Next on Sunday is here.

The Sunday edition of Next saw the light Jan. 4, and the celebrations included a gala affair introducing the new newspaper to the world. It is the newest newspaper of Nigeria, and one of the newest in the African continent.

The daily edition will be in a compact format, but Sunday is big—-a broadsheet, with several sections that include Arts & Culture, Sports, Metro, Book Review and Elan magazine.

We show you examples here, and will continue to report on the development of Next.

Here is how Dele Olojede described the first day introduction of Next on Sunday:

We had a fantastic evening! The launch went flawlessly. Your video received an enthusiastic ovation, and it was followed by my presentation. Advertisers are enthusiastic. Even rival publishers openly admitted that we have shifted the paradigm……The staff were finally able to see a concrete expression of all the work, however inadequate. Some of them cried….“

We know that there is a long learning curve to follow here..  The staff of Next is young, somewhat inexperienced, but eager and enthusiastic.  Everything is new to them, including the producing of a daily newspaper and online edition.  We at Garcia Media have worked hard with the team, and we know that it is a matter of time before Next becomes the one newspaper to watch.  Until then, we continue to work with them, now emphasizing coaching and training.  My Garcia Media team on this project has included Mario Garcia Jr., working with online edition; Ron Reason, training and coaching; Christian Fortanet, art director.

Here is a video I made to be shown during the gala, capturing the spirit of the project in Lagos:

We promise further updates on TheMarioBlog.

From tabloid to broadsheet

One early year surprise, a newspaper in Maryland, The Gazette, has redesigned itself to become a broadsheet.

Here is how the publisher, James Mannarino, describes the experience:

With the cost of newsprint rising 28 percent in recent months, we have searched for a way to continue to reach the more than 1 million readers who count on us every week. We are unable and unwilling to pass much of these costs to our advertisers, other than the 2 percent to 4 percent rate increase scheduled for February 2009. Instead, we asked our friend, national newspaper designer extraordinaire Neal Pattison, to help create a “new” format for The Gazette as we enter our 50th year. It sounds too good to be true, but the new design, which is a “broadsheet” in newspaper terms, allows us to provide advertisements that are slightly larger, the flexibility to provide more stories and photographs and save on newsprint.

For more information:
http://www.gazette.net/stories/12242008/montnew205756_32471.shtml

TheMarioBlog posting #162

In the midst of one of the worst economic downturns in history——and with the newspaper industry severely affected not only by the economy, but also by trends in how media users consume news and information—-we witnessed the start of three new newspapers, with a fourth completed, and ready for launch Jan. 4, 2009 (Next, in Lagos, Nigeria).

The new newspapers are:
The Daily Xpress of Bangkok, Thailand
Saatschi of Hyderabad, India
Saakal Times, Pune, India

Each of these newcomers represents a milestone in its circulation area; In Bangkok, The Daily Xpress became the first free newspaper ever in Thailand, with one important characteristic: it is distributed free by itself, but also inserted as a supplement to the paid newspaper, The Nation, which has become an economics/politics daily.

In Hyderabad, India, the new Saatschi is published in the Telugo regional language, and sells over one million copies daily.

In Pune, India, the Saakal Times becomes the English-language newspaper of the area, while the same media house produces another one of our products, Saakal, in the Marathi language.

2008 and the trends

As we worked through more than 20 different projects during the year, our Garcia Media team and I witnessed the following trends shaping up among our clients:

—Consolidation of content

—-more newspaper editors and publishers worldwide took a good, hard look at how they present information, and considered different ways of merging related content, and, in some instances removing sections and departments no longer viable economically, or as a result of online coverage.  Specifics that come to mind:

*Stock listings—-in some instances, four pages of these numbers were brought down to two.
*Classifieds—this is one area where many newspapers studied the section to eliminate categories, or extend offerings through online.
*Mixing of sections—-it is not unusual these days to combine sports and business, for example.  With proper guidance, readers don’t seem to mind when changes in the “flow of the book” are made.

—Change of page format

—-while European newspapers continue to turn to the compact formats to facilitate use of the newspaper, while saving money, several newspapers in the United States, including The Oklahoman, adopted the narrower 44” web.  More traditionally broadsheet newspapers worldwide also switched to “tabloid” format for supplements inserted in the newspaper.

—More attention to navigation

—-If there was one issue that all newspapers turned their attention to was how to make the reader’s trip through the newspaper easier.  Editors everywhere asked us for the ultimate navigational tools, not only on page one, but also through the entire newspaper.

—Integrating print/online

—-What was basically a matter of choice only two years ago, the idea of fusing print and online operations has become a must. I am happy to say that every one of our clients is keenly interested in establishing the type of newsroom where news is seen as protagonist on a multiplatform stage.

—Storytelling strategies

—-This was a peak year for editors everywhere to rethink how their reporters and editors tell stories. More attention has been paid to creating strategies that allow for better utilization of secondary readings, brief items, photo galleries and info graphics as part of the storytelling process.

—Advertising innovations

—-Perhaps it was the dismal economy that ruled the day in this area, but I had never seen so much experimentation with various advertising sizes and configurations by newspapers everywhere.  From wrap around ads, to island ads, to silent ads, and, of course, page one ads in various sizes, all made a safe landing in 2008. I predict we will see more of this in 2009.

—Mobile telephone platforms

—-We have only seen the very early start of mobile telephones as part of the multiplatform environment of the newsroom.  However, newspapers of all sizes are looking at mobile phones for breaking news. 2009 should be a prime year for the continuation of this trend.  The iPhone and the newly revamped Blackberry pave the way. One tip: make text on mobile phone units short, and let the images flow in!

—Online editions: ready for 2.1?

—-This has been an area of tremendous growth in 2008, but the next year should see newspaper operations turning their attention to how they can best explore the potential of online editions beyond the “news” component, and more into aggregate sites, interactive modules, multi media packages and advertising experimentation.

We look forward to 2009, which should start with the launch of the print edition of Next, in Lagos, Nigeria.
Already an online newspaper Next will see the light on Jan. 4.

We show you here prototype front pages for what Next will look like when it appears in print, Jan. 4, 2009.  It will be a compact format daily, a broadsheet on Sunday, with a features supplement called X2 Next.

Predictions continue to warn us of a 2009 where the economy will suffer at least through the first six months.  For all of us in the media, a good time to continue rethinking what we do, and to make sure that our products update themselves for challenging and interesting times.

Here, in alphabetical order, a full listing of Garcia Media projects completed worldwide during 2008, which experimented with the trends outline above:

• Cape Gazette, Delaware, USA
• Diario do Para, Belem, Brasil
• Diez.hn, Honduras
• ElHeraldo.hn, Honduras
• El Informador, Barquisimeto, Venezuela
• El Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina
• IFRA Magazine, published in several languages
• La Prensa, Panamá
• LaPrensa.hn, Honduras
• La Tribune, Paris, France
• Paris Match, Paris, France
• Ritmo Social, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• Sakshi, Hyderabad, India
• Sakal Times, Pune, India
• Sakal published in mariathi , Pune, India
• Salzburger Nachrichten, Salzburg, Austria
• The Day, New London, CT,USA
• The Nation, Bangkok, Thailand
• The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, USA
• Xpress, Bangkok, Tailandia
• Yale Daily News, New Haven, CT, USA

To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/
Rodrigo Fino summarizes the year that was

TheMarioBlog posting #161

In the midst of one of the worst economic downturns in history——and with the newspaper industry severely affected not only by the economy, but also by trends in how media users consume news and information—-we witnessed the start of three new newspapers, with a fourth completed, and ready for launch Jan. 4, 2009 (Next, in Lagos, Nigeria).

The new newspapers are:
The Daily Xpress of Bangkok, Thailand
Saatschi of Hyderabad, India
Saakal Times, Pune, India

Each of these newcomers represents a milestone in its circulation area; In Bangkok, The Daily Xpress became the first free newspaper ever in Thailand, with one important characteristic: it is distributed free by itself, but also inserted as a supplement to the paid newspaper, The Nation, which has become an economics/politics daily.

In Hyderabad, India, the new Saatschi is published in the Telugo regional language, and sells over one million copies daily.

In Pune, India, the Saakal Times becomes the English-language newspaper of the area, while the same media house produces another one of our products, Saakal, in the Marathi language.

2008 and the trends

As we worked through more than 20 different projects during the year, our Garcia Media team and I witnessed the following trends shaping up among our clients:

—Consolidation of content—-more newspaper editors and publishers worldwide took a good, hard look at how they present information, and considered different ways of merging related content, and, in some instances removing sections and departments no longer viable economically, or as a result of online coverage.  Specifics that come to mind:

*Stock listings—-in some instances, four pages of these numbers were brought down to two.
*Classifieds—this is one area where many newspapers studied the section to eliminate categories, or extend offerings through online.
*Mixing of sections—-it is not unusual these days to combine sports and business, for example.  With proper guidance, readers don’t seem to mind when changes in the “flow of the book” are made.

—Change of page format—-while European newspapers continue to turn to the compact formats to facilitate use of the newspaper, while saving money, several newspapers in the United States, including The Oklahoman, adopted the narrower 44” web.  More traditionally broadsheet newspapers worldwide also switched to “tabloid” format for supplements inserted in the newspaper.

—More attention to navigation—-If there was one issue that all newspapers turned their attention to was how to make the reader’s trip through the newspaper easier.  Editors everywhere asked us for the ultimate navigational tools, not only on page one, but also through the entire newspaper.

—Integrating print/online—-What was basically a matter of choice only two years ago, the idea of fusing print and online operations has become a must. I am happy to say that every one of our clients is keenly interested in establishing the type of newsroom where news is seen as protagonist on a multiplatform stage.

—Storytelling strategies—-This was a peak year for editors everywhere to rethink how their reporters and editors tell stories. More attention has been paid to creating strategies that allow for better utilization of secondary readings, brief items, photo galleries and info graphics as part of the storytelling process.

—Advertising innovations—-Perhaps it was the dismal economy that ruled the day in this area, but I had never seen so much experimentation with various advertising sizes and configurations by newspapers everywhere.  From wrap around ads, to island ads, to silent ads, and, of course, page one ads in various sizes, all made a safe landing in 2008. I predict we will see more of this in 2009.

—Mobile telephone platforms—-We have only seen the very early start of mobile telephones as part of the multiplatform environment of the newsroom.  However, newspapers of all sizes are looking at mobile phones for breaking news. 2009 should be a prime year for the continuation of this trend.  The iPhone and the newly revamped Blackberry pave the way. One tip: make text on mobile phone units short, and let the images flow in!

—Online editions: ready for 2.1?—-This has been an area of tremendous growth in 2008, but the next year should see newspaper operations turning their attention to how they can best explore the potential of online editions beyond the “news” component, and more into aggregate sites, interactive modules, multi media packages and advertising experimentation.

We look forward to 2009, which should start with the launch of the print edition of Next, in Lagos, Nigeria.
Already an online newspaper Next will see the light on Jan. 4.

Predictions continue to warn us of a 2009 where the economy will suffer at least through the first six months.  For all of us in the media, a good time to continue rethinking what we do, and to make sure that our products update themselves for challenging and interesting times.

Here I am surrounded by my grandchildren as they opened their presents yesterday.  The look in their eyes, the smiles and the giggles remind us what Christmas is all about.
For a moment or two, one can concentrate on the spirit of the season.

To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

Today, Rodrigo Fino writes about the new “television menu” made possible through the Internet

Federico Aubele, Postales, included in Gran Hotel Buenos Aires
Duration: 04:06

TheMarioBlog posting #161

We show you here prototype front pages for what Next will look like when it appears in print, Jan. 4, 2009.  It will be a compact format daily, a broadsheet on Sunday, with a features supplement called X2 Next.

Updated Friday, Dec. 19, 2008

The Next website has experienced its share of first-day technical difficulties, so it continues to be a “very soft” launch today, with some articles appearing fully, other sections not integrated yet, but with team and technicians at Next working around the clock to make sure that the site is running smoothly as soon as possible.

Says Jeremy Weate, project leader, who claims he is too tired to be formal: “We’re out of nappies and learning to use the toilet”

Final prototype version of the Next website/Garcia Media 2008

It is always a day of celebration when a new newspaper is born. So, here we are, at almost the grand finale of 2008,a year many will wish to forget following a string of bad financial news, all of which have made newspaper stories, in particular, quite grim and desperate.  In the midst of this landscape, a new newspaper is born in Lagos, Nigeria.  We at Garcia Media are proud to have been involved with the NEXT team from day one.

Now the online edition is there—-yes a light launch,or beta version, as it will take days and weeks to get this site running to its full potential. To prepare for that, the team, under the leadership of Dele Olojede, with whom I had had the pleasure of first working when he was an editor at Newsday, of Long Island.

Dele is a Nigerian Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former foreign editor for Newsday and was the first African-born winner of the Pulitzer Prize.  Dele has overcome tremendous challenges to recruit young journalistic talent, and to train them, and get them ready for what is likely to be one of the most youthful, inspiring and service-oriented newspapers ever published in Africa.

For the Garcia Media team, we worked with my son, Mario Garcia Jr., who created the Next website, working closely with Frank Traina; for the print edition of Next we worked with our art director Christian Fortanet, and the ever resourceful Ron Reason, handling newsroom training, sprinkled with tons of inspiration and tips.

Welcome to NEXT. We’re glad you found us. This means that now we are fellow travellers on a journey of discovery- which should surprise, amaze, infuriate, and inspire us. NEXT is launched now to provide news and informed opinion fairly and accurately to the Nigerian public in any land, based on the best judgment of the editors, and in a way that serves the public purpose and is compatible with the demands of an open and democratic society. We will deliver this to you wherever you are and by every means-via this web medium, on your mobile devices, to your desktop, on Tweeter and YouTube and Facebook-anywhere we can find you. Of course, we will engage you also via a superbly designed and edited and produced daily newspaper. The paper, NEXT and NEXTonSunday, will be distributed from Jan. 4 2009 simultaneously in multiple cities, in Nigeria and in the UK and the United States. That’s a first for an African publication. Just so you know, our web site and our papers have been designed by Mario Garcia

From NEXT project leader: Jeremy Weate

Personally, this has been a journey of over two years, working closely with Dele Olojede and Garcia Media and our technical partners to create what we anticipate will be, in time, the best news website in Africa.  For our initial preparation, we looked at hundreds of online news sites around the world, and visited quite a few leading organisations to talk to their senior digital management staff.  The content management system we are using is best-of-breed, providing an operating environment that seamlessly integrates print and web. Our website combines design elements, functionality and user experience flavours from our favourite sites, and gives them a Nigerian twist.We launched a couple of weeks ago on Twitter - apart from providing some upfront awareness of the brand/service, launching on Twitter gave our reporters a first taste of how a contemporary newsroom works.  Rather than ‘print’ or ‘web’, NEXT generates content that places itself on the most appropriate channel – Twitter, sms, web, YouTube, Facebook, newsprint etc. throughout the day according to the lifestyles of our users.  As the name of our brand indicates, our focus is on providing as close to real-time a service as possible, with an analytical focus on what lies ahead. 

The website you will see in a few hours time will be the worst you will ever see it – we will be continuously optimising the user experience in the next few days, weeks and months.  Just like the road that brought us to this point, we have a long way to go to satisfy the varied needs of our audience (Nigerians, Africans and Africa-observers around the globe).  Every step will be a thrill, because it brings us closer to a goal: of providing Nigerians and Africans with a news service that holds its own with the best in the world.

Print edition of NEXT to follow

The paper, NEXT and NEXTonSunday, will be distributed from Jan. 4 2009 simultaneously in multiple cities, in Nigeria and in the UK and the United States. That’s a first for an African publication. This printed newspaper will be in a tabloid/compact format, with the navigation that modern Internet-inspired readers demand, plus a color palette to reflect the colorful environment of the newspaper’s home base, Lagos.

The Next facts at a glance

Title: NEXT
Launch of online edition: December 18, 2008
Projected launch of print edition: January 4, 2009
Projected audience: Nigerians, Africans and Africa-observers around the globe
Publisher and creator: Dele Olojede
Editor: Muhtar Bakare
Project Leader: Jeremy Weate
Creative Director: Victor.Ehikhamenor
Art Director, Isiaka Gbodiyan
Published in Lagos, Nigeria

About Dele Olojede:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dele_Olojede

To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

Today, Rodrigo Fino writes about how television, too, is having to change to adapt to the new media landscape..

In Frankfurt, waiting for connecting Lufthansa flight to Miami. The work for 2008 is completed, and now going home to begin the holidays with my family.

TheMarioBlog posting #159

Gulf News Weekend edition front pages

It is not just the sand that is hot in Dubai each Saturday. Now the newspaper weekend market has expanded, and readers have tremendous choices of which paper to take to the beach.
For many years, the Gulf News’ Weekend was probably the one big newspaper package to put in your beach bag before heading out to Jumeirah Beach for a day in the scorching desert sun.

Now, the new arrival from Abu Dhabi, The National, has started its weekend edition, and it is a great read, on the beach or anywhere. Complete with sections that are presented on the Page 2 index with just the first small letter of their names—such as m for magazine, hh for house and home, m for motoring, etc.—The National Weekender is a good combination of photo galleries, longer in-depth and feature pieces, all elegantly presented. While advertising is not yet as present as in the thick Gulf News, one imagines it is only a matter of times—-and better economic times. By the way, The National’s magazine, called simply “m”, is attractively designed and includes a variety of subjects of interest, from fashion to films to the very local, as in “Desert Highway: On the Road in the UAE”.

The business daily, Business 24/7 produces a weekend edition where the first big change is the use of a red box logo to brand this edition.  Inside, the info-graphic driven newspaper continues that approach, but it lends its pages to content that is more leisure and lifestyle related, such as The Life of Business and The Business of Life.  One sees more stories about automobiles, the movies (a recent Page One story is all about the epic film, Australia, and displays a photograph of Aussie actor Hugh Jackman on the cover).

Although Dubai’s other English language daily, The Khaleej Times, has redesigned and improved its content and organization vastly, it still does not have a specific “weekender” edition as such. However, it adds to the mix of choices for readers who want to read in English.  Of course, there are three Arab-language dailies also in the market here.

As in all competitive environments, and with three newspapers providing good visual and content information for weekend reading, there is no question that the road is clear for each of the titles in the UAE to try to get better each time.  In the case of weekend editions, it is not a matter of editors looking at their competitors to see which news story they may have missed. It is more like taking a close look to see what wonderful piece is there to engage readers as opposed to the content on their own.

The good reads are there in all three newspapers. One in particular, from The National Weekender, caught my eye. The headline? “Camels are the new goats”

About weekend newspaper circulation in the UAE: By the way, “weekend” means Friday for UAE newspapers.  The only newspaper that is officially audited is the Gulf News.  According to BPA Worldwide Newspaper Auditors, the circulation figures available for the Gulf News,Friday Weekend edition, as of September 2008: 118,642 copies.

The ad that hugs Page One

In Dubai, today’s Gulf News displays a “hugger ad” for a car tire company. It is business as usual for the Gulf News advertising department, as it sells hugger ads frequently for a variety of clients.  The hugger wraps around the first section of the newspaper, covering part of Page One, but it is easily removed, but not before the readers sees the giant tires and the headline: Your One-Stop Professional Tyre Shop!

To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

Today, Rodrigo Fino writes about the almost “silent advertising” appearing on line.

Insurance against heart attacks
Belgium
2008
Agency: Duval Guillaume, Antwerp

Today’s pictures of the Burj Dubai, taken quite close to the structure by Haydee Perez, wife of Gulf News design director, Miguel Gomez.  Today marked a historic day for the Burj Dubai, as it is now reached its maximum height so they placed an antenna at the top. Enjoy the views.

Yesterday evening, on the way back to the hotel, I took this picture of the ever changing Dubai skyline. To the far left is the Burj Dubai, still in construction and described as the tallest building in the world. I have been photographing it through its entire construction with every visit I make to Dubai. I am fascinated by the small crane at the very top of the building now, high up in the clouds, almost a kilometer up in the air. And, in fact, the first Giorgio Armani hotel ever, will be among the many attractions of the Burj Dubai, which will also include shopping, offices and residences. Anyone interested in seeing clouds outside the window, or desert views extending for miles, this is it!

For more information about the Burj Dubai:
http://www.burjdubai.com/

In Dubai with the Gulf News the rest of the week.  Here I enjoy a midmorning Arabic coffee today, served by the newsroom office assistant, Kabir Siraz Ullah.

TheMarioBlog posting #156

Here are some highlights of the interview between Fino and Varela, which I have translated. Below you will get a link for the entire interview in Spanish:

On the nature of change for news and the media

All is changing, the proper nature of content, the access of citizens to information, but also their cognitive perception, the way information is distriburted and how it is utilized. We are living a change not only in the way journalists work, but also in the nature and ecology of such information. This is why the quality criteria of content and media are changing. The fundamental charaterisctics of quality journalism remain intact: precision, newness, interest, utility, influence, social repercusion, etc., and many of the attributes of style persist and will always persist. But the mere texture of information changes. Journalism is not something “finished” or finite in its production, editing and distribution.  Now, each of the processes remains open and many sources, including the public, get involved in it. It is a sort of interaction between the technological tools of this multimedia environment, which allow for information to be developed as a process where the media become platforms, and where the users can participate as part of the process. Many of these processes are yet to be discovered.“

On the power of blogs as part of social discourse

Without any doubt, social networks are consolidating as the new forum for discussion and citizen participation.  Look at the 3.0 participatory campaign of Barack Obama.. This has not only proved the candidate’s ability to raise money, but also the high level of mobilization and organization that is possible within the society (militants and voters, in this case), and we now see it again as Obama forms its transitional government using the net, Change.gov, a forum for discussion and dialog, which make political rethorical statements into reality……the social networks are offering people the tools for action.

About citizen journalism

There is a lot of journalism in citizen journalism, if we may call it that.  To me there is no such thing as citizen journalism . I am an old defender of journalism as an act, not a profession, or a discipline. Many journalists who work in newsrooms spend a large part of their professional lives without practicing journalism. They produce contents for the media, but to do real journalism, not much. By the same token, many other people do practice journalism by reporting stories, connecting with the media, capturing and transmitting information, whether they are “journalists” or not. Indeed, journalism is the act of doing these things…..And now citizens have the tools, through technology, to engage in these activities.

About blogs

Blogs are getting more democratic and maturing, of course. To have a blog requires that you have a big ego, and a great desire to communicate information, to relate to others, to communicate experiences. Today, this is changing, as there are additional tools for those who wish to communicate their experiences. There is, for example, the various social networks which allow for interaction, and microblogging, additional tools which adapt, in some cases, better than blogs in terms of communication and identity.

For the entire Fino/Varela interview go here:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/archives/el_atomo_de_la_informacion_ya_no_es_la_noticia

[+] Read about Juan Varela here:
• Sociedad Cableada
• Vida 3.0

This is Juan Varela’s daily blog, a must read for those who wish to be updated on the Spanish-language press:
• Periodistas 21

In Dubai with the Gulf News the rest of the week.  Here I enjoy a midmorning Arabic coffee today, served by the newsroom office assistant, Kabir Siraz Ullah.

TheMarioBlog posting #155

At first I thought it was a wrap around ad on the cover of TIME, the big poorly spaced headline, then assorted miniature boxes with type too difficult to read, sprinkled like candy grains on a cupcake.  Then I took a second look. No, this was no advertisement. It was the cover story, with the title The List Issue: a comprehensive look back at 2008 through a collection of serious and not so-serious top 10s.

Of course, any lists of top 10s of anything immediately capture our attention, and this is no exception. However, when you try to read the text on some of those lists, well, at least the over-60 set of readers——myself included——gave it up.

The inside pages are a bit better, but the type for the boxes of lists does not increase in size, making it very difficult to get through what was, content wise, a very good idea, and an entertaining feature.

To me, the entire package, from the magazine’s cover to the 11 pages devoted to the story, was perhaps an attempt at ridiculing lists of all kinds—-which the popular press seems to have a preference for.  In this TIME collection of the top 10 of everything one could find anything from the top 10 discoveries (Snow on Mars was #1), to the Top 10 Break Ups (yes, you guessed right, Madonna and Guy Ritchie stole the #1 spot), to the Top 10 songs (give #1 to Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown”). 

While the content was entertaining, the design bordered on being a poor imitation of a Monopoly game board, a sort of parody of design. While we applaud the editors’ decision to tell this story in a non-narrative form, it is the design that probably kept many potential readers away. Shame.

Oh, yes, the one good thing was a corner of the TIME cover, next to the date, where 2008 is highlighted and the reader can check one of three boxes to describe 2008: very good, unacceptable, chimerical.

If TIME editors had done the same for their cover, I would have placed my check mark next to UNACCEPTABLE.

To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

Today Rodrigo Fino writes about the fact that NOBODY is invisible in the Internet

In Dubai with the Gulf News the rest of the week.
TheMarioBlog posting #154

Update, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008, 10:45 am, Frankfurt, Germany

NY free newspaper on why the press is important

One of New York’s free newspapers, am New York, devotes its cover story to the dismal state of newspapers everywhere, and reminds its readers about the importance of the press.

Here is a portion of the story, which you may read in its entirety here:
http://weblogs.amny.com/entertainment/urbanite/blog/

In the last week, the Tribune Company announced it will file for bankruptcy, the Rocky Mountain News in Denver is likely to close and the Miami Herald may be up for sale. This comes after years of shrinking newsrooms from the smallest weeklies to behemoths like The Los Angeles Times.“What this means is fewer voices, fewer opinions presented in fewer ways, all of which has a tremendous impact on the public discourse in a very dangerous way,” said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for Common Cause.

TAKEAWAY: We wish Richard Curtis well as he leaves USA Today; also today, our Weekend Sequels: how The Miami Herald looked as a tab (sketches only), one week of new front pages for Wirtschaft Blatt, and the Chicago papers cover a governor’s scandal.

Enjoy your retirement years, Richard

He was there for the birth of USA Today in 1982, and he is still there today, nurturing the baby he helped bring into life and where he has mentored a generation of designers and infographic artists. In a sense, Richard Curtis was there at the creation, and now he is ready to say goodbye to USA Today and to the industry, and go for a well deserved retirement.

We will miss you, Richard, as you have been an inspiration to all of us in the profession. You have left your mark. USA Today continues to be one of the most imitated newspapers worldwide.  It is, in many ways, a point of reference.  Tell me about it: you could be doing a focus group in a remote corner of Australia, but if the prototype has a variety of colors, someone will immediately say: “That’s like USA Today. “

Not to mention weather maps. The moment that USA Todayintroduced its giant weather map, with color coding for various temperatures, there was no return to the simple quarter page weather story.  Small countries like Austria wanted to have a USA Today-style weather page, even if the page would be larger than the map of the country.  It did not matter, there was that weather page from USA Today hanging from the editor’s hand as the model.

But it was in the area of infographics where USA Today helped write the book through daily examples.  It pioneered in the concept of telling stories without words.  Secondary readings, too, were a part of what distinguished USA Today from so many other newspapers in the 80s and 90s.  Today, all of these elements are common place and we owe much of it to the legacy and examples of USA Today.

You were there to present them all to us, Richard, and to train a team that would implement these ideas daily.  I imagine after 26 years of this, it is as good a time as any for you to get away from your Mac and pursue other interests.

As far as I am concerned, you are one of the champs of visual journalism. If we had Oscars and Pulitzer Prizes to give to those who have contributed the most to our craft (we should, but that is another story), then I would be sending you both prizes today. For sure, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne to share when I see you next, and my very best personal wishes to you and your family.

The Miami Herald as a tabloid?

This week one of our blog postings lamented the possible sale of The Miami Herald, as I reminisced about the personal ties I feel for the newspaper in the city I consider home, where I arrived as a Cuban refugee in 1962. 

Several of you wrote me very kind personal notes about that Herald blog entry, and two of you inquired as to how I imagined The Miami Herald in a tabloid format.

Not only did we imagine it, but, working with my Buenos Aires team, headed by Rodrigo Fino and Paula Ripoll, we also went as far as to do some mock up sketches of how The Miami Herald could transform itself into an elegant tabloid. The year was 2002, and the discussion did not go very far, as we embarked into a major redesign of the newspaper as a broadsheet.

Here is our handy work. Tell us what you think.

For the original Miami Herald blog entry:
http://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/If_i_could_purchase_the_miami_herald/

Wirtschafts Blatt: first week of new look

One week of the new look, what the managers of the WB call a “soft launch”, and the reaction is positive.

The front pages of Austria’s financial daily are basically a navigator to the top economic news of the day, with only ONE story that is read with full text on page one.

Notice the three levels of navigation:
1. The strip under the logo.
2. One story to read, usually the lead piece.
3. Secondary navigators with some lines of text.
4. The summary navigator, usually towards the bottom of the page.

The WB is also experimenting with different ad positioning, as shown on this page where a “belt ad” crosses the page, with editorial content above and below it, as in this inside page shown here.

For original blog entry about the WB, go here:
http://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/in_austria_wirtschafts_blatt_introduces_new_front_page/

Scandal on Page One

We show you here front pages from The Chicago Tribune and Red Eye which caught our attention this week as we followed the story of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whom federal prosecutors charged with bribery for allegedly trying to sell to the highest bidder the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Obama .  The Red Eye does it best. Hard to resist picking up this front page to see what it is all about.

TheMarioBlog posting #153

NY free newspaper on why the press is important

One of New York’s free newspapers, am New York, devotes its cover story to the dismal state of newspapers everywhere, and reminds its readers about the importance of the press.

Here is a portion of the story, which you may read in its entirety here:
http://weblogs.amny.com/entertainment/urbanite/blog/

In the last week, the Tribune Company announced it will file for bankruptcy, the Rocky Mountain News in Denver is likely to close and the Miami Herald may be up for sale. This comes after years of shrinking newsrooms from the smallest weeklies to behemoths like The Los Angeles Times.“What this means is fewer voices, fewer opinions presented in fewer ways, all of which has a tremendous impact on the public discourse in a very dangerous way,” said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for Common Cause.

Enjoy your retirement years, Richard

He was there for the birth of USA Today in 1982, and he is still there today, nurturing the baby he helped bring into life and where he has mentored a generation of designers and infographic artists. In a sense, Richard Curtis was there at the creation, and now he is ready to say goodbye to USA Today and to the industry, and go for a well deserved retirement.

We will miss you, Richard, as you have been an inspiration to all of us in the profession. You have left your mark. USA Today continues to be one of the most imitated newspapers worldwide.  It is, in many ways, a point of reference.  Tell me about it: you could be doing a focus group in a remote corner of Australia, but if the prototype has a variety of colors, someone will immediately say: “That’s like USA Today. “

Not to mention weather maps. The moment that USA Todayintroduced its giant weather map, with color coding for various temperatures, there was no return to the simple quarter page weather story.  Small countries like Austria wanted to have a USA Today-style weather page, even if the page would be larger than the map of the country.  It did not matter, there was that weather page from USA Today hanging from the editor’s hand as the model.

But it was in the area of infographics where USA Today helped write the book through daily examples.  It pioneered in the concept of telling stories without words.  Secondary readings, too, were a part of what distinguished USA Today from so many other newspapers in the 80s and 90s.  Today, all of these elements are common place and we owe much of it to the legacy and examples of USA Today.

You were there to present them all to us, Richard, and to train a team that would implement these ideas daily.  I imagine after 26 years of this, it is as good a time as any for you to get away from your Mac and pursue other interests.

As far as I am concerned, you are one of the champs of visual journalism. If we had Oscars and Pulitzer Prizes to give to those who have contributed the most to our craft (we should, but that is another story), then I would be sending you both prizes today. For sure, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne to share when I see you next, and my very best personal wishes to you and your family.

The Miami Herald as a tabloid?

This week one of our blog postings lamented the possible sale of The Miami Herald, as I reminisced about the personal ties I feel for the newspaper in the city I consider home, where I arrived as a Cuban refugee in 1962. 

Several of you wrote me very kind personal notes about that Herald blog entry, and two of you inquired as to how I imagined The Miami Herald in a tabloid format.

Not only did we imagine it, but, working with my Buenos Aires team, headed by Rodrigo Fino and Paula Ripoll, we also went as far as to do some mock up sketches of how The Miami Herald could transform itself into an elegant tabloid. The year was 2002, and the discussion did not go very far, as we embarked into a major redesign of the newspaper as a broadsheet.

Here is our handy work. Tell us what you think.

For the original Miami Herald blog entry:
http://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/If_i_could_purchase_the_miami_herald/

Wirtschafts Blatt: first week of new look

One week of the new look, what the managers of the WB call a “soft launch”, and the reaction is positive.

The front pages of Austria’s financial daily are basically a navigator to the top economic news of the day, with only ONE story that is read with full text on page one.

Notice the three levels of navigation:
1. The strip under the logo.
2. One story to read, usually the lead piece.
3. Secondary navigators with some lines of text.
4. The summary navigator, usually towards the bottom of the page.

The WB is also experimenting with different ad positioning, as shown on this page where a “belt ad” crosses the page, with editorial content above and below it, as in this inside page shown here.

For original blog entry about the WB, go here:
http://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/in_austria_wirtschafts_blatt_introduces_new_front_page/

Scandal on Page One

We show you here front pages from The Chicago Tribune and Red Eye which caught our attention this week as we followed the story of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whom federal prosecutors charged with bribery for allegedly trying to sell to the highest bidder the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Obama .  The Red Eye does it best. Hard to resist picking up this front page to see what it is all about.

To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

Today Rodrigo Fino discusses what every designer has faced sometime: staring at the blank page or empty screen, waiting for creativity to make the move…….
In a piece titled “Fear of the Simple”, Fino writes that perhaps all creation starts with some level of uncertainty.

In Frankfurt, at Lufthansa lounge, while waiting to fly to Dubai later in the day.

TheMarioBlog posting #153

These are new pages from Il Secolo XIX sent today by Design Director Massimo Gentile

This is great news and the perfect reward for the team of a newspaper that has, indeed, said “yes, we can” and now they know that, indeed, they could.  Ten years ago, Il Secolo XIX was a good regional newspaper, but stories tended to run too long, and photos were too small and often did not contribute to enhance the storytelling process.  We cleaned up the design, stabilized typography and architecture and gave the newspaper a clearner look in 1994.  That was just all that could be done then.

Enter new editor Lanfranco Vaccari, and Il Secolo XIX suddenly came to life journalistically: better and more incisive stories, more briefs, a greater sense of local and regional coverage.

Enter new design director, Massimo Gentile, and Il Secolo XIX became a sort of visual animal: Page One graphics and photos chosen to tell the story in seconds, navigators that seduced the readers.

My work as a consultant became easier; for the readers, a new, exciting daily experience thru their new Il Secolo.

A proud editor in chief, Lanfranco Vaccari, writes:

The good thing is that we recorded the largest margin of victory in all the categories. As the award is about the journalistic content as well as the design, I would like to thank you for making it possible for your work and constant advice.

Indeed, I am proud, and extend my congratulations to Vaccari and his team, and especially to publisher Carlo Perrone, and design director Massimo Gentile, who has climbed high and steep mountains since joining the staff of Il Secolo (coming from Folha de Sao Paulo, where we also collaborated on the design of that daily).  For me, personally, it has been more than a decade of annual visits to Il Secolo, seeing it through various stages of design development, accompanied by our Garcia Media art director, Christian Fortanet.

This is only the beginning for the new Il Secolo XIX, an Italian daily to keep an eye for if you are interested in surprising graphics for Page One, good organization of content, and innovative photo editing in its news and entertainment sections.

Read all about the Il Secolo XIX award, in Italian:
http://ilsecoloxix.ilsole24ore.com/genova/2008/12/10/1101938308062-secolo-xix-miglior-quotidiano-regionale.shtml

Inspired by the past: striking Page One image

The image of Al Capone on Page One of the FAZ today

From an unexpected source, a vibrantly interesting Page One that says: Pick Me Up.
Germany’s Franfurter Allgemeine today sports a sepia tone, era-inspired 1931 image of famed mobster Al Capone to illustrate the story of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagejovich and his arrest on charges of conspiring to profit from the sale of the vacant Senate seat left by President-elect Barack Obama.  While several other front pages simply show Blagejovich, this was the front page to turn to. Again, surprise through the choice of an image.

Sarkozy #1 and Berlusconi #27

The composite graphic to illustrate the Sarkozy story in La Tribune

At La Tribune, one of France’s financial dailies, and one we at Garcia Media have recently redesigned and rethought, editors had the exclusive story today of how journalists based in Brussels chose France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy as number one among the best European leaders of 2008, so they decided to carry a Page One graphic that not only showed Sarkozy and the top five on the list, but also managed to display the three leaders at the bottom, including #27 and last, Silvio Berlusconi, of Italy. A very direct and graphic way of telling the story.

”Who needs a newspaper?”

Illustration as it appeared in the Financial Times, Dec. 11, 2008

Call it a hangover, a depressed period, the end of an era. Language aside, it has not been a good period for the newspaper industry, and particularly not a very good week.

During the last few days we have witnessed the following:

1. On Monday ,the Tribune company, which owns 2. Monday McClatchy announced that it is putting The Miami Herald for sale
3. The New York Times reports that it may mortgage its new, sparkling building on Times Square, to pay debts.

Now, Financial Times, columnist , John Gapper, , in a column titled, “Who will mourn local newspaper?” assumes that it may not be a large crowd, as they will be able to find even local information elsewhere.

, For complete column text:http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f9d8af36-c6ec-11dd-97a5-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

Today Rodrigo Fino asks the question: Is Design Dead?

In Vienna, Austria, through Sunday, speaking to a group of advertising/media people here, and reviewing the progress done with the financial daily, Wirtschaft Blatt

TheMarioBlog posting #152

Update, evening of Dec. 11, 2008: Paris, 20:04

Well, if three sports dailies may seem to be too much for France, how about four?
This afternoon at work here someone pointed me in the direction of an article from Les Echos (3 Dec. 2008), about the possibility of a fourth sports daily appearing in Paris on the 25 January, 2009, to be published by Robert Lafont and to be named Le Foot.

Let’s see what happens next, and, more importantly, who survives in the war of the sports dailies in France.

———————-

Perhaps one could say that 2008 has been the “year of the sports daily” in France.

Two new sports newspapers have appeared in the streets of Paris since October.  The long held spot of the legendary L’Equipe as the only sports newspaper is now challenged by Le 10 Sport and Aujourd’hui Sport, both of which appeared about the same time in the fall, resembling each other and covering mostly football.

Both of the new entries are in the tabloid format, about 24 pages and sell for 50 cents of a euro, compared to L’Equipe’s 85 cents.  Le 10 Sport is published by Michel Moulin and Alan Weill. Weill is also publisher of our client, La Tribune; Aujourd’hui comes from the Amaury group, which owns L’Equipe, all in the family, so to speak.

While the two new entrants into the sports daily market of France sell roughly 60000 copies combined, L’Equipe apparently has not felt their impact too greatly, and continues to hold a major lead with more than 300000 copies sold nationally, although this number may vary according to specific coverage of events, such as Tour de France and Olympics. The biggest-selling issue was 13 July 1998, the day after the French soccer team won the World Cup. It sold 1,645,907 copies. The second best was on 3 July 2000, after France won the European soccer championship. It sold 1,255,633.

L’Equipe is recognized as one of the world’s most respected sports dailies, with unparalleled coverage of football (soccer), rugby, motorsports and cycling. Its ancestor was L’Auto, a general sports paper, whose name reflected not any narrow interest but the excitement of the time in car racing.
L’Auto originated the Tour de France cycling stage race in 1903 as a circulation booster.

As I look at these three dailies, I notice that the two newcomers are quite similar in their approach to news and page design: big photos, big headlines and usually a tinted box with results.
Monotony seems to be the predominant style. Neither one of the new dailies could be described as groundbreaking in any category, and, obviously, L’Equipe is not likely to suffer much from their presence.  I count about three to four pages of advertising in the new tabloid dailies, while L’Equipe seems to be packed with ads.

For the French, traditions are usually hard to break, and this is no exception.  In the Metro today, L’Equipe is still the sports daily of choice. I guess it is hard to compete with this giant of a sports daily which covers even the most minor of sports (take judo or ice skating) and gives it full coverage and prominence.

We will continue to watch what the French media calls “the war of the sports dailies”.  So far, it is an uneven match.

http://www.lequipe.fr/
http://www.asport.fr/
http://www.le10sport.com/

To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

Today, Rodrigo Fino writes about the birth of a new newspaper in Galicia, Spain, Xornal de Galicia, titling his blog “There are still those who believe in paper”

[+] info available here: xornal.com

Here I am at the end of my run today Wednesday, standing by the Christmas tree that welcomes you into the Intercontinental Paris Le Grand Hotel. It was a 45-minute run through that beautiful park, Jardin des Tuileries that starts across from the Louvre Museum is, and extends to another scenic Paris landmark, Place de la Concorde.  Even in 2 degrees, the Parisiens come out to stroll around the gardens, and I saw about four runners, too. As usual, there are the groups of young boys kicking a soccer ball around, and dozens of dog walkers. Missing this morning: the normally spotted lovers deep in a kiss or an embrace. We wait for spring for that, I guess.

TheMarioBlog posting #151

Buyer for The Miami Herald?

The announcement of The Miami Herald for sale hit me especially hard this morning. After all, this is like finding out that your grandmother’s house, where you grew up and ate her classic bread pudding, is now seeking new owners. I was 20 years old when I first entered the Herald’s building, at One Herald Plaza, an eager and ambitious summer intern working with the now defunct afternoon newspaper, The Miami News, which was published in the same place. Through the years, I have had various degrees of association with The Herald, always as a consultant with both its English and Spanish editions. 

The Miami Herald was the first newspaper I ever read—or attempted to read—- in the English language.

In fact, I had barely been in the U.S. two hours, when they took me from the airport to visit my uncle Hector’s barber shop on LeJeune Road. My uncle was cutting the hair of a very tall, blond man, whose face I could not see, as he was sort of draped by a double page copy of a newspaper in a language I could not read.

I remember the instant that happened, and me saying to myself: Oh, I can’t understand this language. I must learn it soon. It was February 28, 1962.

Indeed, The Miami Herald became my daily English teacher. I not only read The Miami Herald, I also circled words I did not understand (which were many), turning to the dictionary for their meaning. In the process, I discovered columnists, famous reporters of the 1960s, and, in fact, became fascinated with American journalism, a subject for which I still have a passion.

If I had the ability to buy The Miami Herald, I would not think about it twice, then I would do the following:

1. Convert it to a compact.  A large majority of Miami residents are Latins, who love the smaller-size newspapers.
To see our 2002 models of how we would design The Miami Herald as a compact, go here:
http://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/usa_todays_richard_curtis_retires._also_weekend_sequels
2. I would make it look and read less like a newspaper from Detroit or Columbus, and concoct a cocktail part cosmo part mojito—-with extra sugar added.  Make the headlines bolder and bigger. Use more photos, both big and small, and show the people who live there more, especially the young ones, of which there are many.
3. I would take a good look at newspapers such as Folha de Sao Paulo and O Povo(Brazil), Clarin (Argentina), El Pais and Marca (Spain), to get ideas about color and story presentation.
4. I would insist that the advertising department dare be more experimental with ad positioning.
5. I would add young Miami columnists who know the city well, and who can do sort of daily blogs of all that is good and interesting and happening there.
6. I would be aware that to many in the larger Miami area, English is not their first language. I would make attempts to make the newspaper very pictorial, seeking to provide avenues for these new Americans to find their Miami Herald as helpful as I did almost five decades ago.

The AP report:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g34hv4FWB22S3bx5iHAaxRODmjKQD94TK4N80

The post-Murdoch Wall Street Journal

Thank God to Newsweek.com for offering a bit of good news, yes, The Wall Street Journal, in its new mission under Rupert Murdoch, seems to have made gains. In a piece titled “Murdoch’s Last Laugh”, Newsweek reports that just a year after buying The Wall Street Journal, “the press rapscallion” has revitalized the fusty paper.

So far, the results are mixed, susceptible to different interpretations and haven’t immunized parent News Corp. from the pounding that all media stocks are absorbing this year. The Journal is drawing more readers and advertisers, including coveted luxury brands. Newsstand sales have soared by more than 20 percent since the economic crisis. Dow Jones is looking to add color capacity, according to a company publishing executive who isn’t authorized to discuss the subject. WSJ.com now draws more than 20 million unique visitors per month, and enjoys the enviable distinction of a dual stream of revenues from subscribers and advertisers.

The changes in the printed edition of the WSJ are obvious. As one who has worked as a consultant on a variety of projects with the pre-Murdoch Wall Street Journal, I have noticed many changes from day to day: the multi-column lead headlines are the most obvious. In a newspaper where the one column head was king, and the two column heads were reserved for something more newsworthy on page one, THIS is a big change.  The legendary pencil sketches of people in the news, such a staple of the WSJ that they are even kept in the Smithsonian Institution, are now seen less and less, but color photos are a staple of page one. The What’s News navigator, one of the signatures of the WSJ, now has been placed on quick wheels that move it from here to there, depending on what goes at the top of the page, usually as a six-column lead piece. True, the financial crisis has deserved splashy headlines, sort of as if it was a 9/11 type catastrophe daily, but I sometimes wonder how the previous WSJ newsroom leadership would have handled it, probably tempering the size and boldness of lead headlines as the daily crisis became more of a familiar news item.

For the full article about Murdoch:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/171904

Read what Tina Brown and Larry Kramer have to write about how the financial crisis affects newspapers:
http://www.thedailybeast.com

New Pulitzer Prize categories announced

In the good news front, I am happy to read that The Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, which honor the work of American newspapers appearing in print, have been expanded to include many text-based newspapers and news organizations that publish only on the Internet, the Pulitzer Prize Board announced today.
The Board also has decided to allow entries made up entirely of online content to be submitted in all 14 Pulitzer journalism categories.

Indeed, an acknowledgement by those in charge of granting most prestigious of all journalism awards that there is some terrific , groundbreaking, service oriented journalism taking place online.  I know that this news will be all that was needed to convince those print editors who still consider their online editions to be poor relatives of print that such is not the case.

Congratulations to the Pulitzer Prize Board for making this decision.

Roger Cohen, columnist, in the International Herald-Tribune, Monday, Dec. 8, 2008:

Cohen, who writes about a recent trip to Havana, Cuba, and compares that capital to Paris, reminisces:

The slugs of Havana Club rum in bars lit by fluorescent light, the dominos banged on street tables, the raucous conversations in high doorways, the whiff of puros, the beat through bad speakers of drums and maracas, the idle sensuality of Blackberry-free days: Cuba took me back decades to an era when time did not always demand to be put to use.

For the entire column:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/07/opinion/edcohen.php

For official press release:
http://www.pulitzer.org/new_eligibility_rules

To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

Today, Rodrigo Fino writes about what he titles, Black Days, and analyzes the dark cloud surrounding media companies worldwide.

When my first meeting got pushed back two hours today, I saw this as a window of running opportunity, and, in Paris, this is an incredibly window, with the best view running shoes can ever hope for. Out I went, and, to my delight, saw Paris sprucing up for Christmas, one lamp post at a time; workers were putting up decorations all along the Champs D’Elysees, which, by the way, is already lined up with small white kiosks, all identical, forming a Christmas market with the aroma of roasted chestnuts, warm wine, and every possible arts and craft item. Yes, it is Paris, so you can get that Edith Piaf CD with her signature song,  La Vie En Rose, as well as the CD by France’s own singing first lady, Carla Bruni Sarkozy.The image here gives you glimpses of what I saw during my one-hour run thru the center of this beautiful city. Yes, 4 degrees today.

TheMarioBlog posting #150

Who says you need to embark into a total redesign when perhaps all you need is a rethinking of your front page?
When we at Garcia Media were first approached to work with the team of the Wirtschafts Blatt, the Austrian financial daily, the project involved primarily a series of workshops to integrate the print and online operations, a project on which are still collaborating.  However, from the start, editor in chief, Wolfgang Unterhuber, expressed to me a desire to do something about Page One. “it is not a bad front page,‘ he told me in that first meeting, “but we know it could be better, more colorful, have greater impact.“

So, together with art director Jan Schwieger, who had created the original design of the WB, we again conducted a series of workshops to address issues pertaining to page one, in a variety of possible scenarios.  At the end, we ended up with better navigation, an increase in the use of color, and even more headlines on the front page.  The first front page with the new look premiered Dec. 4 and we show it here.

Here is what members of the team had to say about the launch of this new front page:

From Wolfgang Unterhuber, editor in chief:

“You feel, there is much more dynamics to the new Page 1. You have far more possibilities and flexibility by creating it. The new layout allows us today, to open the newspaper with a story of deluxe, our monthly magazine. This story and its layout on page 1, will keep the newspaper fresh for four days. (Friday, Weekend, and Monday is holiday in Austria). Ih addition,  we present more headlines, a clearer navigational structure, and, therefore ,reach a higher information content on Page 1 than we did in the past. This new Page 1 is the answer of Print to a new dynamic we face coming from the digital world.“

From Dr. Hans Gasser, CEO:

“It is a perfect new face for our circulation-best-seller, the Friday-weekend-edition of WirtschaftsBlatt.“

Refreshingly full of surprises: TheDailyBeast.com

Maybe Reader’s Digest had the original idea: compiling good pieces from a variety of sources. It still does, and one always finds at least one story he did not see anywhere before. In addition, the editors of RD always knew how to write that headline that would pull you into the story, whether you cared about the topic or not. Try: The Disease You May Have and Not Know, for example.

Now, Tina Brown resurfaces with a vibrant, stylish online product, http://www.thedailybeast.com/, which is full of surprises. The headlines are well written, and are a cross between the typical newspaper headlines and the more provocative style of magazines.  In today’s edition: Caroline to Senate?, Castro to Obama: Let’s Talk, How I Got Myself a Sugar Daddy (I confess I read at least the summary of this one, which is one of the good things about this site. If you wish to read an entire piece, it is there; if, however, you are happy with just the intro, it is also there, and quite meaty. No, I did not have to read the entire article about the young, “classy” woman from Pennsylvania with her sugar daddies).

The design of the site is stylish, easy to navigate, and full of miniature photos that act as sort of a visual alphabet to move the eye around a site that is heavily populated with people stories.

Perhaps I am the last person to discover TheDailyBeast, but, just in case, I am not, I pass the information to you. It is a good read.

it is, indeed, the kind of stuff that printed newspapers should take a look at and study carefully.  My favorite:  The Daily Beast’s “Big Fat Story,“ which takes one major story, such as today’s The Big Three on the Hill, about the potential bailout of the carmakers. It surrounds the story with a complete gallery of photos, pop-up pull quotes, and links to more coverage.

It is all that the “long story” can be, without announcing that it is long and hard to follow, as is the case in so many printed newspapers.

To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

Today, Rodrigo Fino writes about small screens and how they seem to dominate our world.

A woman watching television on her mobile telephone screen in Manaos, Brasil

When my first meeting got pushed back two hours today, I saw this as a window of running opportunity, and, in Paris, this is an incredibly window, with the best view running shoes can ever hope for. Out I went, and, to my delight, saw Paris sprucing up for Christmas, one lamp post at a time; workers were putting up decorations all along the Champs D’Elysees, which, by the way, is already lined up with small white kiosks, all identical, forming a Christmas market with the aroma of roasted chestnuts, warm wine, and every possible arts and craft item. Yes, it is Paris, so you can get that Edith Piaf CD with her signature song,  La Vie En Rose, as well as the CD by France’s own singing first lady, Carla Bruni Sarkozy.The image here gives you glimpses of what I saw during my one-hour run thru the center of this beautiful city. Yes, 4 degrees today.

TheMarioBlog posting #149

All the Scandinavian newspapers do it. The Guardian and The Times in the UK have them for some of their sections. Rarely a newspaper in the United States ever even considered it.

I am talking about the stitching of a newspaper, a practice that is relatively inexpensive, easy to implement technically, and which definitely makes the life of the reader happy. Ever tried to balance a copy of your Sunday New York Times, with pages falling as you make your way from page 10 to 11?

As i spend this week in Sweden, I am suddenly aware of how neat the Swedish newspapers are, the pages all together, never falling out as one travels through the newspaper. The two stitches on the spine of the newspaper are barely visible, yet their effect is powerful.

I was discussing stitching at lunch today with one of the Goteborgs Posten editors. To him, and to most Scandinavians, stitches are as much a part of the newspaper as ink and type.

Which brings me to the point of what I have heard repeatedly in focus groups worldwide during my almost 40-year career: readers complain about ink on their fingers, and about pages that keep falling out of the newspaper. Well, don’t know how much one can do to keep ink away from the fingers or the bed sheets. But the stitches certainly solve the problem of falling pages.

Why, then, is this not a common practice, especially among U.S. newspapers, those giant broadsheets that, especially on Sundays, tend to be like paper cascades in the hands of frustrated readers?

I ask Olof Aurell, a vice president at Tolerans (http://www.tolerans.com), one of the Swedish firms specializing in stitching: “The process is simple and quite inexpensive, and we have done stitching for newspapers around the world, but I would dare say that less than 3% of the newspapers are stitched, and few in the United States.“

Really? Only 3% of the newspapers worldwide using such a sensible way of holding their pages together?  If only readers could act on their wishes and place demands in front of puiblishers, I am sure this number would be much higher.

I confessed to Olof that I have never been involved in a discussion of stitching in any of the more than 500 newspaper companies for whom I have served as a consultant. “It is a sort of non-event with most editors and publishers,“ I tell him, much to his surprise.

Why should it be “an event”?

Well, consider the following benefits of stitching of your newspaper:

1. Makes the life of readers easier, as pages will not fall. Stitching actually gives newspapers more of a magazine feel.
2. Holds your advertising supplements together better:
Increase advertising revenue
3. Allows those supplements with a shelf life beyond one day to last longer periods.
4. In markets where several readers read one copy of the newspaper, as in India and Latin America, for example, stitching guarantees that the newspaper will travel better from one reader to the next.
5. Reduces littering, which is especially applicable to metropolitan areas where commuters read free newspapers on the trains and leave them there. Easier to pick up a one piece newspaper, that several pages flying around. Ever travelled in the New York City subway system?

Perhaps stitching is not at the top of the priority list for most publishers and editors I know, especially during these difficult economic times. However, it is now that many readers, hard pressed by the difficult financial times, begin to ponder why they need a newspaper. One that stays together could make a more convincing argument for also staying around the house.

Sort of a stitch—or two—in the nick of time.

Designer Ally Palmer chimes in on stitching

Stitching also has a fan in designer Ally Palmer (http://www.palmerwatson.com/) who sends image of one of his projects, complete with a stitch. This is what Ally writes:

It’s something I’ve tried my best to campaign for wherever I go. Such a simple but effective thing. I’ve attached a picture of Finnish paper we worked with a few years ago. I’m sure you’ve also seen the way Danish broadsheets have been glueing their papers for many years. An even better way of holding the pages together, though with only two broadsheets left here, that method may soon disappear.

Aim, shoot, get published

Bild, Germany’s largest circulation newspaper (3.3. million copies sold daily), wants to expand its photography department, but not by increasing its payroll.
So, with the help of grocery chain Lidl, it will sell a small digital camera that users can utilize to become instant photo journalists.  This, of course, is angering some professional journalists organizations in Germany, which see this as a threat to their ranks.

Citizen journalism, however, is on the rise and here to stay.  We all have witnessed the role of amateur photographers and videographers, most recently during the Mumbai attacks in India, when many of the images shown in the media came from ordinary citizens who just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time.

In a society where reality shows hold their own and score high ratings worldwide, why not make everyone a journalist as well.  CNN devotes its own website to what it calls iReport, where viewers contribute videos, photographs and reports.

It is sort of iReport, iPhotograph, therefore iAMajournalist.

http://www.tolerans.com
http://www.ireport.com/index.jspa
http://www.printingtalk.com/news/fag/fag110.html
- German tabloid hopes camera offer in Lidl will widen exposure
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/04/germany-pressandpublishing

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/03/europe/EU-Germany-Citizen-Photographers.php

The mobile Obama front page

For those who really want the ultimate “always with me” keepsake of an Obama victory front page, the Chicago Sun Times offers its Mr. President Nov. 5 page one to go on your mobile phone.  More about mobile phone “art” in the Rodrigo Fino blog in Spanish, see below.

Go here:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1296273,obama-front-page-mobile-phone-download-112408.article


To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
http://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

Today, Rodrigo Fino writes about “mobile art” and how today art and technology can converge, right in the palm of your hand, as you bring a message that suits you to the screen of your mobile telephone.

Wasting time, LOV-E