newspapers » Absurd Intellectual

Newspaper snack machines, the death of

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 28 October 2011 Modern Life

Oct 282011

I do believe that Newspaper Snack Machines is my new favourite Tumblr. It’s devoted to chronicling “the fall of print journalism through the plummeting quality of newspaper snack machine offerings.”

It’s also quite funny. For the 5-hour energy, above, they write:

When you’re exhausted enough to pop open one of these babies, an inflatable college-aged blogger springs forth and relieves you of your duties.

Touché!

I submitted an entry — perhaps a little out-of-scope, since it touches on my workplace’s coffee vending machine — but I dearly hope it’ll be accepted.

I am too young to remember Linotype, but I will remember to see this film

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 14 November 2010 Vintage/Retro

Nov 142010

When I started learned about journalism and newspapers and all the associated ephemera that comes with it, we were still doing paste-up layout, but the Linotype process was still in enough memories that it was taught — not always in a class, but almost by osmosis.

As Rob Beschizza at BoingBoing comments,

The characteristics of a production process often become desirable when the process becomes obsolete; “flaws” become symbolic of the good taste and expense that old ways acquire when freed from commercial significance. But it’s not just a cult of the hand-made. Even the heaviest and most unwieldy machinery can attain the same same cachet. Whatever the word for this technological nostalgia is, Linotype is surely the most extreme example.

You’ll see this in the recent resurgence of letterpress, as well. A good letterpress operator was once known for being able to just kiss the paper with the ink, leaving a perfect image but no indenting. Nowadays, people beg for and caress the embossing that a heavy letterpress strike will produce. The flaw has become emblematic of the process.

This is also true about leather. A true leather will have flaws because it is made from the skin of an imperfect animal. But “manufactured leather” which is made by bonding together tiny pieces of leftover leather, will have a perfect, flawless grain to it.

Once you know what to look for, you can see this in all kinds of products. Manufacturers know this, too, and that’s why you can buy fake plastic woodgrain that has knots in it.

Weird, it’s like an arms race between authentic and imitation, with the cutting edge being the reproduction of errors.

(“Linotype: The Film” Teaser from Linotype: The Film on Vimeo.)

Turn newspaper back into ‘wood’

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 10 November 2010 Modern Life

Nov 102010

I really really doubt that this is environmentally friendly in the long run, but it’s an intriguing concept — take old newspapers, compress them together, maybe add some sort of bonding agent, and then slice them like a log.

Result: boards of a wood-like material (made originally from wood) that have a remarkably wood-grain-like pattern on them.

Since it is better to re-use than recycle, I think this puts newspaper wood a little higher on the ecological chain than people who re-pulp it and hand-make crumbly cardstock, but I wonder about the glue or resin or whatever they use to keep it together. I also wonder about the physical strength.

According to a pdf on the deisgner’s site, the product can be cut, milled, sanded and drilled much like real wood.

I can think of a few newspaperpeople who might enjoy a desk, say, or shelves made from this product (me!).

If you can speak Dutch, visit the Vij5 website where it looks like there is more info, including a small slideshow of other newspaper wood images.

(Inhabitat, via BoingBoing)

A newspaper, alphabetical, would be an ‘aeenpprsw’

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 8 November 2010 Modern Life

Nov 082010

Kim Rugg from Cool Hunting on Vimeo.

Among other projects, artist Kim Rugg will take a page from the newspaper, cut out every individual letter, and re-arrange it, so that it is alphabetical.

The result is a presentation that is all messenger, no message, as she puts it.

I find it oddly soothing, to have the graphic design of a newspaper without the screaming alarm of content blaring at me, and yet oddly unsettling, to have familiar letters arranged in a familiar pattern and presented in a way that I am conditioned to believe is important, but doesn’t convey any information.

(Cool Hunting, via Boing Boing)

Pot-infused soda is so much better than drinking bong water — and it could be good for newspapers, too?

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 23 October 2010 Modern Life

Oct 232010

First, if you happen to live in California, vote yes on Prop 19.

It’s embarrassing to me, as a Canadian, that you’re going to beat us to it. But I believe that taxation and regulation is the best way to handle mind-altering recreational substances, whether it’s marijuana or alcohol.

Now, a Colorado company is offering marijuana soda — if you have a medicinal marijuana license. They’re available in eight flavours from Dixie Elixirs.

Now, how long before someone makes a vodka cocktail using this marijuana soda?

Aside: According to the New York Times, legalizing marijuana is good for the newspaper business:

“Medical marijuana has been a revenue blessing over and above what we anticipated,” said John Weiss, the founder and publisher of The Independent, a free weekly. “This wasn’t in our marketing plan a year ago, and now it is about 10 percent of our paper’s revenue.”

…

Alternative weeklies are not the only publications raking in medical marijuana lucre. Dailies like The Denver Post and The Bozeman Daily Chronicle in Montana are taking advantage of the boom and making no apologies.

“My point of view is, for the moment at least, it’s legal,” said Stephanie Pressly, publisher of The Daily Chronicle, adding that the paper generates about $7,500 a month in advertising from medical marijuana businesses. “The joke around here is that it’s a budding business.”

Some of the largest newspapers — even staid, conservative ones — are even producing regular supplements devoted to marijuana. Now that’s interesting.

(via Discovery News)

This is why newspaper comments are valuable

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 2 September 2010 Vintage/Retro

Sep 022010

There sure is a lot of chaff to sort through on your way to the wheat, but every now and then there something that reminds me of the good in newspaper readership. They’re not all illiterate, knee-jerk racists.

For example, in today’s Winnipeg Free Press, they’re highlighting a story of recovered two-century-old beer from the bottom of the Baltic. The story comes with a picture:

The tale is mouthwatering:

Divers who found what’s believed to be the world’s oldest drinkable champagne say they have also discovered two-centuries-old bottles of beer at a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea …. Researchers who tried drops of the dark, foamy liquid liked the taste of it.

But what really made me laugh was this comment, by “kiov”:

They must be quite valuable given the care that is going in to protecting them. I always place all of my rare, breakable artifacts on a stack of papers on the edge of a desk while I send emails a few feet away.

Ha! Touché!

Free course for online journalism

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 31 August 2010 Modern Life, Vintage/Retro

Aug 312010

Photo: That’s a completely different kind of newspaper “web”. Source: Winnipeg Tribune archives, 1957.

I’m intrigued by the idea of an open-source, peer-to-peer “university” as a way to both learn and to perhaps share my own knowledge, and now there’s a course that’s tailor-made for me — “Open Journalism and the Open Web.”

Says the syllabus:

a solid six-week online curriculum that will benefit both “hacks” and hackers (that’s journalists & programmers, in plain English). Each week the course will focus on a different topic, and each week the participants will be joined by a different subject-matter expert (or two) from the field of news innovation. The course readings, online participation, and a seminar are expected to require roughly 4-6 hours per week.

The six subjects include the basics of both journalism and coding, project management, collaboration, datasets, maps and open sources.

Very interesting!

There are only 40 seats, and to weed out people who aren’t serious, they’ve set a “sign-up task.” I’m seriously considering it.

(via Boing Boing)

Early colour images capture transition between Depression and WW2

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 5 August 2010 Photography, Vintage/Retro

Aug 052010

The Denver Post’s photo blog — they call it “plog” — has a great set up of colour slides taken from 1939-43:

These images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color.

I’m not sure if there’s an order to them, but many of the rural photos are posted first, and a lot of the war-related photos are near the end. It’s interesting to see the transition from farm to factory.

There are too many that I like to single out here — some of the images are striking, others, only arresting.

Although they aren’t necessarily the best photographs, in terms of composition or artistry, in the set, there’s something about the following two that resonated with me nonetheless:

Headlines posted in street-corner window of newspaper office (Brockton Enterprise). Brockton, Massachusetts, December 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Having delved into the history of the newspaper I work at, myself, I knew that papers posted headlines on a “breaking news” basis in their windows, but it’s still kind of interesting to think about. Here they are, giving away snippets of their product for free — the essential information, all up there for any passerby to read — while still hoping that the main product will sell enough copies to make it worthwhile.

You could think of the window as a primitive version of the website — or, more like a Twitter feed, with headlines and 140 characters of info.

I wonder if there’s any good books out there that take a look at this practice. I’d especially be interested in cities with multiple newspapers, especially if their offices were nearby, and how they handled the window competition.

Also, as an aside, how long do you think that “Rising Sun” logo for the barbershop next door is going to last, say, in about a year?

Shasta dam under construction. California, June 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

What I love about this one is the sheer scale of the enterprise. This was truly the era of massive public works projects.

Actually, the whole process of sending photographers around to document all of this was a public works project, too. There’s debate over how much all of this economic stimulus did to end the Depression, but it’s inarguable that it left a positive legacy for us today.

Maybe, along with the construction and infrastructure stimulus, we should be sending people around with 3-D cameras to document ordinary people in the early 21st century. In the grand scheme of things, we’re not talking about a break-the-budget endeavour, and it sure would be cool to have.

The story behind the prop newspaper that’s everywhere

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 9 June 2010 Modern Life, Vintage/Retro

Jun 092010

A little while ago, I posted about something that’s making the round of the Internet — a prop newspaper that keen-eyed viewers have found in television shows and movies for decades:

Now, Salon has a little bit more info about it. As I suspected, it’s just a prop that they can print on demand. Interestingly, it was first created in the 1960s by Earl Hays Press in California:

Started in 1915, Earl Hays is one of the oldest newspaper prop companies, and the paper in question was first printed in the 1960s (note the top-hat ad on the lower left), then offered as a “period paper,” better suited for Mad Men (where it has not appeared) than Scrubs (where it has). The screenshots don’t actually reveal the same prop—just various printings of the same file. The front is blank and can be customized, but the inside and back page are always identical.

Salon gives a couple of the headlines a look, but I’m curious if the text is actually real, or how fake/funny it is. I’d also like to hear from industry insiders whether there are lots of different prop newspapers around, and whether people use this one just out of nostalgia or an inside joke, or a nod to tradition, like the Wilhelm Scream.

This makes me feel all headghgh

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 5 June 2010 Modern Life

Jun 052010

Oh, I feel for the good folks at the Bedford Times & Citizen.

But what do I feel? Something between sympathy and schadenfreude, I suppose. (via)

In related newspaper news, film and TV prop departments re-use their props!

There are a lot — a LOT — more examples in this Picasa gallery. (via)

Excellent visual reporting of a court gag order

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 1 May 2010 Modern Life

May 012010

Yesterday, a woman accused in the abduction and death of a child appeared in court. Or, was scheduled to. But nothing that actually happened in court can be reported, thanks to a sweeping gag order imposed by the judge.

Media are arguing against the gag, including this excellent editorial, but I’m not going to get into the free speech vs. fair trial argument here. I just want to note how the Toronto Star, with a simple graphical element, drove home the point of censorship.

In Rosie DiManno’s column, she writes about how the whole town knows the details — people talk, after all. They gossip and compare notes, and phone each other. The coffee shops must be abuzz.

But none of that can appear in print. So, where the relevant details in a well-reported column might go, DiManno (or a designer) has put long black boxes instead.

It’s a classic visual image, one that screams censorship, and it’s a great, elegant way to make the point of the column. Good job, Star. I would love to see how you handled this in print, but I think you’ve done an excellent job online.

Do you hate newspapers? You’re not alone

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 28 April 2010 Modern Life

Apr 282010

This is for all the journalists out there. One of the joys (?) of working at a newspaper is that people expect you to be perfect on a day-in, day-out basis.

It’s good to always keep on your toes, and I agree that accuracy is the foundation of any good journalism. But when readers find something in your paper that you haven’t gotten right, they’re quick to call or email and to irately take you to task for it.

This can be good — letting you know that you’ve goofed, however embarrassingly, is key if you’re going to correct it.

But this can also be bad. Sometimes readers want to get into very arcane grammatical discussions with you. Sorry, the serial comma just isn’t CP style.

And sometimes they think you’re not doing it right just because you’re not doing what they want or expect. For example, give me one good reason why a TV grid is relevant information in this day and age. But readers will piss and moan that your 75-cent paper is suddenly robbed of all value should you so much as shrink the crossword by a half-inch.

Anyway, I’ve found a website that is devoted to these cranky complaint calls and emails. In any newsroom, some of the crankiest cranks get passed around on the voice mail system, or forwarded along via email so that everyone can get a kick out of the crazy old bat who drunkenly berates you for canceling Marmaduke but then, after three minutes of vitriol, manages to find it on the page, and yet still signs off with an accusatory tone, because it should somehow have been easier to find it.

Yes, we’ve all got those tales, and Paper Haters is the place to send them, so that newsrooms around the world can share. Sometimes, it’s a chance for reporters to vent with people who just aren’t happy with the coverage of something, but there are some gems. Try this email:

I just wanted to let you know, that your story and pictures on WRESTLER, state champ from TEAM X High School, were perfect … Athough this was great, the other local wrestling coverage stunk.

Or this one:

Miss REPORTER, you are a Socialist Liberal Democrat scumbag and when the journalism business goes through another wave of lay-offs, I hope you’re at the top of the axing list. Journalists like you are what’s wrong with this country.

But the best are always the voice mails. I love this guy:

Part one: What about the Kentucky Derby 1

Part two: What about the Kentucky Derby 2

Or, see if you can gear up your brain to make full sense of this woman.

Newspaper watch: Intentionally defacing your front page?

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 3 April 2010 Modern Life

Apr 032010

If you know anything about college sports, you probably know that Duke is the team that so many people love to hate. I don’t know why — does anyone? — but even I am aware of the animosity.

So the Indianapolis Star decided to do a story about the Duke-hate, and to illustrate the story, which ran big on the front of their sports section, they chose a picture of the Duke coach. And then, they defaced it with a ballpoint pen, printing a paper that looked like someone had drawn on it before it reached your mailbox.

Here’s what it looked like — for the first 30,000 copies, before someone got nervous and pulled the illustration in favour of a non-doctored photo.

The concept, I think, is incredibly creative, even if the execution is a little flawed. There’s a great discussion going on over on Charles Apple’s blog, which points out that, yes, it’s juvenile, but so are the feelings involved in sports rivalries.

Apple, himself an influential newspaper designer, also says that he would have toned down the image a little bit — he doesn’t think the long hair works, he thinks the bulls-eye is “ominous” and he would have added the image of a pen laying in the bottom of the story.

But overall, as he tweeted, he likes the idea.

Unfortunately, not everyone does. The coach, who one would assume might have developed some thicker skin, says he didn’t like his grandkids seeing it. And the newspaper management is falling all over themselves to backpedal — perhaps if they’d used Duke’s Blue Devil mascot, instead, they suggest, it would have been okay.

I’m not sure I buy that — the coach is a public figure, and ridiculing him is probably fair game.

Is the illustration appropriate for every newspaper, everywhere? Absolutely not. But I love that the Indianapolis Star is taking some risks, and doing something different.

Actual printed newspapers are staid and conservative by nature. But shaking up the design a little bit like this once in a while is a great idea.

Newspaper watch: To comment, or not to comment

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 5 March 2010 Modern Life

Mar 052010

I’m personally on the fence when it comes to newspaper websites allowing comments. I feel that there are a lot of great viewpoints out there in the public sphere that don’t get heard, and newspapers have a duty to seek them out. Comments on stories are an easy way to fulfil that repsonsibility.

On the other hand, comments on the Internet? Have you read any? Yikes.

For a while, I thought that the solution might be to require that commenters use only their real name. Perhaps require that they have a credit card or other ID to sign up. Not to charge, but to verify a real, actual name. Like letters to the editor.

But there’s something to be said for anonymous/pseudonymous comments, too. Sometimes people have valid reasons for not exposing their identity.

On this site, I automatically allow any and all “true” comments (ie. no spam) — so long as you’ve commented once before. Once you’re trusted (and, assuming you use the same nickname and email address) your comment is automatically approved. The volume of comments on this website is low enough that it’s easy to police for any offensive comments. And there haven’t been any yet, anyway.

But for some large newspaper websites, I imagine it’s a full-time job just to moderate comments. And so they delegate the duty to computers and to readers (asking them to “flag” offensive comments, for example). That doesn’t always work, as you will have noticed if you read comment sections on, oh say, the Washington Post.

Now, the Post is feeling some heat. No one’s threatening to sue, that I know of. But the vitriolic comments are starting to scare off potential interviews.

Any first-year reporter knows that lots of people are timid about “being in the paper.” They’re worried that they will be portrayed in a way that they don’t approve of. They’re worried that they’ll be misquoted, or that they’ll be taken out of context, or that the story will attract unwanted attention.

Most reporters know several techniques to soothe these fears. Now, though, sources need to be worried about how anonymous internet commenters will snipe at them. And it’s costing the Washington Post at least one source, according to this column:

He wasn’t happy with the comments that readers posted on washingtonpost.com about the story.

You could hardly blame him …. among the comments were these hard-to-stomach posts:

“What scum….Scam-acne-face-Sutherland and all his little minions, scum….special place in Hell for them,” wrote someone who went by the screen name griffmills.

“They should be hung up by their private parts and shot,” wrote billdinva2.

Sutherland said such comments were “why I was so hesitant in doing an interview” in the first place. “Lesson learned,” he wrote, “I will never allow for another interview.”

Thoughts? I guess you could, uh, comment.

Save the newspaper?

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 11 February 2010 Modern Life

Feb 112010

Oh dear. Isn’t there some sort of famous saying, where once they start making fun of your plight, you’ve lost all sympathy?

(via BB)

Older Entries