Examination Guidelines

JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMAN KARACHI
Mass Communication BS (III)
Course # 3162 Course Title: Newspaper & Magazine Production
 

Terminal Examination - Final
 

Section 1 (write a brief note on each of the five topics) – total marks 30
Attempt any three questions. All questions carry equal marks.
 

Section 2 (Multiple Choice Questions) - Circle your choice – total marks 30
Attempt all questions. Questions carry equal marks.

Terminal assignment: prepare a magazine- total marks 20

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Simple and neat magazine page layout

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

Whatever you do in real life, it has to be done with neatness and elegance. Get an attractive magazine and a shoddy one from the bookstall. Compare them page by page and you will know what makes one better than the other. Go step by step from learning the basic design principles to the most sophisticated touches.

What’s designing a good magazine layout all about? It’s presenting the content in the best way. Opinions may differ from person to person but a good layout speaks for itself. A sophisticated literary magazine is certainly different from a trendy teenager weekly. But there are certain universal principles followed by all layout experts. You start with ‘Page Setup’.

Page Setup

Because most articles encompass more than just a single page magazines use ‘spreads’ or ‘facing pages’ rather than individual ‘pages’. So you set page preferences to show ‘Facing Pages’ without any gap between the two (set consistent margins around the edges). Use option ‘Mirror Margins’ to make them balanced on each side.

A grid system, comprising a series of guide lines is used to quickly design consistently uniform pages throughout the magazine. The grid indicates lines and columns to accommodate text which is flowed in the preset columns, and images set in picture boxes. On a standard A4 page, three or four columns are usually laid out.

Placing Images

As you know, a picture is more eye-catching than letters or text. On any page or facing-page layout the main image related to the article grab the reader’s attention. However, you must never forget that a page is meant to be read. So the text flow should by eye catching too, and must not strain the eye of the reader. A layout designer may be compelled to spread large amounts of white text on solid black background but it is never wise as it puts strain on the eye of the reader.

The photographs should be of a high resolution: 70-100dpi on newsprint and 600dpi on matte-finish art paper. Offset paper can take 300dpi.

Pictures can be cropped or trimmed to fit the space provided for it. But never stretch or squeeze a picture to fit the space.

Some images require you to use ‘text wrap’ settings so that the text is wrapped to flow around the image.

Remember to look for and carefully adjust setting to bring text to the front because it would be the last thing you want for the article text to be hidden by a picture.

Type Styles

Your computer has so many fonts but you should not use too many on the same page. Select a good typeface that suits well for body text. Use one or more matching/contrasting fonts for headlines, highlights and captions. In the beginning, you may try only one additional font for headlines, subheadings and captions but in appropriate point sizes.

Begin by setting paragraph specifications, and that may include drop capital for the first (or the lead) paragraph.

Then set the headline and the subheading.

Lead paragraph is the first paragraph of the article. It may often be set in a slightly larger point size and may have a drop cap at the beginning.

The body copy style is the one used for the major part of the article.

Box-out or Highlight: A quote, a small paragraph might catch the eye of a reader and encourage them to read the full article, or it may sum up the spirit of the piece. That is also set as a highlight of the article.

Caption tells the readers the details about a picture or a diagram.

These are some of the basic elements of magazine design. As you make more sophisticated designs, more and more elements are added. You have to define type styles to ensure consistent formatting.

A number of fonts such as Helvetica, Verdana or Arial Black (both sans serif fonts) for headlines and serif fonts such as Times New Roman, Garamond or Palatino for the body text. Sans-serif fonts such as Arial or Helvetica can be used for the captions.

Make the Text Flow

Number of words in an article gives you a good estimate of how much space it would take up. Use your good judgment to decide how many columns would you like to the first two facing pages to have. Make text flow into the text box columns that you have set.

Most software take a font size of 12pt as default; however, magazines usually use a size of 10 or 11 points. Both sides justified is the standard format but it is less common nowadays and the right side is set as ragged (in other words: left aligned). Try the best combination of point size, line spacing and justification settings to find the best balance.

You must not fill the whole page with just the body text. You must use a photograph or some other visual element to make the page more attractive and less monotonous. A box-out/highlight would break monotony in a page when you run out of photographs or other visual elements.

As discussed in the classroom and mentioned in previous notes, when reading most languages, apart from Urdu, Arabic and Persian, a reader’s eye moves from the top left of the page to the bottom left. Page designing software allows for much creative freedom and you may feel like trying out crazy ideas. Do that as long as they look good but remember to give all the elements on a page enough room to breathe.

If page elements are clashing, separate them or get rid of them. Just remember that magazine pages are meant to be read, not to be put on the wall.

These were just the basics of page layout design. Once you familiarize yourself with them, go for more complex and more attractive professional designs. But first, do a lot of comparative study.

For questions click here

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Reading and correcting text proofs

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

 You get a text print as a galley proof or a page proof which is required to be proofread. So you read the proofs closely to detect typographical errors to be corrected before any printing is done. You mark the corrections on the page for aother person to correct, or do the corrections yourself on a computer. You have to do it so that the text printed is exactly the same as the original manuscript. This is proofreading.  A proof reader does not have the right to make any corrections on his own. Any spelling, grammar or syntax error is to be marked and referred back to the copy editor.

Having been read and marked, proofs are returned to the typesetter (computer operator) or graphic artist for correction (when you are reading the proofs of a visual). Once the corrections have been made, a print is again made and read once again. This re-reading goes on until all the proofs are error free. The proofs read are signed by the person who has done the proofreading with date (and also time if required).

Fast proofreading: Proof reading along with copy holding (or copy reading), is a more quick method. It requires two persons. The first reads aloud the text from original manuscript. The second one listens and compares the composed (typeset) text and marks any differences between the text read and the typeset text.

Double proofreading: In this method, a proofreader checks a proof in the traditional manner and passes it on to a second reader who repeats the process. Both initial the proof. Note that with both copy holding and double reading, responsibility for a given proof is necessarily shared by two individuals.

More recently, the sub editors have to do all proofreading as well as correction on computers.

For questions click here

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Selecting the content for your magazine

by: Sir Khalid Rahman

Once the basics of a magazine have been agreed upon and decided, the regular work of an editor begins. An editor has to plan the magazine, decide who to assign the contents, articles as well as pictures and visual. Once the contents start coming in, the editor has to start editing and thinking about the magazine layout.

The idea for an article may germinate in the mind of an editor, a corporate sponsor or a writer, like a painting which may be created by an artist or assigned to him by someone else. In either case, it is the writer, or the artist, whose efforts make the work happen. With an editor, it is different: he has to make the article more interesting and readable by using his professional skills.

The bulk of magazine writing is done on assignment. What sort of an article needs to be assigned? A how-to article? A personal experience? A first person narration? A happening? An observation? An analysis? Social issue? Art? Showbiz? Politics? Civil rights? Cookery? Anything or anyone under the sun can be the topic of an article; however it must fit in with the magazine profile. The editor has to assign the articles to the most suitable writers.

Almost every magazine has guidelines for their contributors. These guidelines should be understood well and strictly followed. A writer has to be careful not to annoy the editor with frequent and no-so-important queries. If a writer continues to be careless or insensitive, their name will be included in the list of people with whom the editor will not work. Instead, they should try to be included in the list of writer who are regularly called with ideas and assignments—those on the list of regular contributors.

What is most important is the editor is the captain of the ship that is your magazine. An editor has the last say and his word must be taken very seriously. On the other hand, selecting the content of the magazine is the acid test the editor has to pass. It is an editor's hardest test.

For queries and questions click here

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Seven Traits of Highly Effective Press Releases

 By: Sir Khalid Rehman

Why are PR people like nuclear weapons?
1. If one side has one, the other side has to get one.
2. Once the news release is emailed, it cannot be recalled.
3. When they land, they screw up everything forever.

A man phones a PR consultant and asks, “How much would you charge for just answering three simple questions?”
The PR consultant replies, “A thousand dollars.”
“A thousand dollars!” exclaims the man. “That’s very expensive isn’t it?”
“It certainly is,” says the PR consultant. “Now, what’s your third question?”

PR’s importance is changing. According to The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, American marketing strategists Al and Laura Ries argue that public relations has become the most effective way to build a brand. Well-known brands like The Body Shop, PlayStation and Harry Potter spend little on brand-name advertising. The same is true for many entrepreneurial companies like yours. Business owners become known in their respective fields of concentration many times through public relations and the associated media generated.

All companies and non-profit organizations have one important attribute in common: they have a need to communicate effectively with certain target audiences and they want to have a good image in the community.

Whether they recognize it or not they are constantly involved in public relations and government relations.

Why you need PR? Because getting the word out about your product or service should always be a priority.

“Public relations is the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an organization with the public interest, and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.”

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Characteristics of successful press releases

Whether created by a PR agency or an executive in your Advertising Department, issuing an effective press release is very important to the outcome of your announcement. Successful press releases have a few traits in common.

Possibly, the most important factor in ensuring the success of your press release is ensuring that the information contained in the press release is newsworthy. It may be futile to issue a press release that contains too little information or information that is of no value to the media and the general public.

To gain additional success in issuing a press release, the content must appeal to the consumer. Explaining to the reader that the information contained in a press release is intended for them and why it is important to them will entice consumers to read the release in its entirety.

The chronological order in which you announce things is another very important aspect of creating an effective and successful press release. In the first few sentences you should provide a synopsis of the important news followed by who or what organization first announced it.

Wording your press release so that consumers can relate to the news will make the reader want to read more. Developing a press release in which consumers can connect will make the press release more effective.

The first ten words of your press release will make or break its success. Be sure that these words capture the readers’ attention and make them want to read and know more. Use language that is simple to understand. Using industry jargon and abbreviations is frowned on. Avoid fancy terms and over using adjectives. This will take away from the message you are trying to send.

Effective press releases provide extensive contact information. Names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and websites should all be listed in the press release. It is important that you convey who should be contacted about your release.

If the ideas above are implemented in the process of developing a press release, your message will be conveyed to the appropriate audience and you are more likely to achieve your desired result.

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This is how a staff reporter describes as the best press release:

1. Everything must be accurate, plain and simple. From your name, your client's name, contact information and background. You screw up once, even if it's a misspelling, you're not opening my eyes.

2. Brevity is perfect. Get your message across in one page, if not less. You should be able to sum up your story pitch in three sentences. Those sentences should, in a perfect world, act as a reporter’s nut graph (a sentence or two that explains the point and relevance of a story).

3. Provide background. If you come with some statistics or proof that your story is actually important and relevant, you should have no problem getting additional attention from a reporter or editor. Without background, you’re forcing the reporter to take time out to find the relevance. In this day and age, time is currency. Also, provide a description of the client and some relevant history. Keep it short.

4. Know the particulars of the media and the section of the media to which you are sending your press release. To a technical section, you have to pitch stories that provide technical information and you will see that your story moves to the top of the list because you have taken time out to understand the publication.

5. Do not tell the reporter that the readers would benefit from your story pitch. Reporters are by nature arrogant. It is they who decide what their readers would benefit from.

That didn't take long, huh? Get my point?
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Seven Traits of Highly Effective Press Releases
This study was taken recently by a PR agency in the US.
Let us look at releases which prove a hit, and see what attributes they have in common.  Let us be simple and straightforward.
Count the words in the body, the date and time of release, whether the release included a photo, and so on for a total of seven main traits.

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