Quarterly 66
more important than editors at small and medium papers did, this (1989):621-627.
2 Mario R. Garcia, Contemporary Newspaper Design, 3rd edition.
characteristic nonetheless was ranked last by larger papers as well as (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1993).
medium and small. It was ranked the lowest priority for large 3 Kevin G. Barnhurst, "The Great American Newspaper." American
papers, but it was rated higher at larger papers than at medium and Scholar 60 (1991):106-112.
4 Wayne Wanta, "The Effects of Dominant Photographs: An Agenda-
small papers. Setting Experiment," Journalism Quarterly, 65 (1988):107-111.
The present study provides a cursory look at newspaper designers. 5 William S. Baxter, Rebecca Quarles and Hermann Kosak, "The Effects
Future research may attempt to go beyond survey responses and of Photographs and Their Size on Reading and Recall of News
Stories," ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 159-722, 1978.
examine designers through field interviews and personal observa- 6 Wayne Wanta and Virginia Roark, "Response to Photographs," Visual
tion. Comunication Quarterly, 1 (1994):12-13.
7 Earl R. Babbie, Survey Research Methods. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth,
1973).
8 John T. Russial, "Mixed Messages on Pagination and Other New
Wayne Wanta is an Associate Professor and Lauren Danner is a doc- Skills." Newspaper Research Journal 16(1995):60-70.
toral student in the in the School of Journalism and Communication at 9 Ann Auman, "Seeing the Big Picture: The Integrated Editor of the
1990s," Newspaper Research Journal 16 (1995):35-47.
the University of Oregon.

14