The Cole Digest, September 20, 1995

Pagination, you know, is all the rage. But how do these new-fangled systems affect the working environment on the copy desk?

"A person directing a pagination project needs a master's degree in psychology to deal with all of the ramifications of a work force in the electronic world," says Randy Seelye, assistant managing editor for systems and pagination at the Press Democrat of Santa Rosa, Calif.

Seelye is well qualified to address the heartbreak of pagination.

He had been the morning paper's chief copy editor before taking over the transition to pagination in 1988. The 100,000-circulation paper, a member of the New York Times Co. group, moved toward pagination to offset retirements in its unionized composing room and to maintain quality, he said.

The Press Democrat was one of the first papers to use Interactive News Layout (INL), which allows copy editors to trim stories to fit on standard terminals while layout editors design pages on a graphical user interface terminal. INL is a product of System Integrators Inc. of Sacramento, Calif.

The version of INL used in Santa Rosa supports only text and rules pagination -- all stories come out in place on resin-coated paper, but graphics, pictures and ads must be pasted in.

The Press Democrat produces about 55 percent of its pages -- about 175 per week -- on the INL system. The remainder are pasted up in the traditional manner, Seelye said.

As experienced layout editors have taken up pagination, Seelye has recorded a range of responses:

*"Some editors love it. They are generally very talented page designers, who see pagination as a way to complete their work of art before the X-Acto knives take over."

*"Some hate it. They resist training and don't want to paginate pages if there is any way to avoid it." This group includes longer-term employees who tend to resist any kind of change, Seelye said, and those not skilled at page design.

One editor from this group told Seelye, "I'm trained to be a journalist, not a button pusher!"

*"Most accept pagination because they have to," Seelye said. One copy editor at the Press Democrat decided a career change was in order, though, and went back to college to get a master's degree in creative writing.

The paper has found that while some pages -- those with a static layout but changing content, such as stock pages, TV grids and TV books -- can be handled by clerk-level employees, there is a duplication of effort if journalists do not design news pages.

A newspaper needs a "doctor of pagination," Seelye said. Such a person must ensure that everyone is well trained, that a coach or helpful co-workers are always available, and that all systems problems and issues are dealt with swiftly.

Illnesses and vacations being the bane of pagination, Seelye said Dr. Page also must "make sure no one gets sick."

And be prepared. "Always make sure a layout editor is available to back up another editor in an emergency," Seelye said. "We already have a group of three to four on-call copy editors."

Next week: how they do it at the Plain Dealer in Cleveland and the thoughts on pagination from an expert on newsroom stress.

Onward.

\dmc

[THE COLE DIGEST is written by consultant David M. Cole, editor and publisher of the industry newsletter THE COLE PAPERS. The DIGEST is made available to PressLink subscribers every Wednesday at no extra charge. Send comments by e-mail to cole@plink.geis.com. The COLE DIGEST is the property of The Cole Group, a California sole proprietorship. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of The Cole Group is prohibited. Copyright (C) 1995, The Cole Group. Opinions expressed are those of The Cole Group, unless otherwise noted.

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