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Maxwell purchases Polk County News
Ownership of the Polk County News has shifted to a new generation, but no staff changes are planned. Cheryl Maxwell, daughter of Randy and Ingrid Buehler, has bought the newspaper under a new business, The Newspaper Publishing Company, LLC.

Randy Buehler has been semi-retired for a year and Ingrid is working toward that status. They commented, “As we began approaching retirement age, we were delighted that Cheryl decided to take the helm at Polk County’s community newspaper.” They said they had hoped the newspaper would continue under independent ownership when they finally decide to retire. This move provides for a nice transition for them to eventually retire, they said.

Ingrid, who has been backing off some of her reporting responsibilities, will continue to serve as editor. “I’m not leaving any time soon,” she said. Randy will continue to man the sports desk and handle accounting duties.

Maxwell has been working with the Polk County News since the Buehlers purchased the Polk County News in 1983, when she was 10 years old, starting as an errand-runner and coffee cup washer after school and gradually picking up paste-up, reporting, advertising and circulation duties.

“I’d debated off and on throughout the years, but ultimately, I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere other than here,” Maxwell said, adding, “I’m lucky to have the chance to be a part of the history of our county.”

Maxwell said she didn’t plan any major changes to the paper. “I know we are not perfect, but we do our best with a very small staff to report the news so that people in our community can keep up with what’s going on in the county. People can get national and regional news just about anywhere these days, but there is no where else to find news that is relevant only to Polk County.”

According to Maxwell, the frequent talk of newspapers being a dying breed did not deter her. “We’re not a big-city corporation with millions of dollars on the line. We just report the news to the community we live in. As long as we have the support of the locals, we will persevere, ” she said.

Maxwell purchased and remodeled the building housing The Polk County News in Benton in 2008 and opened The Newspaper Book Shop, which includes new regional books, used books, free Internet, and coffees and snacks. Copies of old photos, news clippings, history files and cemetery listings are also available.

Maxwell said she opened up the book shop in the hopes that local people will have a place to go to research their family history, trade a book or just get online without a drive out of the county. “The newspaper belongs to the community,” Maxwell said. “And I want the community to feel welcome here.”
From The Polk County News

A call to action
Charles Overby, CEO of the Newseum and Freedom Forum urges the newspaper industry to Act, Believe, Compete, Differentiate and Evolve for the Future.

Remarks by Charles L. Overby
CEO, Newseum, Inc.
Newspaper Association Managers
December 7, 2009

It is a pleasure to be with you today and to give you an update on the Newseum and a few thoughts about the newspaper business.

The Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue opened about a year and a half ago. In our first year, we attracted more than 700,000 visitors, pretty good for a museum that charges admission in a city where other museums are free.

You get what you pay for, and that’s one of my themes today.

But first, I want to emphasize how important newspapers are to our Newseum and how much visitors enjoy looking at them every day.
The Newseum displays Today’s Front Pages on the front of the building, one from every state and a few countries.

I enjoy watching people stop and study these front pages. We carry more than 700 front pages daily on our web site.

The day after the election of President Obama, people were lined up sometimes 4-deep taking pictures of the front pages.

Inside the Newseum, there are 368 historic newspapers on display, dating back to a 1526 news book about the Treaty of Madrid.

The Newseum owns about 35,000 historic newspapers.

Of course, we have a lot more than newspapers, from the most pieces of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany to the Unabomber cabin.

This shows how engaging a newspaper can be, even for young people.

I want to relay an incident from last week that brings the story of the Newseum and newspapers together.

Regrettably, we announced last week that the Newseum was going to eliminate 29 positions to help balance revenue and expenses.

Attendance at the Newseum has been good, up from our first year of operation. But fund-raising has been somewhat slower this year compared to last year.

But that has been true for most museums and non-profits.

We get daily reports of Newseum mentions in Newspapers and web sites.

Gawker wrote: “News and museum combo The Newseum is laying off 13% of its staff, the second round of job cuts since the place opened just in time for the total collapse of the newspaper industry. These are the most predictable museum layoffs since … whatever is the auto industry museum. They probably had layoffs, too.”

So the narrative is that newspapers are failing. Therefore, the Newseum must be failing. The Newseum certainly is not failing, and I believe newspapers control their destinies more than some people realize.

I gave a speech a few years ago that dealt with fairness in the media.
We held town hall meetings with community leaders, with news people and with average readers to ask them about fairness. We found that fairness was not a one word definition with these groups. Newspapers could be accurate, for instance, but still not considered fair.

From those sessions, I realized that too many editors and reporters failed to take into account that fairness encompassed a lot of things, some large, some small, in order for readers to view a story or a newspaper as fair.

So I came up with a simplistic formula that helped summarize readers’ views toward fairness: A + B + C + D + E equals F, Fairness.

Accuracy, plus balance, plus completeness, plus detachment, plus ethics equals Fairness.

If a reporter can put all of those things into a story, then a reader will deem it fair. If the reporter misses just one of those things—even if the other four are there—then the reader might not think the story is not fair.

Over the last week, in preparation for my remarks to you today, I went back over the stories and reports I have been collecting about newspapers. I don’t have to tell you that most of the news is negative—declining circulation, declining revenues, doomsday predictions that the end is near.

The news about newspapers seems to get worse every month. There are a lot of people who seem almost gleeful about these doomsday reports. And the people who aren’t necessarily gleeful seem generally willing to accept and pass on to others this message of collective doom and destruction.

I enjoy reading history, and I have recently completed a couple of books about the early days of World War II. Now if you want gloom and doom, read about London in the early 1940s.

There were two primary optimists during that period—a couple of leaders named Churchill and Roosevelt. They refused to accept the conventional wisdom that Hitler was going to take over all of Europe. At the time, it was more than conventional wisdom. It was seen as inevitable that Hitler would win and dominate Europe and beyond.
But on the strength of those two leaders Churchill and Roosevelt —determined, optimistic, unyielding—they stopped Hitler and changed the world. They made a lot of mistakes getting to the point of success. But they turned around public opinion, they motivated the Allied armed forces, and they provided the bold vision needed to stop the most dangerous tyrant of the 20th century.

It is a hard thing to change public opinion, but it is done all the time as a result of strong leadership, bold actions, clear communications, and unyielding determination.

I’ve put together another simplistic formula for today’s newspapers dilemma.

A + B + C + D + E equals F, Future.

Act, Believe, Compete, Differentiate, Evolve. These concepts equal the future.

ACT
Do something, even if it’s wrong. It can’t be worse than simply giving away the news for free.

The time for wringing our hands about the plight of newspapers is over. It is time to act now. Every day that newspaper owners continue to give away their product on the internet is a lost opportunity.
This is not rocket science. In any business, if an owner decides to give away the product without gaining revenue from somewhere, that business will fail as a profitable enterprise.

I believe the decision to start giving away the content of newspapers on the internet more than 10 years ago created a Lost Decade for newspapers. I’m hoping the next decade will be the Found Decade.
It should not take us 10 years to recognize giving away the product was a mistake. Why don’t more newspaper owners act to correct this mistake? I believe they are paralyzed by critics who insist that to be cool and to be “with it” you must surrender your product to the internet for free.

I am reminded of my wife’s uncle, Chauncey Godwin, who owned a shirt factory in Tupelo, MS. He told me that he once pulled into a gas station, and the station owner said, “Hey, Chauncey, when are you going to give me some shirts from your factory?” Without blinking an eye, Chauncey said, “When you start giving me your gas.”

The notion of giving away news is short-sighted and counter-productive. Newspaper owners spend a lot of money hiring reporters and editors to assemble news every day for their communities.
They need to act now to reverse this destructive trend.

BELIEVE
Newspaper owners, newspaper staffs and state newspaper association managers must begin by believing in their own product and believing in the viability of the news and advertising that is assembled every day.

I have had the opportunity to work with Howard Baker, the senator from Tennessee who was majority leader of the Senate, chief of staff for President Reagan and ambassador to Japan. He is highly popular wherever he goes and in whatever role he accepts. In Tennessee, he was not known for having a great grassroots organization of precinct and county chairmen.

But he always won.

Someone asked him what the most important thing in politics was. He said, “You have to get the talk right.”

In order to do that, you need the people around you and your supporters believing in you and telling others.

The talk is not right about newspapers today. And part of that reason is that newspapers staffs and even some owners have quit believing in the future of newspapers.

If the people who work for newspapers don’t believe the content is worth paying for, who will? From top to bottom, the people in the newspaper business have to start believing in themselves again.
The community leaders need to believe that the content of newspapers is worth paying for.

What if the people around Barak Obama had gone around saying, “We’ll never win.” Obama supporters really believed they were going to win, they dedicated themselves to winning, and they did.
We need the same belief and dedication from people about newspapers and news content. Sure, it’s worth paying for. It always has been, and it always will be.

This is nothing less than a campaign. Before it can be launched, the people closest to the newspaper business have to believe in it. The talk has to be right.

COMPETE
For too long, newspapers did not have to compete to get people to buy newspapers and newspaper ads. They had to ask for the order—at least most of the time—but they didn’t really have to compete in the dog-eat-dog way required of many businesses.

As a result, I believe newspapers got a little flabby, a little content, a little over confident. And that probably contributed to the disastrous decision to give their content away on the internet.

Now, with circulation and ad revenues down, newspapers need to learn to compete aggressively to win back readers and advertisers.
It is an all-out fight, and just doing what has always been done will not suffice. Newspaper publishers have to be willing to embrace new—even radical—approaches to change the momentum of what is happening.

I believe newspapers must embrace the idea that they have to campaign to win back their communities. I want to repeat that for emphasis. Newspapers have to campaign to win their communities back.

For a business that specializes in communicating to readers, newspapers do a pretty poor job of communicating about themselves.
The publisher and the editor and the ad manager have to treat this like a political campaign. They have to organize, develop and target the right messages, gain endorsements, persuade doubters, confront the skeptics and use every means available to win the community
back.

This will take more than rhetorical flourishes and a few well-turned phrases. The competition starts with content and pricing. If it means producing different or better content, produce it. If it takes better pricing, adopt it.

This goes on in every other business every day. Everybody in the newspaper business should wake up every morning thinking of ways to compete better for the paying reader.

DIFFERENTIATE
To reclaim paying customers, newspapers need to do more to differentiate their content from the things that are free on the internet.

First, that means either charging on the internet for those different things or not putting them on the internet at all.

I have been involved with newspapers for more than 50 years, first as a newspaper carrier and then a reporter and editor.

Even I wince at writing a check for $18 each month for my subscription to my local newspaper. I wince because I already read that information on the internet for free. Every month when I write that check for $18, I feel that I am making a charitable contribution to that newspaper. Because my local newspaper is owned by Gannett, I feel I am making a charitable contribution to Gannett.

How many people out there want to make charitable contributions to Gannett or any other big media company? People want substance, and they are willing to pay for it. They want to give their charitable dollars to other causes.

Just look at television. Television used to be free. Now people pay a lot of money every month to cable companies to get stuff on their TV. Why do people pay the cable companies? Because they are getting content they can’t get anywhere else for free. Newspapers would do well to study the cable television model and figure out what they can provide that customers will pay for. The premium channels on cable bring in a lot of money. A few newspapers are beginning to look at providing readers with premium packages for a fee.

The key to more paying customers is differentiation. Newspapers have the ability to produce better, more interesting daily products than any other local media. The question is will they do it and will they have the courage to quit giving it away.

Again, this is like a political campaign. The best candidates work hard to make their message different and frame it in a way that voters can understand and appreciate.

Newspapers need to do the same thing. Each local newspaper needs to figure out the major things that make it different.

Too many newspapers are dangerously close to cutting their news budgets in a way that will make it harder to produce distinctive, different news products.

You cannot produce interesting, informative different news products every day on the cheap. Readers notice, especially when given a choice between paying and free.

EVOLVE
Now after all this, you might think that I believe only in a 7-day-a-week home delivered print newspaper. That would be wrong.

I believe in news, and I believe in delivering it to the public for a fee. But the paper part of that surely will evolve over time. Of course, it is already evolving.

I subscribe to the print versions of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY. I also get the New York Times and Wall Street Journal on my Kindle. I get the e-edition of USA TODAY on the internet.

Candidly, I don’t consider the Kindle or e-editions as satisfying as the print versions, but sometimes they are more convenient for me.
I believe we are evolving toward a wireless tablet, large enough to capture the feel of newspapers, both in pictures and display ads.
That time is probably closer than we realize, but in the meantime there are other evolutionary things that are important to the future of newspapers.

You have probably read that the Federal Trade Commission is holding hearings about the future of struggling news organizations. It makes me nervous to think of the government “helping” newspapers, particularly since I work in a building that has a 74-foot high marble sign on Pennsylvania Avenue with the 45 words of the First Amendment. I don’t have to tell you that the First Amendment starts out this way: “Congress shall make no law . . .”

The best thing Congress could do is eliminate some of the laws they have already written pertaining to newspapers, particularly relating to bans on cross-ownership of media. There is plenty of competition in the media world.

Many newspapers are experimenting with evolving models, and that’s a good thing. In Detroit, the Detroit Free Press delivers to homes Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays but continues to print all seven days. They sell the paper on the other days as single copies at 18,000 different locations.

In San Francisco, the Chronicle is trying glossy paper to improve the look and feel of the paper.

The point is that every community newspaper should feel free to experiment, to evolve into the future.

FUTURE
That brings us to the F word, Future. The country has always depended on the delivery of news to its citizens.

The Newseum carries the famous quote from Thomas Jefferson: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter.”

Of course, after Jefferson became president, he had other ideas about newspapers, but go to the Newseum if you want to hear about that.

President Obama offered his own version of the Jefferson quote recently: “A government without a tough and vibrant media of all sorts is not an option for the United States of America.”

The future of our democracy depends on an informed citizenry. Newspapers – and the content they provide in evolving models – are central to that future.

So, I ask you to consider the A, B, C, D and E of the Future.

ACT
BELIEVE
COMPETE
DIFFERENTIATE
EVOLVE

The future of newspapers and the important content they provide will continue to be essential to our citizens, IF our leaders act decisively and wisely.

It's our job to wake the dead
By Victor Parkins, TPA President

As reporters, editors and publishers, it’s our job to inform our readers that newspapers are far from dead.

Newspapers across the country have been their own worst enemy over the past two or three years.

We use big, bold headlines to announce our layoffs, hardships and declines in sales and circulation.

We’re spending too much time and money trying to make our Web sites bigger and better and less time improving our print products that got us where we are today.

We’re giving our competition everything they need to sit down in front of our customers and say, “I told you so,” and then walk out the door with what used to be our accounts.

It’s time as an industry that we stop beating ourselves up in our own newspapers and promote the good things that some of us still enjoy.

It’s past time we use big, bold headlines to tell our readers we’re not dead.

While circulation is down in most metro areas (much of that is self-imposed), overall readership is at an all time high across the world when we couple our print and Internet products together.

Rather than bash our industry, we should crow about how our overall readership has doubled or even tripled in some areas.
We should use our products to inform our readers that many newspapers finished 2009 better than they thought they would.

A recent survey conducted by the National Newspaper Association found that newspapers, particular community newspapers, are still one of the most effective and affordable ways to promote a business.

The survey found that most Americans still make purchasing decisions based on advertisements or inserts they read in their local newspaper.

There’s no doubt the entire world has become more and more digital, but that doesn’t mean newspapers are on their way out.

Newspapers still provide the best, most accurate and comprehensive information to the public.

It’s our job to let them know we’re here to stay.

Victor Parkins is editor of The Milan Mirror-Exchange.
The Tennessee Press, January 2010

Do you want campaign ads in your paper?
By Art Powers, TPA vice president for dailies
Publisher, Johnson City Press

Like most newspapers across the state, candidates for next year’s gubernatorial race have been dropping by the Johnson City Press to discuss issues in an attempt to set themselves apart from their opponents. In doing so they know we will write a story about their visit and report their responses to the questions fielded by our editorial board. We always do that as it is news for our readers. Candid photos always accompany the story. Of course, in subsequent months they will return one-by-one for more coverage as well as asking for our editorial endorsement since we are the only medium that does that anymore.

Over the years during sessions like these I have simply been a part of the questioning process. This time around I have changed my participation and have taken the opportunity to state an opinion about something near and dear to all our hearts.

When I find the time is right, I simply say, there is something regarding our industry that I would like to discuss. The newspaper business, just like many other businesses, is making its way through this recessed economy as best we can. I impress on each candidate that our industry is not dead. Yes, our profits are down but our readership is greater than ever when you consider our online readers and print readers. This is particularly true within our state boundaries. Papers across the state are having their difficulties but each continues their in-depth report of local news better than any other media outlet.

I tell them that the candidates who have preceded them come to our office, meet, leave and we write a story. Then the candidate hires a media consultant who “knows best how to get votes” and goes out and buys all the television advertising they can possibly buy with the contributed funds they have accumulated. I explain my point: If newspapers are important enough to sit down to generate stories and photos to be published, and if return visits are important enough to them to ask for our editorial endorsement, then why are we not important enough for them to place their campaign advertising in our columns and on our websites?

I tell them we still have power in spite of what media buyers tell them. They hire people whom they presume to be “professionals” yet they seldom ever purchase advertising in our newspapers. I have even told them should we choose, we have the power to destroy them. And if that is the case then we certainly have the power to assist them in the promotion of those positive attributes which they believe will set them apart from their competition. Usually the candidate agrees at this point and says they will include newspapers in their media buy. So then I ask straight out that I would like them to tell their media consultants to purchase advertising in our newspaper and on our newspaper websites. I have even told them we would like our share of the $3.1 million, the $1.3 million and the $1.2 million each of the three candidates in the Republican primary has already accumulated. Certainly they will grow these numbers before the election in November well over a year away.

I have presented the case and asked for the order. Will it work? Who knows? But I did get it off my chest. I have decided to not sit on my laurels anymore. Won’t you join me when they come to your paper? If we are all asking for campaign ads, perhaps someone will take notice. Good luck!

Facebook helps newspapers protect trademarks
Facebook, the social networking site, began allowing users to register vanity URLs such as www.facebook.com/journalgazette in June. more

Prior to that, the URLs consisted of a string of numbers.
This opens the possibility that trademarked newspaper nameplates could be appropriated by an individual Facebook user.
Recognizing that this could be a problem, Facebook has offered a way for businesses to protect their trademarks.

Trademark holders can go to www.facebook.com and complete a form to protect those trademarks. This will warm Facebook to keep that mark from being taken as a username by an unauthorized customer.
From The Indiana Publisher, Hoosier State Press Association, July 2, 2009

Americans rely on newspaper advertising as essential shopping tool
Newspaper Association of America

When Consumers Read Newspaper Ads, They Take Action
Arlington , Va. – Newspaper advertising remains the leading advertising medium cited by consumers in planning, shopping and making purchasing decisions, according to early data from a MORI Research survey of more than 3,000 adults. The findings, announced today by the Newspaper Association of America, provide conclusive evidence of the ongoing value newspaper ads deliver for marketers trying to reach consumers who are ready to shop and spend.

“Newspaper advertising remains the most powerful tool for advertisers who want to motivate consumers to take action,” said NAA President and CEO John Sturm. “While new technologies have their place in any total marketing program, initial findings from this important research demonstrate the enduring power of today’s newspaper ads. We’re looking forward to offering more comprehensive data on consumer motivation and the influence of newspaper advertising after a full analysis is completed in early fall.”

This study, part of a series entitled “American Consumer Insights,” examined the impact newspaper advertising has on consumer shopping and spending patterns. Early results indicate:

• Nearly six in 10 adults (59 percent) identify newspapers as the medium they use to help plan shopping or make purchase decisions
• 82 percent of those surveyed said they “took action” as a result of newspaper advertising, including:
• Clipping a coupon (61 percent)
• Buying something (50 percent)
• Visiting Web sites to learn more (33 percent)
• Trying something for the first time (27 percent)
• 73 percent of adults regularly or occasionally read newspaper inserts
• 82 percent have been spurred to action by a newspaper insert in the past month.

Preliminary data also reveals that other media trailed well behind newspapers as the primary medium for checking advertising. The closest competitor – the Internet – trailed newspapers by 20 percentage points (41 percent vs. 21 percent). Direct mail only mustered a 14 percent response in the survey, and television was cited by only eight percent of respondents.

New NAA Ad Touts Newspapers’ Influence on Consumer Behavior
Putting its initial findings about the profound impact of newspaper advertising into practice, NAA separately released a new advertisement that describes engaged newspaper readers as “Action Figures.” The ads, produced by Allied Advertising, are available to NAA member newspapers and use early results of the research to highlight the ways newspaper advertising drives consumers to action.

“This ad stems from the fact that readers are not simply exposed to newspaper advertising – these ads resonate and consumers use them to take action,” said Randy Bennett, NAA’s senior vice president of business development. “There is a connection readers feel with newspaper advertising that no other medium can match.”

Mort Goldstrom, NAA’s vice president of advertising, discusses the research and the new ad in the latest NAA podcast.

Primary Medium for Checking Advertising 2009
Newspapers 41%
Internet 21%
Ads received in the mail (Direct mail) 14%
Television 8%
Catalogs 6%
Magazines 3%
Radio 2%
None of these 5%

MORI Research conducted this phone and Internet survey of more than 3,000 adults for the Newspaper Association of America. MORI Research is a division of Frank N. Magid Associates, a leading research-based consulting firm serving an international clientele from offices in Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, and Marion, IA. Engagements range from tactical and operational issues to strategic direction and are informed by the perspective gained from broad and deep experience over the past 50 years in all sectors of the media, communications and entertainment industries.

NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $47 billion newspaper industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. NAA members include daily newspapers, as well as non-dailies, other print publications and on-line products. Headquartered near Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va., the Association focuses on the major issues that affect today’s newspaper industry: public policy/legal matters, advertising revenue growth and audience development across the medium’s broad portfolio of products and digital platforms. Information about NAA and the industry also may be found at www.naa.org
Newspaper Association of America, July 15, 2009
www.naa.org

Ed Henninger on Design—Tea and graphics: A relaxing review
I’ve often mentioned the value of doing regular reviews of your design. Failure to examine where you’ve been and what you’ve done makes it more difficult to decide where you’re going and how to get there.

Here’s a twist on the routine design review: I call it “Tea and Graphics,” a fun name I came up with when I was an assistant managing editor in charge of the design of a 100,000 circulation daily.

The idea behind Tea and Graphics was to get designers (and others who wanted to be part of the fun) together every couple of months or so to look at the pages they had done. The only requirement was for designers to submit pages for review and comment by all who attended.

And it worked—designers left Tea and Graphics with a better sense of how well they were doing and with more and better ideas for the pages that lie ahead.

Ten tips for Tea and Graphics sessions in your office:

1. Schedule the sessions for every couple of months. More than that may be too much.

2. Appoint someone to gather pdf files from designers a week ahead of the session. Yes, they want their work reviewed but news designers are busy and may forget to submit those pdf files. A gentle reminder helps.

3. Bring in some pizza and Cokes—or coffee and donuts if it’s a morning session. Eats are a treat for some—and a draw for others.

4. Don’t forget the video projector. If yours is a small paper and you don’t have a projector, then show your pdf slides on a large-screen monitor.

5. Give it time. Allow a couple of hours. Remember, this is supposed to be relaxed and fun. It’s not a meeting…it’s just a few people talking about design.

6. Invite the entire newsroom. Reporters—even stringers—may have some fresh insights to share about how a story they wrote could have been better illustrated and designed.

7. Keep the discussion constructive—we all want to know how we could have done something better.

8. Encourage response. If a pdf pops up and no one has a comment, you can always ask the designer what he/she was trying to accomplish with the page or package.

9. Pick a winner and award a prize. One of the pages you’ll review is usually better than others. If two or three pages are tops, there’s nothing wrong with calling it a tie and giving out multiple awards. The awards themselves can be something with value, like a $20 gift certificate, or something fun like a propeller beanie.

10. Take notes and share them. Send a quick outline of key points that arose during the discussion. Not only does it serve as a reminder, but it can also help you raise the bar for your design.

Call it Tea and Graphics. Call it Pizza and Picas. Call it what you want—but call it every couple of months.

FREE DESIGN EVALUATION: Ed Henninger offers design evaluations—at no charge and with no obligation—to readers of this column. For more information, check the FREEBIE page on Ed’s webs site: www.henningerconsulting.com

ED HENNINGER is an independent newspaper consultant and the Director of Henninger Consulting. Offering comprehensive newspaper design services including redesigns, workshops, staff training and evaluations. On the web: www.henningerconsulting.com. Phone: 803-327-3322.

Kevin Slimp's technology column
My inbox has been especially full lately. That makes it harder to answer every question personally, but I try to answer as many questions as I can. Let me share a few I’ve received over the past few weeks:

From Mark in Pennsylvania:
We have a PDF, created by InDesign and cropped in Acrobat. When we place the “cropped” file onto an InDesign page, the original cropped area returns and prints over the words and ads around it. Any idea why this happens?

Mark,
This has perplexed InDesign users from day one. Most applications simply ignore a cropped area as if it’s not there. InDesign knows, however, that it’s there and gives you the option of showing or hiding the cropped area. Simply click on the “Show Options” button in the Place window when placing a PDF file on a page. Next, select “Crop” from the “Crop to” list. That’s it.

From Glenn in Tennessee
I wanted to see if you have a recommendation for a good, workhouse network laser printer for our paper. We used to have two Xante Accel-A-Writer 3Gs, but both are developing fuser problems. The one in the advertising department is already dead, and the news one is starting to look like it wants to join it. The printer needs to be network ready with an ethernet port, and compatible with AppleTalk. It needs to handle 11 x 17 tabloid paper as well as the typical letter and legal sizes. We’re mostly interested in black and white, but we’re open to considering color laser, as long it’s cost effective.

Hi Glenn,
As you know, there aren’t nearly as many options as there used to be. I just checked to see what is currently available. I’d consider the HP 5200-TN or the Xerox 5550-DN. Personally favor the Xerox because it uses true postscript, not HP Postscript Emulation. This helps a lot from time to time. Either way, be sure to look at the specs closely to make sure the printer has all the features you want. Both of these print 11X17, b&w, 1200 dpi.

From LJ in Nebraska:
I need to invest in new equipment, quickly. Over the weekend we lost our G5 RIP. It lasted at least five years. Anyway, would the MAC ($1500) you have in your current review be appropriate? I’m the purchasing person not the designer, but I think we have OSX something and CS3. Any expertise that you’re willing to share is helpful.

LJ,
It’s a safe assumption that the current iMac would cover all the bases of your five-year-old G5. Be sure to get plenty of RAM. The model you’re considering comes with 4 GB RAM, which should be fun. But it’s always a good idea to load up on memory when possible. The iMac will come with the latest operating system and CS3 will run fine. If your old machine won’t restart, you might need to call Adobe to switch your CS3 serial number over to your new machine. Creative Suite can be installed (but not run) on two machines at once, so you might be able to install it without first calling Adobe.

From Nick in California:
Which would you choose if spending around $700 for an SLR digital camera: a Canon or a Nikon?

Frankly, Nick, that would depend on the lenses you already have.
Lenses are often more expensive than the camera itself, so I usually recommend that people stick with the brand they already have lenses for. However, if you’re starting from scratch without lenses, the choice isn’t nearly as clear cut. Nikon and Canon both put out quality products and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with either brand. As I visit photographers at larger papers, it seems they are more prone to own Nikons than Canons. However, I tend to buy Canons when I’m purchasing cameras for personal use. An additional consideration these days is whether you want the ability to shoot high definition video with your SLR.

From Brett in Kentucky:
I have an eMac running 10.4.11 operating system. I have been using InDesign 2.0 for several years now and all of a sudden it won’t open. I’ve done everything I know to do, including re-installing the software. When I click to open the program, the dialog box opens up, but when it gets to “loading palettes” it acts like it’s trying to open up but never does. After it tries to boot up for a minute or so, it unexpectedly quits. Do you have an answer to this problem? I appreciate any help you can give me.

Brett:
This is a common problem on both Macs and Windows-based systems running InDesign. It sounds like it’s time to get rid of the old preference and create new ones. Try this to fix the problem on your Mac: 1) Quit InDesign; 2) Drag the “Version [version]” folder from the “Users>username>Library>Preferences>Adobe InDesign folder to the Desktop; 3) Restart InDesign.
In most instances, InDesign will start up after removing this folder. If the problem recurs after this process, it isn’t related to preference files. To restore custom settings, drag the “Version” folder from the Desktop back to its original location, and then click OK when asked if you want to replace the folder.

From Karen in Missouri:
I am having problems with fonts on the computer. I am missing fonts from my font list when working in Quark. These fonts are in at least one of my three font folders, but not available for me to use. My computer has Mac OS X Version 10.5.7. We have no idea which fonts are to be in which folders. When I go to adding some font to the Font Book they will not transfer to that folder. Do you have any advice on straightening these fonts out?

Yes, Karen, I do:
There are several places fonts can reside on both Macs and PCs. When I’m having problems with a font on a Mac, I make sure it’s located in the Library>Fonts folder on the main hard drive. This makes it available to every application on the computer. Just between you and me, that’s where I keep all of my fonts. They used to be spread throughout the computer, depending on my applications and font management utilities. Over time, I’ve learned that fonts kept in the main Fonts folder tend to show up when needed.

The most common question I received in June and July was related to newspaper Web sites. It seems like a lot of newspapers are looking for new hosts to make their sites more attractive to potential visitors and easier to use on the creation side of things. There are too many options to consider here, but let me make one suggestion. When considering a host for your newspaper Web site, be sure to compare at least three potential vendors. There are plenty out there and there is probably one who has just what your newspaper is looking for at a fair price.

Kevin Slimp is the director of technology for Tennessee Press Service and director of the Institute of Newspaper Technology.

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