GateHouse Media’s newsroom handbook, a development project I have coordinated, which the help of other News & Interactive directors.

1. GateHouse Media
Newsroom Handbook 2010

2. Newsroom Handbook 2010
GateHouse Media
Table of contents
I ABOUT THE BOOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
II SUPPORT AND COMMUNICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
GateHouse News Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
GHNewsroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
ZenDesk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Personnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
III THE CONTENT CUBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Culture Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Management development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
• Leadership styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
• SMART writing goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
• Effective feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Personnel development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
• Alternative story formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
• Breakout boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
• Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Product development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
• Newsroom incubator program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
News Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Public service journalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
• Story templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Community partner journalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
• Profile templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Staff blogging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Community blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Web Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Constant local updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
• The three layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Multimedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
• Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
• Photo galleries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Reader involvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
• Polls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
• Reader callouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
• General recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
• 2010 reader callout calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
• Reader advisory board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
• Social networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
• Other recommendations (linking, maps, live chats) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
• What content goes online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
• Story comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
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3. GATEHOUSE MEDIA NEWSROOM HANDBOOK | TABLE OF CONTENTS
Video style guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
• Shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
• Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
• Additional video resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
• Equipment recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
IV ZOPE PUBLISHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Content guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Maximizing your templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
• Top navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
• Secondary navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
• Hot links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
• News Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
• Top stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
• Promotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
• Carousel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
• Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
• Bottom sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
• Site services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
• Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
• Community information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
• Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
• Homepage sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Zope publishing how-to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Building your templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
• About your Web site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
• Vertical ad positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
• Add a story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
• Create a sidebar for a story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
• Add external links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
• Upload stories to Zope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
• Add links within a story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
• Add links to related stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
• Bold and italicize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
• Update, revise and correct a story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
• Add video to a story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
• Publish content to a carousel, highlights or News Now . . . . . . . . . . 94
• Add a big package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
• Set your navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
• Create hot links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
• Post breaking news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
• Create promotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
• Create a photo gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
• Create a video gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
• Add a poll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
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4. GATEHOUSE MEDIA NEWSROOM HANDBOOK | TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Create homepage sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
• Set up site services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
• Create a contact page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
• Reposition ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
• Schedule a story for future publication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
• Retract/delete a story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
• Copy a story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
• Manage, moderate comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
• Manage, moderate registered users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
• Give levels of privilege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
• Manage Zope users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
V ADDENDUMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Addendum 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Holiday/event callouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Addendum 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Online glossary terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Addendum 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Online content: What goes and what doesn’t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
• Breaking news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
• Police blotter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
• Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
• Public record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
• Meeting stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
• General news stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
• Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
• Elections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
• Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
• Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
• Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
• Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
• Society and celebrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
• Sports games and other sports content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Addendum 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
GateHouse Media vendors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
• Online vendors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
• Print vendors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Addendum 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Google Analytics guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
• Accessing the data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
• Analyzing the data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
• Advertising analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
• Newsroom analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
• Newsroom resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
• Glossary terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
4

5. Newsroom Handbook 2010
GateHouse Media
About the book
THE GATEHOUSE NEWS & INTERACTIVE DIVISION’S NEWSROOM HANDBOOK is intended
to provide newsrooms of all sizes clear definition on a variety of key print and online strategies.
In this handbook you will find detailed information on the company’s Web and print strategy,
recommended productivity benchmarks and resources to accomplish the guidelines.
}
You also will find information on:
• New details on support and communication resources.
This content
is new to the • A detailed daily and weekly schedule for posting Web updates, photo galleries and polls.
Newsroom • How best to use social media tools to increase traffic and not duplicate content already on your site.
Handbook • New guidelines and production benchmarks for staff and community bloggers.
• How to involve readers through 48 callouts for submissions this year.
• New guidelines for alternative story formats.
• New breakout box guidelines.
• Guidelines to determine what should and should not go online.
• Guidelines for managing comments and forums.
• New guidelines for producing consistently formatted video.
Every print and online situation you come across on a daily basis is not necessarily documented in this
guide, but today’s most pressing issues and topics are. You are encouraged to use the support and
communication page in the back of this handbook to contact corporate staff for topics addressed here
that you want more clarity on or for topics you do not find here.
We hope this handbook provides clarity on the challenges you face in managing your newsrooms.
BRAD DENNISON
Vice President, News & Interactive Division
DAVID ARKIN
Executive Director, News & Interactive Division
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6. Newsroom Handbook 2010
GateHouse Media
Support and communication
}
GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE (www.gatehousenewsservice.com)
The news service offers a variety of lifestyle, opinion and niche content to GateHouse newspapers.
All content
on this page Here’s what you can find every week on GateHouse News Service:
is new to the MONDAY Health Watch, a weekly health rail; a health column; a health centerpiece; and a health page.
Newsroom You’ll also find Shoestring Living, our weekly frugal column. In season, our NASCAR page posts on Monday.
Handbook TUESDAY Food for Thought, a weekly food rail; a food column; a food centerpiece; and our food page.
WEDNESDAY Family Time, a weekly family rail; Home Help, a weekly home rail; a home and garden
centerpiece; a column; and our home page. In season, you’ll find our Pro Football Weekly pages.
THURSDAY Religion News, a weekly religion rail; and Biz Bits, a weekly business rail. Also,
our Go Green page posts.
FRIDAY Our NIE KidzBuzz page posts for the following week.
Special sections | GateHouse News Service produces dozens of special sections every year. Some of
our more popular sections include Family (monthly), Bride (twice a year), Healthy Living (quarterly)
and Boomers (quarterly). You’ll also find other tabs and pages in our niche section. Here is a link to the
Niche 2010 schedule: www.ghnewsroom.com/article/gatehouse-2010-niche-schedule.
How to submit content | If you have content you think would be of interest to newspapers outside of
your area, you can submit it for consideration to GateHouse News Service. When you are publishing a story
to your own Web site, you can click on the area that says: “Submit content to GateHouse News Service.”
The content will come to an area for news service staff to review. We will edit and republish shareable con-
tent to the news service in the appropriate categories.
What kind of content should be submitted to the news service | When considering submitting a
story to the news service first ask yourself if it is of universal interest outside of your community. If it is,
below are recommendations on what to submit. These recommendations are based on analysis of the
type of content most newspapers use from the news service.
• Lifestyles: Fitness tips based on interviews with personal trainers at a new workout place in
your town (the focus has to be on the fitness tips); food stories, especially recipes;
home improvement stories; gardening tips.
• Opinions: National editorials, general-interest columns and editorial cartoons.
• Entertainment: Movie, CD and book reviews, especially if they’re about widely distributed items
(self-published books aren’t great because you can’t find them in a local bookstore).
• What not to submit: Don’t submit any AP content because we can’t include that on the news
service. Also, only sports stories of national interest should be submitted. Please do not submit high
school sports stories.
How to use syndications on your Web site | GateHouse News Service content can flow onto your
Web site in certain areas to offer your Web viewers even more to read and look at each day. Here are
some recommended categories for syndication to your Web site: movie reviews, music, health, food,
home and cartoons. News service syndications are best used as subsections.
How to set up syndicated content in five simple steps:
1. In your Zope site, go to “Choose Section” in the top navigation bar and click on the section you want
the content to flow into. For example, if you want to subscribe to the news service Health section and
have that content flow into your site's Lifestyle section, click on your Lifestyle section in the “Choose
Section” dropdown menu.
2. Click on “Subscriptions” in orange navigation bar.
3. Click on the domain you want to subscribe from the “Available Domains” list.
4. Click on the right-facing arrow so the category shows up in the “Subscription” list.
5. Click “Apply.”
The content of that domain will flow onto your site when updated and into the section you
selected in step 3.
CONTACT If you have questions about GateHouse News Service and Niche, contact Jean Hodges,
national news service editor, at jhodges@gatehousemedia.com.
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7. GATEHOUSE MEDIA NEWSROOM HANDBOOK | SUPPORT & COMMUNICATION
GHNEWSROOM.COM
GHNewsroom is your one-stop shop for all company online news, tips and resources. You'll find a
wealth of how-to videos on the basics of posting and managing content in Zope and editing tips and
tricks that will help you produce great video reports.
You will find our weekly online update and other online development news on the site, along with
}
columns and blogs from the company's Web content team.
Get answers to your online training and development questions by visiting our training section:
This content www.ghnewsroom.com/category/training.
is new to the
Newsroom What you can find every week on GHNewsroom:
Handbook MONDAY News & Interactive Division video update: Find out what training is planned for the week,
along with other important news within the division.
TUESDAY Best Photos of the Week: A gallery of some of the best photos GateHouse Media
photographers captured the previous week.
WEDNESDAY Poll idea: Receive details on a national poll question you could post on your Web site.
THURSDAY Video of the Week: This highlights the best video produced every week, with tips from the
producer on how they shot and edited the video.
FRIDAY Web Cube Moments of the Week: Highlights of how GateHouse Media newspapers are
practicing the Web Cube strategy.
Every day on GHNewsroom
• A gallery of GateHouse Media front pages
• The best front page of the day
How to submit
Send a pdf of your front page every day to frontpages@gatehousemedia.com to have your page
featured in our gallery.
CONTACT Have something innovative in print or online your newspaper has recently done? Send in-
formation about it to darkin@gatehousemedia.com.
ZENDESK (gatehouse.zendesk.com)
If you have technical problems or questions with your Web site, use the ZenDesk for immediate
support. Support for more content-related items can be directed to personnel on the next page.
Here are a few examples of technical needs and questions that the ZenDesk is set up for: classified
}
(jobs, real estate and auto), video tributes, domain requests and Zope user-management questions.
Use our support ticket system to get issues for your Web site resolved.
This content
is new to the Here’s how your ticket will be addressed once the support staff receives it:
Newsroom • Those who submit a ticket should expect to learn within an hour who is handling their ticket.
Handbook • Tickets are handled by News & Interactive personnel in an effort to get tickets in the hands of content
and technical experts who can address your specific needs. Many of those experts will be calling to dis-
cuss your ticket when the topic is more content- or strategy-related and not a technical request.
• Once a ticket is submitted, if training materials are available, such as informational sheets or how-to
videos, staff will provide those documents when it’s noted who will be handling the ticket.
• In an effort to continue to improve the ticket system, once a ticket is resolved, each submitter can
take a five-question survey at the bottom of the ticket that will provide useful feedback.
7

8. GATEHOUSE MEDIA NEWSROOM HANDBOOK | SUPPORT AND COMMUNICATION
PERSONNEL
}
Brad Dennison | Vice President/News & Interactive Division
This content bdennison@gatehousemedia.com | 585-802-3688
is new to the
Newsroom • General local strategy questions
Handbook • Development requests
• Vendor requests and issues
• Ethical questions and issues
David Arkin | Executive Director/News & Interactive Division
darkin@gatehousemedia.com | 630-936-6070
• General online content questions and support
• Overall online training coordination
• Content implementation questions and support
• Content questions, direction for new online features
• Archive transition questions and support
Chris Biondi | Coordinator of Online Content/News & Interactive Division
cbiondi@gatehousemedia.com | 585-802-9538
• Analytics questions (technical and strategic)
• Blogging platform and development questions and training
• Social networking strategy
• Story comments and forums
Tom Sudore | Coordinator of Multimedia Development/News & Interactive Division
tsudore@gatehousemedia.com | 585-200-4058
• Video questions, support, training and equipment needs
• Zope content support and training
• Syndication questions and support
8

9. Newsroom Handbook 2010
GateHouse Media
The Content Cube3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
CULTURE CUBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Management development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
• Leadership styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
• SMART writing goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
• Effective feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Personnel development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
• Alternative story formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
• Breakout boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
• Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Product development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
• Newsroom incubator program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
NEWS CUBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Public service journalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
• Story templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Community partner journalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
• Profile templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Staff blogging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Community blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
WEB CUBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Constant local updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
• The three layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Multimedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
• Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
• Photo galleries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Reader involvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
• Polls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
• Reader callouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
• General recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
• 2010 reader callout calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
• Reader advisory board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
• Social networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
• Other recommendations (linking, maps, live chats) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
• What content goes online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
• Story comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Video style guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
• Shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
• Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
• Additional video resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
• Equipment recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
9

10. GateHouse Media The Content Cube 3 | Overview
THIS HANDBOOK documents GateHouse Media’s Web online and print strategy as explained through
the Content Cube3.
The Content Cube3 focuses on a few significant areas: training, print and online development, and
reader and community involvement. The different “cubes” connect with one another from a content
and development standpoint.
3
CULTURE CUBE
The Culture Cube3 is a mix of our training and development programs that helps newsrooms grow
and develop.
Management development | The GateHouse Newsroom Leadership Series provides an intense two-
day training program for editors at all levels on the key areas of newsroom management, with a specific
focus on new media development.
Personnel development | Our regional training series offers a variety of hands-on teaching in
focused regions on topics such as new story formats, editing, reporting, photo toning and design.
Product development | The Newsroom Incubator program helps newspapers restructure their
organizations, content and, in the end, the presentation of their products.
3
NEWS CUBE
The News Cube3 program serves as a simple way to increase local news while saving time through new
formats and more reader involvement in your print product.
Reader involvement | This portion focuses on how to get readers engaged with your site by involving
them with staff and community blogs, polls and social networking.
Community partnership journalism | This program focuses on utilizing community organizations to
help supply static content throughout the newspaper.
Public service journalism | Through alternative story formats, public service journalism can help cre-
ate positive change in communities and keep readers in the loop concerning how their tax dollars are
being spent.
3
WEB CUBE
The Web Cube3 helps increase unique online content throughout the day, while seeking avenues to en-
gage readers in local sites.
Constant updating | This portion focuses on driving local updates throughout the day through con-
tent newspapers are covering and content that’s coming in to their newsroom.
Multimedia | This portion focuses on developing consistent photo galleries and video for local sites.
Reader Involvement | This program helps newsrooms seek reader photos and stories dozens of
times throughout the year, with a significant promotion resource offered.
3
THE CONTENT CUBE
Comprehensive, cohesive training and implementation for print and digital publishing.
3
Culture Cube 3 News Cube Web Cube 3
Management development Reader involvement Constant updating
Newsroom Leadership Series User-generated content News Now
Personnel development Community involvement Multimedia
Regional training series Indentify partners Video and photo galleries
Product development Public service journalism Reader involvement
Newsroom incubator program Keep readers informed Engagement and callouts
10

11. GateHouse Media The Content Cube 3 | Culture
3
CULTURE CUBE
The Culture Cube is a mix of training and development that helps newsroom staff learn and grow.
MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
The GateHouse Newsroom Leadership Series is an intensive training program for editors at all levels on
the key areas of newsroom management, with a specific focus on new-media development.
}
NOTABLES
Here’s some A variety of management topics are addressed during the training session, including management
information that styles, goal-setting and effective feedback.
editors are
provided during
the training 1. LEADERSHIP STYLES
prepared by Every editor has to find the management style that best fits him or her. During the training, editors are
trainer Elaine provided a variety of styles to consider and the impacts of that style.
Kramer.
DANIEL GOLEMAN’S SIX LEADERSHIP STYLES
From his “Primal Leadership” book
Underlying When the Long-term
The emotional style overall impact
approach intelligence works best on climate
component
Transparency, When changes
Moves people self-confidence, require a new vision Most strongly
VISIONARY/
toward a vision or self-awareness, or when a clear positive
AUTHORITATIVE
shared dream. empathy, change direction is needed.
catalyst.
To help an
Develops people Developing others,
employee improve
for the future empathy and Highly
COACHING performance or
through learning rapport, positive
develop long-term
and growth. self-awareness.
strengths.
To heal rifts in a
Promotes Empathy,
team or
harmony and building
AFFILIATIVE to motivate people Positive
builds emotional relationships,
during stressful
bonds. communication.
circumstances.
To build buy-in
Forges
Collaboration, or consensus,
consensus
DEMOCRATIC team leadership, or to get input Positive
through
communication. from valuable
participation.
employees.
Sets high To get immediate Often highly
standards for Conscientiousness, results from a negative, because
PACESETTING/
performance drive to achieve, highly motivated too frequently is
DRIVING
and drives initiative. and competent poorly executed
the work hard. team.
Highly negative,
Drive to In a crisis, to kick-
Demands because
achieve, initiative, start a turnaround,
COMMANDING immediate action, so often is
emotional or with problem
compliance. misused
self-control. employees.
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12. THE CONTENT CUBE | CULTURE
2. WRITING SMART GOALS
Creating and writing goals for staff members for their overall expectations or a specific project is key to
making sure the employee understands what’s expected and how to achieve the task. SMART goals
(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based) are a simple and effective way to commu-
nicate clear expectations.
Here are details on the five areas:
Specific | Goals must be clear and well-defined, or the person won’t understand the expectations.
• Not specific: Improve your communication.
• Specific: Initiate a conversation with your editor first thing in the day about the day’s anticipated sto-
ries and story forms.
Measurable | Goals must have milestones that show whether the goals have been achieved or partly
achieved.
• Not measurable: Produce content for the Web.
• Measurable: Submit content for the Web site first for every story. News briefs on routine stories
should be posted within 30 minutes.
Attainable | Goals must be realistic or the person will feel discouraged, bored or set up for failure.
• Not attainable: Produce 10 or more multi-day investigative reports this year.
• Attainable: Produce two enterprise stories off your beat each week.
Relevant | An individual’s goals must align with your company’s or your newsroom’s goals for
progress to occur.
• Not relevant: As a supervisor, provide training for staff photographer to become proficient at wildlife
photography.
• Relevant: As a supervisor, provide training for staff photographer to become proficient at producing
journalistically effective slide-shows.
Time-based | Goals must have stages and end points so that they actually get done during the time
available or at the time the work is needed.
• Not time-based: Improve your headlines.
• Time-based: Improve headlines within three months by concentrating on and adding a new skill each
month.
SPECIFIC MEASURABLE ATTAINABLE RELEVANT TIME-BASED
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13. THE CONTENT CUBE | CULTURE
3. EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK
Employees often say they want more feedback.
Here are some tips to make feedback effective in your newsroom:
• Make tear-sheets while you read the paper in the morning or afternoon. Write a note in marker to the
writer, designer, photographer, headline writer or editor responsible for the good thing. If you have a big
newsroom goal, be conscious of the goal while you read the paper so you can mention items that hit
the mark.
• Make every work-related conversation a feedback conversation by tying the topic to a newsroom goal
or a personal goal for the individual, and making it future-oriented.
• Send each staff member a brief hand-written note during the week of their birthday or hiring anniver-
sary, telling them something you appreciate about their work.
• Make a computer file for each direct report and copy/paste items into the file each time you see
something you want to remember. Do it right then because you probably won’t get back to it. If you
keep paper files, print out the example, highlight it and stuff it in the file.
• If you want to have a formal talk with each direct report twice a year, put the meetings on your calen-
dar and the other person’s at the beginning of the year, and make sure you also enter a reminder the
week before the meeting to reconfirm.
• If you want to take one staff member to lunch every other week, commit to the day and time, and
never book over that slot.
• Pick one day a week to be a meeting-less day for yourself, your staff or your newsroom, so you have
time to talk to staffs or individuals about their work.
• Offer coffee every first Thursday from 3 to 3:30 p.m. for anyone who wants to meet to share ideas for
how the newsroom could do something better. Ask the group one specific question, and then listen
more than you talk.
•If you walk to the soda machines or to get coffee, watch for someone going the same way, so you can
chat for three minutes. Ask a question about his/her work.
• Walk through the newsroom a different way each time you go anywhere so you can see people and
say hi to them.
13

14. THE CONTENT CUBE | CULTURE
PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT
Through a variety of regional training programs, newsrooms are provided hands-on training on topics
such as new story formats, breakout boxes, planning and design.
}
Regional training is offered in small groups (normally 10 newspapers or fewer) throughout the year and
coordinated with publishers and editors.
NOTABLES
See the next page Here’s a look at some of the key strategy points of the 2010 regional training program:
for more infor-
mation on 1. ALTERNATIVE STORY FORMATS
utilizing ASFs. New story formats are a good tool to use to inform readers about stories you may traditionally cover
but that offer newsrooms the opportunity to present the content in easier-to-digest formats.
What stories are ASFs best used with? Stories that you report on year after year, such as festivals or
annual events. ASFs also are a good fit for process-oriented stories, such as the opening of a business
or a new facility.
When should ASFs not be used? If you are reporting an issue for the first time and it’s a significant
story, don’t use an ASF. Readers will be left with a lack of depth. An ASF is a good choice for an update
on a story that you have already reported to explore a specific topic in greater detail. For example, if
you’ve published a story on the fact that your city council is considering discontinuing curbside recy-
cling, a follow-up to that story could be a Q&A answering questions readers might have about the im-
pact that eliminating the service would have and what they would have to do with their recycling. A Q&A
is an excellent example of an alternative story format.
How many alternative story formats should be in your newspaper? There should be a mix of ASFs
and narrative reporting in your newspaper every day or week. Good decisions should be made concern-
ing which format is most appropriate for individual stories, but narrative reporting is likely to be used
more than ASFs. Find anchored places in your newspaper to offer ASFs, such as a Q&A on the bottom
of your front page with a newsmaker on Mondays or a Volunteer of the Week on Tuesdays on your com-
munity page.
14

15. THE CONTENT CUBE | CULTURE
Here are several recommended uses for ASFs:
• 5 THINGS
When to use it | This is intended to be a standalone package to inform
readers about a single topic, issue or event. Examples include previewing a
festival, renovations at a facility or a high school game or season, and a list of
things to do for the weekend or a holiday.
How to use it | The way to gauge whether this package can be used is if
five uniquely informative elements can be written about the topic. The length
of each item can differ slightly, but consistent lengths for each item are en-
couraged. The package can be modified to accommodate odd ad stacks and
vertical photos.
15

16. THE CONTENT CUBE | CULTURE
• MEETING COVERAGE
When to use it | This format should be used when covering a city council
meeting where multiple issues are on the agenda that don’t require full sto-
ries. Use this format for more process-oriented stories.
How to use it | Simply answer these questions:
1. What's the issue? A concise sentence, perhaps two at the most,
explaining the issue being addressed at the meeting.
2. What do we know? Depending on the issue, this section could
have the most content, but brevity is important when using ASF
templates.
3. What's next? This could be the date when the issue will come
to a vote, when a project will begin or when the next action will be
taken.
16

17. THE CONTENT CUBE | CULTURE
NEW COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY NOW OPEN
• EVENT OPENING
When to use it | This format is ideal for covering the opening of a new
business or a renovation to a facility.
How to use it | Because of the number of places to place text on this for-
mat, the reporter and photographer need to know in advance what content
is expected to fill this package. The three main parts of this package include:
1. INTRO. The main paragraph narrative should be quick and con-
cise and should explain the event in three to four sentences. This is
basically your nut graph.
2. REACTION. Three sets of mugs and quotes from officials and resi-
dents who attended the event.
3. PHOTOS: The highlights of the facility should be showcased in
this area. A photo should accompany each highlight.
17

18. THE CONTENT CUBE | CULTURE
• Q&A WITH A NEWSMAKER
When to use it | This is a question-and-answer interview with a relevant
official or community leader.
How to use it | The format offers ample space for an introduction and five
questions and responses. A dominant photo should capture the subject in
his or her environment.
18

19. THE CONTENT CUBE | CULTURE
2A. BREAKOUT BOXES
They are an important tool that pairs with a story and helps readers get basic information that's
related to the story.
Here are guidelines for breakout boxes:
• All bylined stories should carry some form of breakout box
• Should be short, 3 inches or less (unless a timeline)
• Need to have entry points and not be a full paragraph in a box
• Content can be duplicated from a story in a breakout box if that content is a logical guide in a box for
the reader
• Should be planned as part of story assignments
} What they’re Timeline What they mean
WHEN TO USE THIS
Controversial stories
where there are dif- saying The newspaper industry: ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY A
ferent views on an 59 B.C. Acta Diurna, the first type of humidity that consid-
“Quote text from someone ers the mass of water vapor
issue or for a festival goes here.” — Attribution newspaper, is published in
story that has lots of Rome. present per unit volume of
goes here space.
community voices. 1556 First monthly newspa-
“Quote text from someone per, Notizie Scritte, published ABSOLUTE INSTABILITY
goes here.” — Attribution in Venice. When the lapse rate of a col-
goes here umn of air is greater than the
1605 First printed newspa- dry adiabatic lapse rate. The
“Quote text from someone per published weekly in term absolute is used be-
goes here.” — Attribution Antwerp called Relation. cause this applies.
goes here
ABSOLUTE TEMPERATURE
SCALE A temperature scale
}
with a freezing point of
WHEN TO USE THIS
}
+273°K (Kelvin) and a boiling
For stories where For and against point of +373°K.
politicians from two WHEN TO USE THIS Anything
parties have different FOR A paragraph explaining that has a historical hook to it or
}
viewpoints on an the stance of someone who is has had a series of events asso-
issue or two city for the issue. ciated with it. Court cases,
council members AGAINST A paragraph ex- development projects.
WHEN TO USE THIS Glossary
disagree on a topic. plaining the stance of some- terms are good to use when you
one who is against the issue. are handling complex issues
If you go such as weather stories, health
WHAT Name of event gets topics or budget issues.
WHEN TO USE THIS
}
typed in here.
Great to pull numbers By the numbers WHEN Time and date of
of employment
event go here. Meeting glance
stories, city council
budget stories, sports 10Percentage thatgo up
are expected to
next year.
taxes
DETAILS A few quick details
Here are the top three things
stories and more. about the event go here, this
can be anything, cost, etc. that came out of last night’s
10Percentage thatgo up
are expected to
next year.
taxes
MORE INFO
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
council meeting:
1 Taxes will go up by 3 per-
cent starting next year.
2 A decision was made to
}
table purchasing a new truck
WHEN TO USE THIS
}
for the city.
This is great for Follow-up WHEN TO USE THIS Perfect 3 A decision was made to
stories that you are table purchasing a new truck
WHAT WE KNEW Frances for anything you are advancing,
following, such as for the city.
Choy was accused of killing city council meeting, event in
government develop-
her parents when she was 17. town, game.
ments, crime news
}
and more. THE LATEST A jury is delib-
erating her fate.
WHAT’S NEXT She could WHEN TO USE THIS Great to
face up to 30 years in prison use for all meeting stories, cap-
if convicted. ping the highlights from the
meeting for the busy reader.
19

20. THE CONTENT CUBE | CULTURE
2B. ONLINE PROMOTIONS
Breakout boxes can be used to tease different online features.
The teasers below are available in green, blue, or black and white. Find the print logos for online
content here:
www.gatehousenewsservice.com/ghns_pages/x949369614/Online-logos-for-print-products
JOIN THE CHAT PHOTO GALLERY
Use to invite readers
to talk about a con-
troversial story that’s
appearing in your
newspaper.
} JOIN THE CHAT
SHARE YOUR
COMMENTS
www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com
PHOTOS ONLINE
CHECK OUT
THE GALLERY AT
www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com
{ Invite readers to
see more photos
from a photo page
or coverage from an
event.
JOIN THE CHAT PHOTOS ONLINE
SHARE YOUR CHECK OUT
COMMENTS THE GALLERY AT
www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com
JOIN THE CHAT PHOTOS ONLINE
SHARE YOUR CHECK OUT
COMMENTS THE GALLERY AT
www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com
VIDEO ONLINE MORE ONLINE
If your newspaper
has a video that’s
related to a story or
from another source,
use this promotion to
direct readers to your
} VIDEO ONLINE
CHECK OUT THE
LATEST VIDEO AT
www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com
MORE ONLINE
FIND RELATED
STORIES
www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com
{ Tease Web sites,
documents or other
content that’s
related to a story.
site to view it.
VIDEO ONLINE MORE ONLINE
CHECK OUT THE FIND RELATED
LATEST VIDEO AT STORIES
www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com
VIDEO ONLINE MORE ONLINE
CHECK OUT THE FIND RELATED
LATEST VIDEO AT STORIES
www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com www.xxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxx.com
20

21. THE CONTENT CUBE | CULTURE
3. PLANNING
Managing content such as alternative story formats and unique content on the Web takes planning.
Should we hold a weekly planning meeting? Yes. The News & Interactive Division recommends
every newspaper conduct a weekly meeting when centerpieces for the next week are planned. This
kind of meeting should be conducted for every section of a newspaper.
What are centerpieces? Centerpieces are defined as the main featured photo and story in the middle
of your front page or section front. The centerpiece is not necessarily the top news story in your paper
on most days.
How far in advance should we plan our centerpieces? Newspapers should know what their center-
piece is at least seven days in advance. To accomplish this goal, your centerpiece should be issue-ori-
ented or a billboard to other content in your newspaper. For example, instead of making your
centerpiece day-old news, use it to examine issues that your local government is debating or consider-
ing, topics that impact the quality of life of your readers. This kind of content is easy to find. Follow-ups
from council meetings turn into great centerpieces when you explain to readers the impact of a story or
talk to residents about what the decision means for them. Sports content can often find a place in your
centerpiece, for a big Friday night high school football game, playoff contest or the kickoff of Little
League baseball. It’s OK to put events in your centerpiece, but they should offer unique content teasers
to the Web and be more than a standalone photo. They should be packages and not just regurgitated
old news or a single photo of an event with no Web elements. Remember, centerpieces are a chance to
display a strong visual element as main art. The main art for a horizontal centerpiece should be four
columns, and a vertical centerpiece should be three columns.
Does this mean that breaking news can’t be our centerpiece? No. If big news breaks, make it your
centerpiece – especially if you have a strong main photo or several elements you can tease to inside
your paper and on the Web – and ship your planned centerpiece inside the paper or move it to another
day. Planning centerpieces provides your newspaper with a safety net.
Are there mandatory elements every centerpiece should have? Yes. Centerpieces need a headline,
subhead, story, strong photo or numerous photos, a breakout box and some kind of online feature.
How should we plan the centerpieces? Based on the number of people in your newsroom, have each
staff member handle a specific number of centerpieces each week. During a planning meeting, have each
}
staff member bring a certain number of ideas to the table and use the below planner as a tool to help plan
the centerpieces. Keep this document in your system and update it each week as stories change.
NOTABLES
Repeat for each
day of the week.
• YOUR NEWSPAPER CENTERPIECE PLANNER
For week of Monday, July 6, to Sunday, July 12
FOR XXXDAY, XXXXX, X
Reporter:
Headline:
Nut graph:
Art [photos, illustration, map]:
Breakout boxes [who wins-who loses, what's at stake, what happens next, key players, key issues, for
more information, timeline, bio box, excerpt, glossary, Q&A, reader quiz, quote-a-rama, where to go]:
Web element [poll, photo gallery, video, photo or story callout]:
Deadline for story:
Deadline for art:
Notes:
21