The experienced eye
I have had the privilege of writing and editing content for some excellent publications, organizations, and individuals including The Canadian Press. I used to work as a production editor at Pagemasters North America, which is its editorial wing, where I designed layouts and copy-edited pages for print newspapers, owned by the Hearst news group, across the United States.
You can review a selection of my best pages for them below.
Beaumont Enterprise
The Beaumont Enterprise is a broadsheet newspaper that covers the region of Southeast Texas. It is currently owned by the Hearst Corporation which acquired it in 1984 from the publication arm of the Jefferson-Pilot insurance company. The publication currently has a daily circulation of 21,717 and a Sunday circulation of 29,492.
I learned many lessons an editor can only learn on-the-job, such as the value of a mixed column layout and the importance of a few inches between two margins. And working on these pages towards the end of a long day have also taught me the value of perseverance under pressure.
I have attached a copy of the front page of this paper’s Business Section, from the February 25th (Saturday) 2023 issue, below.
Manistee News Advocate
The Manistee News Advocate, also known as the News Advocate, is another Michigan-based daily broadsheet also owned by the Hearst Corporation. It covers local events and a range of issues (religion, obituaries, sports) that concern the community across the Manistee County.
My time management and collaboration skills were thoroughly tested when working on the Sports section of this publication. I was responsible for completing many pages across the section before the deadline, so I had to work in an organized, systematic, and collaborative manner. A significant challenge for was fitting all the assigned jumped stories, spread between two pages. I enjoyed overcoming it!
I have attached a copy of the sports section from June 10th weekend (Saturday, Sunday) below.
The Middletown Press
The Middletown Press is a daily broadsheet based in Middletown, Connecticut. It is owned by the Hearst Connecticut Media Group and covers the news in Middletown and the surrounding Middlesex County. I worked on pages from the news, sports, and entertainment sections and am particularly proud of a news page from the Friday, April 5th 2023 issue!
I liked implementing a slightly different layout: A three-line headline alongside a three-column photo. Three line headlines are rarely used, which makes writing them quite a privilege!
I also did my best to make the headline copy as concise and precise and possible, using an abbreviation for the state of Connecticut (CT) to do so. Abbreviations really are a copy-editor’s best friend!
This created a perfect balance which complemented the visual hierarchy of the photos. The story in about a major Connecticut legislation so I placed a dominant photo of the legislative building, with the secondary photos being shots of each involved senator. I was careful to ensure that each legislator’s photo fit into a much smaller, 1-column rectangle to preserve the visual hierarchy!
The Courier of Montgomery County
The Courier of Montgomery County is a daily broadsheet based in Conroe, Texas. The newspaper is owned by Hearst Communications and covers news across Montgomery County. It has a circulation of 2,560 as of 2023. I worked on pages from the news and sports sections, including the front pages on certain days!
I loved working on these festive pages as they allowed me to inject some colour into my composition! Colour in typography, particularly in headlines, should be used sparingly to avoid distracting the reader. It brightens up a page, however, when used on appropriate occasions - in these cases it helps the reader focus on the centre piece!
Choosing the right colour scheme is also essential, and I was thrilled to be able to use a classic one such as the red-and-green for the Christmas Day issue. Italicizing just one word (‘sweet’) worked well as it was juxtaposed strongly against the bold green and red! The goal to create a holistic, colourful headline that visually summarized the story while appealing to the reader’s past positive associations with the festival (e.g. red can remind some of candy cane and Santa Claus) was accomplished!
I have attached two fronts that I am particularly proud of, which I have attached below! The first is for Christmas Day in 2023 and the second is for Mardi Gras this year.
Processes, challenges, and mission(s) accomplished!
I applied a step-by-step, break-it-down approach to the pages I was assigned since. My process for layout design is best summarized as “Identify, Prioritize, Design” which begins with identifying the pages I must design and understanding their individual requirements (e.g. author’s mug must be included), and their respective deadlines. Doing so helps me prioritize my work which, in turn, makes the design and copy-editing processes much smoother.
The biggest challenge was re-designing a complete page when circumstances suddenly changed. They sometimes do when a new, last-minute story is added to the roster or an unexpected, non-negotiable obituary arrives. The problem is that one can get emotionally invested in a page because completing it has taken a lot of time and considerable effort. Occasionally, a certain, beautiful layout is not what the editor ordered!
Redoing page layout in those cases always broke my heart - it still does - but it’s a necessary part of the process!
There were two incredibly rewarding aspects of the job for me. The first was to successfully improve a headline or a deck while preserving the author’s voice and message. The second was to work collaboratively with other editors while working remotely as the scope for miscommunication increased exponentially as we were not in the same space. I had excellent colleagues at PMNA which helped greatly!
The end product, created by a synchronized, remote, group effort each day, is something I remain hugely proud of.
I worked on regular and weekend editions of the Huron Daily Tribune, the Manistee News Advocate, Midland Daily News, and the Big Rapids Pioneer (also called The Pioneer) which are all based in Michigan. I also regularly worked on pages across different sections in the Texas-based Beaumont Enterprise and Midland Reporter Telegram. I was also lucky to work on news pages in the Connecticut-based The Middletown Press in January 2024!