Chapter nine, “Editors and Design,” of Modern News Editing was very informative mostly because of the numerous examples it had to accompany the information it presented. Also, this chapter was interesting to me because it talked about how technology has benefited the mass media and society. One thing that was interesting was how the Poynter Institute used eye tracking system to track where the eye moved across the page, what the eyes focused on, and how long the eyes focused on a certain portion of the page. A second exciting use of technology that has been beneficial to the mass media involve how they are able to instantly upload new material to the webpage once they write and file their stories.
Two main points that I took away from this chapter were 1) the news media may not tell us what to think, but they most definitely tell us what to think about, and 2) editors need to make the design of the pages work for the news of the day not the other way around.
It was just discussed in my Mass Communication class that the news media are the gatekeepers of information. They are the ones who decide what is worthy to be considered news of the day. The Modern News Editing book says a similar in stating that “another function of design is to tell the reader what editors consider the days most significant stories” (Ludwig and Gilmore, 2005, 127). So, the news media not only decide what is news, they then tell us which of that news is the most important and least important. With print media this is done through page placement. According to the text, “placement cues the reader. A story on page one rates high . . . But if it is three paragraphs long and deep inside a section, the reader realizes that the editor considers the item little more than a filler” (Ludwig and Gilmore, 2005, 131).
I think the previous quote is an example of why someone needs to understand the personality and values of the publication they choose to read. That way, if they agree with the publications values or ideologies, they can have more trust in the editors that they are not downplaying or overplaying one side of an issue over the other (even though newspapers shouldn’t do that anyway). Just having the same ideologies and values of the publication you read gives you more trust in the information. Still, you need to consider multiple sides of a story before forming an opinion. If you don’t, your opinions will not be well received because they are not back up by logical support and facts.
Then second main point of this chapter is that editors need to use the design of the page to enhance the stories. The text book states that “no matter how clever the makeup, the editors must be willing to scrap or revise it when ever news events demand” (Ludwig and Gilmore, 2005, 131). Similarly, the text stated that an editor should build a newspaper around a particular news package such as a feature story. Therefore, editors must not get too caught up on using a certain style of page design. He or she needs to make the page design work for the news and not force the news into a specific design that could be displeasing to readers.
In conclusion, I think the main thing to take away from this chapter is that editors need to understand that news comes first and that they have a responsibility to present the news in a way that is appealing to readers. Also, the news should be presented in a way that readers can understand and use to see which pieces are perhaps more important than others. This is important in today’s often hectic life style where people may have little time to get the news throughout the day.
Two main points that I took away from this chapter were 1) the news media may not tell us what to think, but they most definitely tell us what to think about, and 2) editors need to make the design of the pages work for the news of the day not the other way around.
It was just discussed in my Mass Communication class that the news media are the gatekeepers of information. They are the ones who decide what is worthy to be considered news of the day. The Modern News Editing book says a similar in stating that “another function of design is to tell the reader what editors consider the days most significant stories” (Ludwig and Gilmore, 2005, 127). So, the news media not only decide what is news, they then tell us which of that news is the most important and least important. With print media this is done through page placement. According to the text, “placement cues the reader. A story on page one rates high . . . But if it is three paragraphs long and deep inside a section, the reader realizes that the editor considers the item little more than a filler” (Ludwig and Gilmore, 2005, 131).
I think the previous quote is an example of why someone needs to understand the personality and values of the publication they choose to read. That way, if they agree with the publications values or ideologies, they can have more trust in the editors that they are not downplaying or overplaying one side of an issue over the other (even though newspapers shouldn’t do that anyway). Just having the same ideologies and values of the publication you read gives you more trust in the information. Still, you need to consider multiple sides of a story before forming an opinion. If you don’t, your opinions will not be well received because they are not back up by logical support and facts.
Then second main point of this chapter is that editors need to use the design of the page to enhance the stories. The text book states that “no matter how clever the makeup, the editors must be willing to scrap or revise it when ever news events demand” (Ludwig and Gilmore, 2005, 131). Similarly, the text stated that an editor should build a newspaper around a particular news package such as a feature story. Therefore, editors must not get too caught up on using a certain style of page design. He or she needs to make the page design work for the news and not force the news into a specific design that could be displeasing to readers.
In conclusion, I think the main thing to take away from this chapter is that editors need to understand that news comes first and that they have a responsibility to present the news in a way that is appealing to readers. Also, the news should be presented in a way that readers can understand and use to see which pieces are perhaps more important than others. This is important in today’s often hectic life style where people may have little time to get the news throughout the day.
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