PRINT MEDIA PRODUCTION SESSION 2 - PRODUCTION PROCESS PART I

The above image is from a film called 'All The Presidents Men', a great movie all about the two journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward who exposed the Watergate scandal in the US in the 70s, eventually leading to the toppling of President Nixon. Alot of the film is set in the Washington Post office you can see above. To a certain extent, it's a dated image (journalists don't use typewriters anymore for instance) but you'll still see similar scenes in newspaper offices today. Journalists on phones, chasing stories, taking notes, writing up copy. The way newspapers and magazines make it from planning to print has changed technologically (e-mail and internet-research for instance) but the actual basics of the process has remained the same. Editors and section editors ask writers and photographers to give them story ideas - writers and photographers then provide copy (another word for text) and shots to commission. Sub-editors check it all as the copy comes in, picture editors manipulate the images. Images and text go through to design and the art-department lays it all out and designs the pages. And then the publisher okays it all for print. 

Last week you kicked this unit off by choosing a paper's publisher and telling me who they are and what papers/products they bring out. As you can see from the spec it's now time to look at the PRODUCTION PROCESS behind print media i.e how does a newspaper get to the shelves. 

We're going to deal with the production process in two stages. Eventually you're going to tell me about the actual ORDER of the process, what happens in preproduction, production and post-production for newspapers. Today I want you to find out and tell me about the different JOB ROLES involved from the lowliest writer to the highest editor. The reason I want you to look into this is because the production process for mags/papers follows a definite order but everyone works simultaneously. To get the production process right we need to talk about the jobs everyone has on newspapers/mags because each job has a different role at different parts of the process. To understand how mags/papers are produced it's crucial that you show you understand not just the order in which things happen, but who does what.

For each of the job roles I've outlined below I'm going to want to know what responsibilities each job entails (that's more important to me than how much they can earn etc). Use the links I've left + my brief descriptions to get the basics down. Complete the following stages.

1. Set up a new blogpost on your media blog. Call it 'Print Media Production - Production Process - The Job Roles'. 

2. Open up a subheading. 'The Editor'. 

Rebekah Brooks, former editor of the Sun and the News Of The World, fired after the Millie Dowling phone-hacking scandal

THE EDITOR – is the boss of a magazine/newspaper. They oversee the entirety  of the production process in creating a mag. S/he pulls the whole thing together – comes up with ideas, liases with the whole team in making sure the mag/paper is completed every month for monthly magazines, every week for weekly magazines or weekend newspapers, every day for daily papers. The editor makes the big decisions about who or what it going to be on the front cover or first page, what the inside content is going to be like (frequently through EDITORIAL MEETINGS) and staffing - it's the editor who both hires and fires people. Crucial though that an editor TRUSTS his/her SECTION EDITORS.

Typical earnings are £60k+ a year going up to SILLY money for some . . . .

Define an editor in your own words (use link below to add to my definition if you wish)

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/newspaperormagazineeditor.aspx

3. Open up a subheading THE SECTION EDITOR

A SECTION EDITOR is someone who puts together a particular section of a mag/paper. Could be the reviews section/features/ gossip/ sports/ news/ fashion – any part or section of the paper.
They’re responsible for deciding who writes what for their section, drawing up (in consultation with the Art dept) a FLATPLAN for their section, giving out wordcounts & deadlines to writers and photographers. The section editor might also write headlines and edit copy when it comes in.
To get the writing done they’ll usually use a combination of STAFF WRITERS and FREELANCE WRITERS. They’ll also commission PHOTOGRAPHERS if needed.
Typical earnings are £40k – up to about £60k for top end mags/papers


Define a section editor in your own words. Couldn't find a link for a more detailed job description so rewriting my description should be fine!

4. Open up a subheading: THE WRITER 

There are two types of writers for magazines and papers. A staff-writer is a full-time employee of a magazine or newspaper. They are expected in the office 9-5 (sometimes later) and will be expected to write about anything that’s thrown their way in that time. They don’t get the option to refuse this work and are often tied to the office/desk. However they do get more job security, and a guaranteed monthly wage. They’re workhorses.
A freelance writer/journalist can work for several different companies but only get paid for the writing they do that makes it into print. Freelancers can be more flexible in their working hours and what they write about, but don’t have the security of a regular wage. They ave to run their own office and sort out all aspects of their working life and schedule themselves. Being a freelancer was the most fun I ever had in my life.

Both types of writer have to research/investigate, draft and complete articles they've been commissioned to write and work to deadlines and wordcounts. Both types of writer also have to come up with new ideas of things they want to write about and PITCH those ideas to both editors and section-editors, although this is obviously more important for freelancers as without a regular stream of work it's difficult to survive. Both types of writers can expect to have a BYLINE - this is where their name appears next to articles crediting them with writing it..

Anything from £15k (starter) up to £150k (paid columnists for national newspapers).

Define THE WRITER in your own words. Use the following links to build your profile up.

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/pages/magazinejournalist.aspx

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/magazine-journalist

5. Open up a subheading THE SUB-EDITOR 

Whoops - looks like the sub-editors at the Hull Daily Mail really screwed up here. 

The sub-editors checks all copy (proofreading) received from SECTION EDS using the paper/mag’s STYLE SHEET (a long document that spells out the grammar/spelling rules every article must abide by - every mag/paper has their own). Sub-editors (or SUBS as they're usually referred to in the trade) check the text for spelling, grammar, accuracy, libel (i.e that the paper/mag isn't going to get sued) before sending it through to the ART DEPT for placing on the LAYOUTS ready for print. It's a really important job - subs are frequently in conflict with writers who don’t like seeing their copy messed with.Sub-editors may also be asked to come up with HEADLINES and STANDFIRSTS (the couple of lines that introduce many articles, inbetween the headline and the main body of the text).
£20K upwards.
Some of my best mates are subs, and many journalist friends of mine do subbing work on the side. Unlike journalism, the income can be steady cos you’re constantly in demand. Sub-editors can also work in book-publishing.

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/press_sub_editor_job_description.htm
https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/sub-editor.aspx

6. Open up a subheading THE PHOTOGRAPHERS 

PHOTOGRAPHERS take and process images suitable for use in magazines/newspaper articles.
These can be street-level papparazzi-style shots, on-the-scene news photography, live photography of events/gigs/matches, or carefully styled studio shots.
Photographers are usually FREELANCE – i.e down to them to generate work and keep a workflow going. Photographers usually work for more than just one mag/paper.
Photographers give shots to the mag/paper’s PICTURE EDITOR who decides what shots to use and gives guidance on how to manipulate images to ART DEPT.
If you’re into taking photos you should be looking at the work of great photographers regularly. Here’s three names to get you started – Vivian Maier, Diane Arbus, Don McCullin
£30K+

Define what a photographer does in your own words. Use the following links to build your profile.

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/press_photographer.htm
https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/photographer.aspx

7. Open up a subheading THE DESIGNERS

Magazine Designers work in the ART DEPT. They're responsible for laying out the magazine ready to be printed. They take the text they’ve received from SUBEDITORS, and the images they’ve received from PICTURE EDITORS and put the mag/paper together according to FLATPLANS they’ll have worked out with Section Eds and The Editor.  They’ll decide, with the editor, what kind of ‘box-outs’/‘sidebars’ and ‘pull-out quotes’ the articles need. They use digital software like Indesign and art techniques to put the pages together including consideration of layout, space, fonts, imagery – the entire look/style of a newspaper or magazine is down to the Art Dept.

The Mag/Paper then goes through to FINAL PRINT RUN. 

£30k upto about £70k for senior jobs. 

Define what a mag DESIGNER does in your own words, using the following links to build your profile. 

http://creativepool.com/articles/jobdescriptions/art-editor-job-description

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/arteditor.aspx

Peter Dennis, owner of Dennis Publishing, who I worked with when I was a staff-writer at Metal Hammer magazine. A colourful character and legend. 

8. Open up your final subheading - THE PUBLISHER 

The publisher oversees the printing process and makes sure the mag/paper is being distributed correctly and THAT’S REALLY ALL THEY SHOULD DO. 

Unfortunately because they’re the ones frequently financing magazines they also tend to have a BIG say in the general direction a magazine is going in, can hire/fire staff at will, especially if they feel the ABCs aren’t going their way.

ABCs are the ratings system for mags/papers – like Rajar figures for Radio. 

The figures are published every 3 months and that’s a moment of real fear across the mag/newspaper industries. Bad ABC figures means heads will roll. 

Publishers can earn £75K + rising to ludicrous amounts of money

Define what a publisher does and the power they have and use the following link to build your profile. 

http://work.chron.com/duties-magazine-publisher-12448.html

WHAT YOU SHOULD END UP WITH 

A post that outlines the job roles and responsibilities of an editor, a section-editor, writers, photographers, sub-editors, designers and publishers. 

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR MARK 

Dig into those links and tell me for each job role who they have to liase with, and what kind of skills are needed. 

DON'T FORGET TO TAG YOUR POST. 

Tag it Print Media Production and Production Process. 

WHAT YOU COULD BE DOING IN READINESS FOR NEXT WEEK. 

You've now outlined the job roles - next thing to do is actually talk about the process.

Have a look at these links. 

This link gives a really basic overview of the process.

 THIS link goes into way more detail. 

Can you start jotting down notes about the different stages of the process?