This article explains how small and medium-sized daily newspapers work, from the administrative department to the newsroom, production, and advertising. Reporters cover specific beats and editors oversee the finished stories before they are sent to the printer. Newspapers charge for advertising to make a profit and reporters usually have college degrees in journalism or related fields. The relationship between newspapers and the communities they serve is symbiotic, with the newspaper staff feeling a responsibility to tell the truth.
The media seems to be a mystery to many people, and newspapers can seem particularly mysterious, since no one ever “sees” journalists, unlike television reporters. Newspapers appear in yards and shelves, with a few pictures of the people who put it together. How do newspapers work? This article will discuss how the majority of small and medium-sized dailies work, which makes up the majority of daily newspapers in the United States.
Newspapers usually have an administrative department, covering senior management, payroll, accounting, and human resources; a press office, where journalists and photographers work; a production department, which is where the newspaper is ready for printing; an advertising and dissemination department, which manages subscriptions and deliveries.
The news really starts in the newsroom. Reporters cover certain “beats” or areas, such as city hall or the county courthouse. They collect and write stories about their beats. These stories are either their own ideas or assigned by their editors. Most news departments have a department head for each news “segment” — metro, features, sports, and so on. The heads of these departments are the editors. They see the finished stories, make corrections or suggestions, and finally send them to their desk.
The reading desk proofreads the stories for grammar and spelling, puts them on the page, and sends the “dummies” or printouts to the managing editor. The items are checked again and then cleared to be sent to the printer or plate maker. Platemaking processes are mostly computer driven, but sometimes a special ad or other feature is created manually on large sheets and processed manually.
When all the pages have been sent and the aluminum plates have been burned and placed on the press, the press room foreman starts the press and in about 60 seconds the first documents come out. These are usually not good copies, as the printer will need to be color calibrated and register itself as it prints. The documents then go back to the editors and copy desk, who check them again for errors, and the papers are bundled and sent to the couriers.
The old movie cliché “Stop the press!” it is almost never heard, incidentally. Presses are huge machines and stopping them in the middle of the run unless absolutely necessary will cost you time and money. If the remake can wait until the roll is changed, which is when the huge rolls of paper are replaced on the press and the press will have to be stopped anyway, then the change will be made.
While newspapers are committed to informing the public about vital issues and events of interest to the community, they are still businesses and want to make a profit. Because of this, newspapers charge for advertising. Pay the bills. Individuals or businesses can pay to place advertisements, with the benefit that the newspaper will give them as much space as they’re willing to pay.
Newspaper reporters usually have college degrees in journalism or a related field such as English or language arts. In many ways, being a reporter is like any other 9 to 5 job, except that reporters are paid to be nosy. Many people don’t think of journalists as creative people, since they have most of the day-to-day work of the writing professions, but they are often highly creative people who write because that’s what they love to do.
Newspapers work in a symbiotic relationship with the communities they serve. Communities provide stories, and newspapers make sure those stories get told. Most newspaper staff feel they have a responsibility to tell the truth and take this duty very seriously.
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