NEWSPAPER PRODUCTION

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 June 1940, Page 15

NEWSPAPER PRODUCTION

There must be provision not only for certain work to be done, but for the instant substitution of emergency arrangements should occasion arise. In an undertaking where intricate organisation is essential, and many human and mechanical elements are involved, the possibilities of a break-down are immense, but in this instance they are offset by the esprit de corps that is an outstanding characteristic of a newspaper staff. It is everybody’s job to see that the paper is produced, and in a time of crisis, personal convenience and comfort go by the board as a matter of course. It is curious that although the newspaper is an integral part of society, the average conception of how it is produced is decidedly hazy, not to say inaccurate. A common impression of the reporter, for instance, is that he is a fortunate individual whose working hours are not irksome, and that he can always relieve the tedium, if any, of his existence, by seeing any show in town for. nothing. It is thought also that he has a sort of roving commission to pick up unconsidered trifles that may help to fill the paper. Actually the reporter has less leisure that he can call his own than most wage earners,, and his work, far from being haphazard, is controlled by a man whose job it is to ensure that no possible source of news is left untapped. Few people have any idea of what science has done to serve them in the form of a newspaper. Before a newspaper can be placed in the hands of its readers it must have had the touch of dozens of trained men in many spheres, and the mechanical aid of many contrivances which are marvels of ingenuity. Invention is playing an ever-increasing part in bringing to perfection machines that will improve the printing of a newspaper and increase the speed at which it can be produced. The newspaper has more than kept pace with the modern demand for expedition and mass production. IMPORTANCE OF NEWS. News is the first essential of any newspaper, and from it the printed sheet derives its name. The first essential is to create a demand, by making people want to read, and in this way circulation is secured. The manner in which news is secured is described elsewhere in this issue, and once it has been secured by the reporting staff, it is handed on to the sub-editorial department. The work of even the best journalists requires sub-editing. The writer of an article often is unconscious of mistakes which, to an-, other person reading the copy, are obvious. But the main objects of sub-editing are to ensure that the report is in good English, deals with the subject adequately, and is displayed to its true worth by the headlines chosen. In many instances copy has to be reduced, in some it suffers minor corrections,, in others it is built up and may even be referred back to the reporter for better treatment. Thus dealt with, the copy is passed on to the linotype room for setting, After the .copy has been set, headlines

HIGHLY-ORGANISED INDUSTRY Description of Processes CO-ORDINATION is the guiding principle in the production of the modern newspaper. The nature of the operations involved imposes great reliance upon individual units, and their work has to be co-related in the most attractive fashion-possible within a hard and fast time limit, this co-operation requiring the highest efficiency in organisation.

are attached. To enable the appropriate headlines to be easily identified with the article, a phrase of the main head is used as a catchline by the writer, and is set in type at the beginning of the article by the linotype operator. Still in the galley, it is placed on a small press and proofs are taken of it. These are distributed to the readers, and the editorial and sub-editorial staffs. In the reading room the article as set up is carefully checked with the original manuscript. Departures from the original, errors in spelling or punctuation, faulty use of captions, and infringements of office style are carefully marked by the proof readers, and the proof is returned to the operator for the corrections to be made. The new lines set, they are slipped into position, and the old lines removed. There is always a check on the type set, but in spite of this care mistakes will occur. Neither man nor machine is infallible, and in view of the volume of work to be done in the time allowed, the percentage of error is relatively small.

ASSEMBLING THE PAGES. After the type has been corrected, it is transferred to the news room, where the formes (or pages of type) are assembled. The galleys of type are placed on a “stone” or table ready to be fitted into columns and then into pages. To do this a great deal of manipulation is required. Practice, however, makes perfect, and the men responsible for the make-up of pages have developed the kn'ack of measuring accurately at a glance the length of the various articles. In the compilation of a page a forme is used. This is an iron frame the inside of which is the size of a page. From the galleys, the type is put into the formes in columns, each of which is separated by a rule. Straight of full columns are comparatively easy to deal with, but when illustrations are published on news pages the breaks in the columns caused by the blocks entail much additional work. When the last column has been placed in position, the forme is locked by means of a key wrench. Each forme when completed is conveyed to the printing press. Then comes the final, but to the public the most important stage of all—the actual printing of the paper. The “Star” is printed on a modern flat-bed Cossar press. The metal formes of the pages are placed in position on the press and , the paper, gradually unwinding from a huge roll of newsprint, passes over the metal formes of the pages, which, inked by rubber rollers, leave their type impression on the paper. These rolls of paper pass on through the machine, and finally emerge printed and folded. The paper has at last been printed, and is ready for delivery to the readers. The delivery system, in itself highly organised—for fast and efficient transport services, as well as a -large number of runner-boys,-must be enlisted in the distribution of thousands of copies each day—closes the daily epic of the production of a newspaper. - ■