Chapter 10 of The Art of Editing, summarized.

Brian S. Brooks, of Missouri School of Journalism, and James L. Pinson, of Eastern Michigan University, start the chapter off by discussing various news sources and why newspapers are still relevant to today's reader.

"Newspapers, usually only one per city, provide far more depth than any of the other traditional media and typically do the best job of explaining." (Brooks and Pinson, 293) 

Brooks and Pinson give statistics as to why the notion that newspapers are dying is a myth.

Some statistics were:

• Almost eight of 10 adults (77 percent) nationwide read a newspaper or a newspaper Web site during the course of a week.
• When consumers look to buy things, they think of newspapers first. Fifty-five percent go to newspapers first compared to only 19 percent for the Internet and 8 percent for television. 
• Visitors to newspapers' Web site say these sites are among their most-used media sources during the workday. Forty-nine percent spend time on these sites between the hours of 8 and 11 a.m.
• Two-thirds (66 percent) of all online newspaper readers visit a newspaper Web site at least once a day. Half of these visit several times a day.

 The authors also give insight into editing stories that come in, whether they are wire stories (immediate sources that come from Associated Press and other services) or local stories along with giving credit to whom credit is due.

Brooks and Pinson brought up a new formula to news-writing that I hadn't been familiar with before. Journalists are well-aware of the inverted pyramid style, but they discussed using the Wall Street Journal formula. Instead of beginning with the most important information first, such as hard news stories, this formula begins the story with an anecdote and leads into the story with that.

The authors continue discussing developing a paper and lead into budgeting and laying out the design of the paper. Budgeting stories is important in newspaper design because without it it's difficult to create an aesthetically please look to the paper. You can't have a story that's a 32 column inches next to a 13 column inch story and expect it to be neat and clean.

Along with budgeting stories, Brooks and Pinson explain the importance of incorporating the principles of design when laying out the paper. Contrast, unity, balance and the other principles are crucial to creating a professional looking paper.

The authors wrap up the chapter with examples of a newspaper layout.

WORK CITED:

Brooks, Brian S., and James L. Pinson. "Chapter 10." The Art of Editing: In the Age of Convergence (Ninth Edition). Beijing: Zhongguo Ren Min Da Xue Chu Ban She, 2009. 293. Print.