NewsBeat

February 2023 NewsBeat 19 April 2020 NewsBeat 15 Rebuilding journalism, together he relationship between news organizations and the public is difficult. So is the relationship between news organizations and their journalists. We're tackling multiple unknowns at once, at a speed that makes many of us feel overstretched and underprepared for our jobs — or for what we think should be our jobs. Could it be that honest conversations about our experiences — within our teams, within a wider organizational structure, and with our readers — might help relieve some of that pressure and provide solutions? Just as a more experienced colleague can help a young journalist dealing with a tricky reporting situation, or be a sounding board for untangling complicated narratives, so can a reader with expertise in a particular field provide insights or a new perspective to help unblock projects feeling the weight of indecision. Small media organizations without resources for long-term strategic thinking could do a lot worse than asking their readers what directions they could follow in the future. At DoR — an independent journalism platform that helps readers connect, understand one another and what they can do to tackle the problems of modern-day Romania — we've embarked on a journey to establish a feedback loop with our readers, through surveys, in-person interviews, and focus groups. It's easy to start a conversation with readers when you want to discuss the subjects you're reporting on. Many journalists do this with resounding success and see their own work benefit from these check-ins with their audience. But it's another process entirely when you're hoping to build a shared understanding of each other's relationships with journalism: for them to know why you're there as a journalist, and for you to understand why they're there as readers. Building common ground takes time, effort, and uncomfortable conversations, but we're likely to see more editorial teams dedicating resources to this in 2020. Publishers hoping that reader revenue holds the key to at least sustainability (if not growth) will need more than a lead- acquisition campaign. (Though that's definitely also on our wishlist at DoR for 2020!). We're all going to need more readers who understand our mission and our values — and for that to happen, we need to talk more, listen more, and work together. Catalina Albeanu is digital editor at Romania's DoR (Decat o Revist). — Reprinted from NiemanLab "Small media organizations without resources for long-term strategic thinking could do a lot worse than asking their readers what directions they could follow in the future." T By CATALINA ALBEANU nynewspapers.com Under New York State's new sexual harassment prevention regulations, all New York State employers, public and private, must complete annual sexual harassment prevention training annually. The final regulations also require that all new hires be trained "as quickly as possible." In response to this statewide mandate, NYPA has produced an interactive sexual harassment training webinar, providing employers with an affordable solution to meet their ongoing sexual harassment training needs. We distributed sample sexual harassment policies, posters and complaint forms. All employers must display the poster and distribute a written sexual harassment policy to every employee. If you have not done this and need the sample copies, please contact NYPA. NYPA will offer annual subscription packages to newspapers, for access to monthly sexual harassment training webinars. For companies with fewer than 25 employees, the annual subscription will be $30 per year. For companies with 26 – 50 employees, the annual subscription will be $55 per year, and for companies with more than 50 employees, the annual subscription will be $75 per year. Annual subscriptions include guaranteed reserved admission to monthly training webinars, dated attendee training certificates, and admission to the live training at NYPA's spring conference or regional workshops. For more information contact Doug Rea: doug@nynewspapers.com Sexual Harassment T R A I N I N G New York Press Association 518.464.6483 nynewspapers.com From ears to printer's pie: The special language of print By NEIL BENSON Editor's note: This column from British writer Neil Benson comes with a few Brit- ish-centric terms, British spellings and a bit of salty langugage. D igital publishing spawned a new language for journalists to learn. How many of us sixty-somethings thought we'd be talking about engagement, Tweetdeck, Facebook Lives or web analytics as part of our everyday life in the news- room? But an older, stranger language – one that was unique to the analogue newspaper - has been rendered virtually obsolete by changes in technology, and is now all but lost. I find that sad. Why shed a tear over old terminology? Change happens, the world moves on. Well, because this peculiar language encapsu- lated 100 years or more of our industry. For generations of journalists, commercial staff, typesetters, compositors and press crews, this was our lingua franca. I dredged my memory for those weird terms I learned in my twenties, but soon ran out of gas. So, I posted on the Horny Handed Subs of Toil Facebook page, a kind of online care home for sub-editors of my vintage, to ask for help. Three hundred and sixty eight comments later, I have a sub- stantial but still far-from-exhaustive list. With enormous thanks to everyone who contributed to the Facebook thread, and for sharing their newsroom memories and some funny stories, here is my compilation of (some of) The Lost Language of Newspa- pers. Add - Additional text, sent after a story has been filed. Near the top of sub-editors' and compositors' hate list. Attic / hamper – Story across the top of the page, above the main page lead. Backyard - The second lead (most promi- nent story after the splash) on a broadsheet newspaper page. Banner – A bold, single-line headline. Basement / anchor – Story across the bottom to 'hold the page up'. Bastard measure – Width of type that's not a single column or a multiple of it (e.g. 1.25 or 1.5 columns). This provided a subtle visual variation for the reader and 'stopped the text looking like a string of washing', as an old chief sub of mine used to say. Banging out – The tradition of compos- itors and journalists banging mallets on the stone (see below) as a farewell to a staff member as they finished their final shift before leaving or retiring. Blind turn – When an article reaches the bottom of a column on the end of a para- graph, leading the reader to believe the story has ended when in fact there is more in the next column. To be avoided. Block – A photograph or, more accu- rately, the piece of metal the photographic image sits on. The original blocks were made of wood, hence the name. Blob par – A single-paragraph story, beginning with a black blob, tacked on the end of a larger story, to which it relates in some way. In today's money, a bullet point. Blurb / boost / plug / puff / flannel panel – Front-page promotion, pointing to the choicest content inside that day's edi- tion. Also used on inside pages to promote next-day content. Book / dummy / flatplan – A miniature (about A5) layout of the next day's edition, showing the pagination and the shape and size of advertisements, around which the editorial team place their content. Bromide – From the cut-and-paste production era of the 70s and 80s, a story printed on photographic paper, the re- verse of which was waxed to enable it to be stuck on the page in the composing room. Missing bromides could often be found stuck to the sole of an unsuspecting sub-editor's shoe. Bust (or burst) headline - A headline which, when typeset, is too wide for the allotted space. A badge of shame for the guilty sub-editor. Catchline – One-word title given to a story by the reporter, as a unique identifi- Continued on Page 20

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