Working with a regional design center

[BillySixty]

As more and more newspaper groups are going to regional design centers, I'm curious as how this has changed roles in your department.

Specifically, I'm wondering if there are any people in your department who are 100 percent chained to the desk. Not reporters who sometimes work the desk or deskers who sometimes report.

It seems that most copy editors have been laid off, and when these regional design centers started popping up, the designers/paginators went there or were cut, too. So who is making sure the trains run on time in your department?

 

[I Should Coco]

My shop is heading this way, with the daily paper's newsroom designing a twice-weekly and two weekly papers, with possibly a smaller daily coming soon.

The logical thing would be to have one person handle the remote papers (the schedule works out that there's one to do each day, Monday through Thursday). But instead, we have different people doing each of them, including a reporter tackling one of the weeklies because Wednesday is already an overwhelmingly busy day for the desk.

It goes without saying that all of this extra work was shuffled around without hiring anyone to do it. But it makes me feel a bit more secure as a copy editor/paginator, because we're certainly kept busy.

 

[Doc Holliday]

We have a couple of editors that sit around and do nothing. They read a couple stories, take a few phone calls. They'll be fired in the next round of layoffs as they essentially don't do ****. The Design center does all the work now.

 

[SFIND]

We have no editorial position chained to the desk. Either myself or my boss (sports editor) are out every night we work (6-day publication). All a matter of setting the budget and communicating with the design hub in where we want stories placed.

 

[studthug12]

We have a couple of editors that sit around and do nothing. They read a couple stories, take a few phone calls. They'll be fired in the next round of layoffs as they essentially don't do ****. The Design center does all the work now.

That's the odd thing about Gannett. Those people you describe survive the layoffs somehow. Each time at least a handful of good people, hard-workers are let go and the grovelers, butt-kissers etc. retain jobs. They end up in charge, which is a reason some chains and newspapers in general are in the crapper, well, one of the many reasons.

 

[Doc Holliday]

That's the odd thing about Gannett. Those people you describe survive the layoffs somehow. Each time at least a handful of good people, hard-workers are let go and the grovelers, butt-kissers etc. retain jobs. They end up in charge, which is a reason some chains and newspapers in general are in the crapper, well, one of the many reasons.

Yeah, it's pretty ****ing dumbfounding how backward some of the decision making is. The impending demise, considering the decisions, isn't.

 

[Bronco77]

That's the odd thing about Gannett. Those people you describe survive the layoffs somehow. Each time at least a handful of good people, hard-workers are let go and the grovelers, butt-kissers etc. retain jobs. They end up in charge, which is a reason some chains and newspapers in general are in the crapper, well, one of the many reasons.

Sadly, this is the general direction my workplace is headed in. With layoffs a near-certainty at some point, it's becoming apparent who will survive -- a few quasi-managers who do little heavy lifting, speak in corporate-speak and avoid making decisions. They'll undoubtedly wind up with raises and promotions, which was the case for the manager who masterminded the last round of layoffs.

Back to the original question: At the design centers I'm familiar with, it's up to the "home" papers to provide copy, photos, etc., in a timely manner. After that, the design center takes over. So "making sure the trains run on time" is, theoretically, a shared responsibility -- although a desk person I know says his design center takes a disproportionate share of the blame for blown deadlines.

 

[studthug12]

Sadly, this is the general direction my workplace is headed in. With layoffs a near-certainty at some point, it's becoming apparent who will survive -- a few quasi-managers who do little heavy lifting, speak in corporate-speak and avoid making decisions. They'll undoubtedly wind up with raises and promotions, which was the case for the manager who masterminded the last round of layoffs.

Back to the original question: At the design centers I'm familiar with, it's up to the "home" papers to provide copy, photos, etc., in a timely manner. After that, the design center takes over. So "making sure the trains run on time" is, theoretically, a shared responsibility -- although a desk person I know says his design center takes a disproportionate share of the blame for blown deadlines.

Yep basically budgets, photos, stories picked by staffers and design center takes over. If you want a specific photo you just rename the file like CP photo, secondary CP photo, jump page etc. Agreed Bronco. Frustrating that people that talk a lot but it means nothing and really have no ideas - or at least at my chain - for unique content or ways to get in front of digital move are in charge.

 

[I Should Coco]

Back to the original question: At the design centers I'm familiar with, it's up to the "home" papers to provide copy, photos, etc., in a timely manner. After that, the design center takes over. So "making sure the trains run on time" is, theoretically, a shared responsibility -- although a desk person I know says his design center takes a disproportionate share of the blame for blown deadlines.

Oh, I'm quite familiar with that aspect of "design centers."

In theory, our shop has a deadline for content — let's say noon on the day we paginate the weekly or bi-weekly paper. And it is regularly missed, causing the person doing the pages to fall behind and the rest of the desk to pitch in, putting us behind on the daily paper.

The production building has the press scheduled to the minute each afternoon and evening, so missing one deadline for pages backs the whole night up. Good times!

 

[Fredrick]

We have a couple of editors that sit around and do nothing. They read a couple stories, take a few phone calls. They'll be fired in the next round of layoffs as they essentially don't do ****. The Design center does all the work now.

You have a nice way with words. I laughed at your succinct sentence that read, "They'll be fired in the next round of layoffs as they essentially don't do ****." Somehow if they've kissed the right butt I think they'll survive the next round of layoffs.

 

[Fredrick]

That's the odd thing about Gannett. Those people you describe survive the layoffs somehow. Each time at least a handful of good people, hard-workers are let go and the grovelers, butt-kissers etc. retain jobs. They end up in charge, which is a reason some chains and newspapers in general are in the crapper, well, one of the many reasons.

Fredrick has been saying this for years! And nobody has given me an iota of being ahead of the curve. Doc Holliday should admit that I had this pegged 5-10 years ago!! And the wild thing is there always will be a few horses left in the newsroom to do all the work that the buttkissers assign.

 

[Doc Holliday]

You have a nice way with words. I laughed at your succinct sentence that read, "They'll be fired in the next round of layoffs as they essentially don't do ****." Somehow if they've kissed the right butt I think they'll survive the next round of layoffs.

Oh, no doubt, you're right. It could very well play out as you say. And, yes, you have been saying that about the ass-kissers for years. (Note: I prefer ass-kisser to butt-kisser.)

 

[BillySixty]

We have no editorial position chained to the desk. Either myself or my boss (sports editor) are out every night we work (6-day publication). All a matter of setting the budget and communicating with the design hub in where we want stories placed.

Does your design hub edit and fit wire stories for you or is it your responsibility to do that? Or do you not have wire stories?

 

[Doc Holliday]

We have no editorial position chained to the desk. Either myself or my boss (sports editor) are out every night we work (6-day publication). All a matter of setting the budget and communicating with the design hub in where we want stories placed.

What do you do about call-ins and emails from games and press releases? We get bombed by the phones. We have to have one person chained to the desk.

 

[Fredrick]

What do you do about call-ins and emails from games and press releases? We get bombed by the phones. We have to have one person chained to the desk.

Bombed by the phones. Can you hear me, kissass editors? You blew it. If nobody wants to read a paper, why are coaches still calling in results? Cause mommy and daddy and gramps WANT to buy a newspaper. Sad at the demise.

 

[bennyandthejets]

They (those editing centers that just honestly aren't very good) are for brain dead editors who have no knowledge of what they are doing.... basically manned by people who think they know other aspects of the profession but many of the "leaders (60-hour slaves)" are young adults who still enjoy trying to color between the lines as they did in grade school.

Those who generally work in them who do know what is needed... are thrown into a meat-packaging line and their talent is wasted because they are designing too many pages on a given night.

Their job is to be purty with a fancy design and hope for the best, i.e. headlines that do not go viral because they are so stupid. Biggest stretch -- writing a headline that makes any sense.

When you have an 'editor' who does not know what he or she is doing... you get lots of stories about cats up trees, kids that are learning to read about squirrels or some other nonsense thrown in with some color pictures.

End result as the publisher usually sleeps at the wheel or is more worried about his old job than the one he has: A newspaper no one wants to read, but one the pet snake finds colorful and amusing before taking a dump on it.

 

[I Should Coco]

B-B-B-Bennyandthejets nailed it. Those regional design centers are set up for cost cutting, not quality. Even paginators who have experience and/or are committed to designing quality pages get overwhelmed by the work load and waves of deadlines.

Communication breakdown is another constant problem. Hell, it happens between employees working different shifts (or with different duties) in the same location. Physically separate people by hundreds of miles and that problem gets worse.

 

[Fredrick]

They (those editing centers that just honestly aren't very good) are for brain dead editors who have no knowledge of what they are doing.... basically manned by people who think they know other aspects of the profession but many of the "leaders (60-hour slaves)" are young adults who still enjoy trying to color between the lines as they did in grade school.

Those who generally work in them who do know what is needed... are thrown into a meat-packaging line and their talent is wasted because they are designing too many pages on a given night.

Their job is to be purty with a fancy design and hope for the best, i.e. headlines that do not go viral because they are so stupid. Biggest stretch -- writing a headline that makes any sense.

When you have an 'editor' who does not know what he or she is doing... you get lots of stories about cats up trees, kids that are learning to read about squirrels or some other nonsense thrown in with some color pictures.

End result as the publisher usually sleeps at the wheel or is more worried about his old job than the one he has: A newspaper no one wants to read, but one the pet snake finds colorful and amusing before taking a dump on it.

Great post. I can only imagine how many mistakes are made at these design centers. My guess is once they are finished designing pages, somebody at the actual newspaper that's been designed has access to the page to change a headline or two, right? Or is policy such that the order to change a headline has to go back to the design center? One thing is certain. The design center concept is one of the worst in business history in terms of a way to create a product worth purchasing. Sure it saves money, but if newspapers have to go to design centers to survive, just kill the print product NOW please. The design center concept is appalling really.
Certainly none of you on this board can be in favor of design centers. Nobody is that much of a 9 to 5 butt kisser to think a design center is a good idea.

 

[HanSenSE]

B-B-B-Bennyandthejets nailed it. Those regional design centers are set up for cost cutting, not quality. Even paginators who have experience and/or are committed to designing quality pages get overwhelmed by the work load and waves of deadlines.

Communication breakdown is another constant problem. Hell, it happens between employees working different shifts (or with different duties) in the same location. Physically separate people by hundreds of miles and that problem gets worse.

Two things that always drove me crazy about design centers:

1) You rarely got the same designer night after night. One night you might get one with great sports knowledge, some nights ya get some that need the difference between the Sacramento Kings and LA Kings explained. I found I had to be very specific on what I wanted, especially with agate.

2) As a West Coast paper, we were the last guys out. A delay on one of the papers done early just dominoed through the rest of the work cycle. And on a election night? May as well bring a sleeping bag.

 

[bennyandthejets]

Usually some of them have "editing" hires -- a person or 2 whose job is to proof pages -- but they usually go home by 11 p.m. with many papers still having final deadlines of 90 minutes or more later. In theory, the claim is that the designers are copy editors (NOT), and the sad thing is some of the editing center coloring book people become newsroom editors (translation: work cheap). Go figure.

Have seen some where editor indicates a copy or headline change is needed... and it doesn't get changed and the designer who decided to ignore the editor faces nothing in the aftermath (even if the request was provided 3-4 hours off copy deadline).

Have also seen situations where the editing center dictates what will or will not go into the paper... and content decisions are made based on what the center says it can handle as far as copy. If an 8 p.m. in-state major college basketball game might mean missing deadline because the designer is SLOOOOOOOOOOOW.... said game won't see light of day. If the designer assigned is good, the game gets in.... so Southern Cal-UCLA gets in but Arizona-Arizona State may not the next night.

Best picture to describe the centers.... with music even provided for entertaintment... is front row seat at a CIRCUS, circus music, bunch of (you insert fav circus animal here) running around -- some of them tied to a pole, others allowed to run around like those at the zoo and show their a-- is red to the crowd.

They, editors who don't know a story when they see one and do see a story when it's only purpose is to please an old lady who grew a big tomato or for someone they like (conflict of interest) , and publishers who have disfigured lips (think about it, you'll get it) are destroying journalism as we know it.

That said, please pray for the profession.... used to be the almighty dollar didn't rule.

Nowadays there's really little difference -- quality-wise -- between the local cop reporter and the fast food grill master...'cept "Do you want fries with that?" is not something commonly in the vocabulary of a reporter until the last 10 years or so.