aCOURSE CODE: DMC 022

COURSE TITLE: NEWSPAPER PRODUCTION

Introduction
Communication is an integral part of human life. It is indispensable and necessary.
Communication refers to the process of transferring idea, message, data or information from one
entity to another. There are basically two types of communication; verbal and non-verbal
communication. Verbal communication refers to unwritten communication. It is expressed
through talking or giving signs or both. On the other hand, non-verbal communication is a
documented form of communication. It has advantage of being kept or preserved (Akinfeleye,
2011). This note is concerned with the non-verbal communication.
Communication has three kinds; Intra-personal communication, interpersonal communication
and Mass communication. An intrapersonal communication is a type of communication that
occur within individual while inter-personal communication occurs between two people. Mass
Communication on other hand is a type of communication to the masses. It is a communication
to large number of people with different background, culture, statuses, beliefs, language, gender
etc. this course concentrates on mass communication.
Mass Media such as radio, television, newspapers and magazines are component of mass
communication. Medium is the singular form while media is the plural form. They are
categorised into different industries which include; electronic media (consisting of radio and
television), print media (consisting of newspapers and magazines), films, books, wire services,
the internet (which consist of the new media), public relations and advertising. In this course, we
are going to dwell on the print media (newspaper and magazine). The course is intended to
espouse the students with basic knowledge about definition, features, types, formats, content
production, levels of production and circulation of newspapers and magazine.

Levels of Newspaper and Magazines Production

Editorial Level

News gathering: A newspapers contain news materials on current issues happening in a society.
These materials are gathered by journalists and other media workers. Content of a newspaper
also include adverts, cartoons, opinions, letters to the editor among others. These materials are
sourced for. The process of gathering the materials is the first step in newspaper and magazine
production. The materials include names, quotes, figures, data, graphs, pictures, cartoons,
opinions etc.

News Processing and Editing: After collecting the materials, there is need to ensure all content
are correct. The reporters and correspondents would write their stories and submit to the editors.
It is the responsibility of the editors to ensure that news contents are correct factually,
grammatically, spelling, house style, ethical compliance, and avoid legal repercussions. There is
also another responsibility that is done after editing. In newspapers, Sub-editors perform the task
of proofreading the content before final submission while in magazine production they are called
Proofreaders.
Technical Level

Page Planning and Copy Fitting: Newspaper pages are planned, designed and fitted in order to
attract audience attention and make the content readable. The news and feature articles that were
generated and written by the media workers cannot be pasted on the pages in a scattered manner.
This means that the page needs to be designed. Imagine a room without proper planning of
where to place the bed, cushions, wardrobe, cupboard etc or imagine a house without proper
placement of rooms, toilets and stores. In this regard, page planning becomes necessary to
provide eye comfort for newspaper readers. Page planning refers to a process of outlining,
assigning and placement of elements on a newspaper or magazine page.

In making designs, engineers and architects use templates to adequately place each element in a
building. This is also applicable in newspaper and magazine production but in this sector, we use
the Dummy. Copy fitting on the other hand refers to placement of a news story of feature in a
particular space on a newspaper or magazine page. The two major things to consider in copy
fitting is the size of the copy and the available space. This is done to ensure that a selected news
item is properly accommodated in the limited available news space.

Newspaper/magazine dummy production:

Dummy sheet is one of the most important aspects of newspaper or magazine production.
According to Nwabueze (2011:77), dummy sheets are ideally blank pages with margins and
columns with ruled straight lines that are used for layout of a newspaper or magazine. It is on
such pages, the plans or blueprints of upcoming pages (front, back or inside) and the entire
edition of newspaper of magazine is made.
Okaye (2000:28-29) calls dummy sheet as a layout sheet, which he refers to a diagram outlining
the dimensions of a newspaper or magazine page, adding that it is either plotted in columns and
inches to depict the full or small size of real newspapers. In other words, it is seen as small
version of an entire page or page of a newspaper or magazine. Gridlines usually divide a dummy
sheet and the grid especially in a computer-made dummy, which are set of non-printing lines that
help editors, page-planners and designers to place elements appropriately.
According to Anaeto, Solo-Anaeto & Tejumaiye (2009:169) dummy is “a sketch or layout of a
newspaper/magazine, showing the position where stories, pictures and other items are to be
placed”.
It is obvious and deducible from the above stated definitions that dummy sheet serves as the
skeleton, framework or replica of a newspaper or magazine that is produced by either, page
planner, page editor, subeditor or planning unit of a newspaper or magazine that shows the space
allotted for editorial or non-editorial elements of newspaper or magazine.
Types of Dummy Sheets
Two types of dummy sheet are produced in the newspaper and magazine industry. These are
edition and page dummy.
Edition dummy refers to a sheet that contents the number of pages in an edition and the elements
that are allotted to each page of a newspaper or magazine. In other words, it is lined sheet
produced by production or planning unit of a newspaper house that indicates what is given to
news stories, feature articles, adverts, opinions, comments and editorial and so on. Production of
this sheet is largely determined by the number of adverts the newspaper house received. Below is
an example of edition dummy:

EDITION DUMMY

Out In In Out

Daily Grab Newspaper Volume 10, Number 300 Monday 5th April, 2021

1 Front Page 2 News 31 Classified 32 Back Page

3 News 4 News 29 International 30 Sport

Newspaper Dummy

5 News 6 News 27 Column 28 Entertainment

7 Metro News 8 Metro News 25 Crime 26 Advert

9 Politics 10 Politics 23 Agriculture 24 Crime

 11 Advert 12 Feature 21 Advert 22 Law

13 Advert 14 Advert 19 Health Page 20 Education

15 Op-Ed Page 16 Advert 17 Advert 18 Health Page

On the other hand, page dummy is produced by page-editor that depicts how he/she wants the
page to appear the following day. It is produced to contain and show the columns and inches a
headlines, stories, picture (s) and other elements should occupy. It indicates which headline and
story is given prominence on the page. Below is an example of page dummy:
FRONT PAGE DUMMY

Mast Head

20 April, 2021
DAILY GRAB
1st Ramadan, 1442 AH Volume 1, Number 20 N200
Ear Ear
Zulum inaugurates BOSU Kaduna govt sack 6,000
Council (p.10) teachers (p.12)

BUHARI TRAVELS TO UK AGAIN

By //////// //////////////////// /////////////////// /////////////////// /////////////////// ////////////////////
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/ /
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/
Gunmen abduct Akwa Ibom SSG, kill wife (p.5)

Picture

Nigeria economy faces recession

Police nab 10 kidnappers threats as foreign reserve fall
in Abuja (p.25) p.17

Nigeria’s Ambassador in Australia contract COVID-19 (p.6)

INSIDE PAGE

NEWS DAILY GRAB 20 April, 2021

1st Ramadan, 1442 AH
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Guidelines for Preparing Page Dummy
Below are five compressed guidelines, which should be applicable to all pages. However, there
are certain conditions and situations when front and back pages, because of their crucial and
strategic importance, may require additional and more creative guidelines and strategies.
i. It is strongly important to ensure that the dummy sheet is produced in columns at least six
or seven in case of newspaper and three to two if it is magazine. However, this relies on
what a newspaper house adopts as its house style.
ii. The page planner should determine the locations of the necessary features (standing
elements) of a page. These basic and mandatory attributes are nameplate (front and back
pages), folio, margin and imprint (in case of back page).
iii. It is also paramount to indicate areas where colour is applicable. This particularly related
to front and back pages.
iv. Anybody who plans a page is expected to sketch the areas where, advert headlines by-
lines, entire article (s), picture(s) – by using square box- should fill.
v. In case where quote box or widow is needed, the planner must indicate that by using
quotation marks at the area he/she wants it to appear (Anaeto, Solo-Anaeto & Tejumaiye,
2009:108-9).
Importance of Dummy
i. It ensures elements in newspaper and magazine are placed at the suitable location in the
pages.
ii. it helps in giving newspaper and magazine unique identity and appearances.
iii. It eases and fastens the work of computer operator who produces the pages.
iv. It ensures stories and pictures are given their deserved prominences on a page or edition.
v. Dummy sheets also assist in reducing the design and other aesthetics mistakes that
usually appear on the final edition of a newspaper or magazine.

CHALLENGES OF NEWSPAPER PRODUCTION

The different challenges affect newspaper and magazine production and management in Nigeria,
which include among others ownership interference, legal constraints, loss of revenue,
circulation, funding, low advert and government patronage, and low readership.

Undue Interferences: Newspaper organizations do not exist in a vacuum but are owned and
funded by a given proprietor. In Nigeria, newspaper are primarily owned by private individuals
who perceived the outfit as business and or political outfit, it has been observed when such
purpose were not met as expected by the owner, the management staff especially top manager is
forced to live. In this scenario, it means that managers in newspaper organizations are face with
problem of undue interferences and control. On the influence on ownership, Adesoji and Hahn
(2011) have noted that newspaper owners wield enormous influence that determines the slant of
their publications. While it is difficult to ascertain the degree of influence owners wield in
determining the content of their publication; in the Nigerian context, owners who often double as
editors of their publications bear a more direct impact, both on their staff and on content.

Cost of human resource: Manpower cost can be optimised with the automation of different
processes involved in newspaper production. And automation needs significant investment in
technology. Whether to invest or not invest in automation becomes a dilemma for the decision-
makers when the future outcomes are not certain. In our experience, all the leading media houses
have made a significant investment in automation and are reaping its benefits already.

Cost of raw material: Cost of raw material is the major cost involved in the production of the
newspaper. About 68% of the newspaper cost goes into consumables. Optimising this cost by
even 2.5 % can save crores of money every year for regional newspapers also. Be it Printing
Offset Rubber Blankets; Inks, Chemicals. The procurement cost of the consumables doesn’t have
to be reduced every time. A product with a higher cost but good quality will also help save crores
indirectly. A valid assessment is a must.

Decline in Advertisement Revenue: Advertisement revenue is the major source of income for
any newspaper companies. Typically the advertisements contribute to 60-75% of the total
revenue a newspaper earns. However, today if you ask any advertiser about their preference for
advertisement mediums you will hear many things but newspaper. Because digital channels are
giving the advertisers quick and measurable results their preferences are changing.

Devaluation of Naira: The rate at which the cost of production of newspaper is increasing will
make the quantity of production to be low. If there is an increase in exchange rate of dollar there
will be an increase in the Naira.

Low Rate of Readership: When few people reads newspaper simply because they cannot afford
to purchase them as a result of high cost. Therefore, the rate at which the masses reads the
newspaper will be too low.

High Cost of Production: Since there is an increase in the cost of production and the fall of the
naira currency in the international market, there will be no import of the materials use in
newspaper production as well as newspaper house.

ICTS IN NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE PRODUCTION

The advent of Information and Communication Technology has changed the pattern of
newspaper and magazine production. It has affected virtually all the steps from news gathering to
circulation.

The acronym, ICTs, stands for Information and Communication Technologies. It is a generic
name that encapsulates a number of communication hardware used for the dissemination or
transmission of information and social values instantaneously from one corner of the world to
another” (Nwodu and Fab-Ukozor; 2003, p.76). Nwodu(2007:97) states that “ICTs involve much
range of technologies that are grouped into two major modes. These are the telecommunications
and the computer communications. Digital and cellular phones (like GSM telephones, fibre
optics, microwaves technology, satellites communications, transistor, and computer general and
internet have combined to enthrone speedy, faster and easier gathering, processing and
distribution of news and information around the globe”

Anaeto, Solo-Anaeto and Tejumaiye (2009, pp.133-134) isolate six communication technologies
that impact most on newspaper production process as:

1. Computers – which are used for encoding news stories and other copies, storing and sharing
information within the organization as well as typesetting, designing and creating illustrations
using packages like CorelDraw, page maker and Adobe Photoshop etc.

2. Mobile phones like Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) which facilitates simple,
direct, personal and immediate communication.

Fax/Facsimile - used to scan and send messages in the form of electronic signals over telephone
lines from one location to another as well as printing out documents and images at the receiving
end.

4. Internet - a worldwide connection of computers which enhances access to, sharing and
receiving of information as well as facilitating online publication of newspapers and magazines.

5. Electronic Mail (e-mail) which enables journalists to send in their reports(text, pictures and
other illustrations) from distant locations to a newspaper’s headquarters for publication.

6. Satellite Technology - a space station that transmits information in form of radio waves from
earth-based station which facilitates the distribution or retrieval of news and information from
any part of the world via microwaves.

Areas of Application of ICTs in Newspaper and Magazine Production

News Gathering and Writing: ICTs have literally facilitated collapse geographical boundaries in
information sharing and business transactions to the extent one does not need to travel some
distance to access information. As such, modern reporter taps from the benefits of ICTs (like
GSM, Internet and e-mail) in gathering authentic information as well as background information.
The technology has also facilitated news writing as most journalists now use computers to type
their stories rather than writing with long hand.

2. Editing: With the computerisation of most news rooms in Nigeria, editing process has been
made easy as sub-editors and editors receive and edit news copies through their computers as
well as moving the edited copies to the next level.

3. Proof Reading: With the introduction of Desktop Publishing, the use of galley and bromide
proofs has given way to computer typesetting and proof reading.
4. Design and Production: Page designs, makeup and planning including text formatting are now
made flexible, easy and faster on computer.

5. Distribution and Circulation: ICTs facilitate the speedy distribution and circulation of
newspapers by offering opportunities for online subscription for the publication; searching for
effective outlets for sales and display online advert of the newspaper.

It is obvious that virtually every aspect of newspaper production (ranging from news gathering,
news writing to editing, typesetting, proof reading, copyediting, etc) is done on the computer.

Okoye has said it all. Suffice it to say that ICTs impact positively on newspaper production by
enhancing:

 Writing of text.

 Editing to form, content and length.

 Typesetting the manuscript.

 Laying of the page or art work with pictures and graphics

 Producing the negative (using linotronics); or printing the document or producing the special
multiple copies.

 Simplifying the operations of publishing.

 Flexibility

 Time saving

 Easy of operations

 Net inexpensiveness

 Cleanliness (Uwakwe; 2004, pp110-110)