Questions and answers about newspapers

For its 150th anniversary, the Deseret News invited readers to ask us anything they wanted about newspapers, and we'd do our best to answer them. Here are readers' questions and the answers:

Question: Why do newspapers leave ink on our hands and clothing? — Mildred Park, Salt Lake City

Answer: Reflecting the way people use and then usually recycle our product, newspapers do not use archival quality paper, which would hold the ink better than newsprint does. The Newspaper Agency Corp., the company contracted to print the Deseret News, does spend a little extra money to purchase "low rub" soy-based ink, which minimizes but does not eliminate ink rubbing off on your hands and clothing.

Question: Why does the Deseret News require a subscription to the daily paper in order to get the Saturday Church News? — Thelma Jackson, Monroe

Answer: Created by the Deseret News almost 70 years ago to serve our LDS readers, the Church News is a section of the overall newspaper. It is not self-supporting — it carries no commercial advertisements, and out-of-state subscriptions alone would not allow the newspaper to staff and produce the section. The Deseret News has a statewide circulation, either by delivery or through the mail, and the Church News is considered part and parcel of the paper in its home market.

Question: On Hotbot search of the Web, why does the Deseret News Web edition site move day to day — you never know which site to use to reach the daily issue? The Trib is always at 3 or 4 when you search for it. Get with it, Deseret News. I subscribe to the Church News via Internet. Thanks. — Lamar Butterfield, Rock Springs, Wyo.

Answer: There are dozens of Internet search engines, and most have unique sort methods. Some sort the Deseret News better than others, and that is something we can't control. The best way to reach the Deseret News on the Web is to go directly to our front page www.deseretnews.com.

Question: How do newspapers decide when to update their Web pages? — Mike Wise, Salt Lake City

Answer: DeseretNews.com generally updates its Web site as editors are processing articles for printing in the newspaper.
Monday through Friday, when the Deseret News is printed in the afternoon for evening delivery, most articles are written and edited between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. During those four hours, most of the day's articles are posted on the Web site.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings, Deseret News presses start about 12:30 a.m. for morning delivery of the newspaper. Most articles are edited between 9 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. We wait to post articles on the Web until just after midnight because we don't want articles from Saturday's newspaper online while Friday isn't over yet.
For significant breaking news, such as a tornado or election or Microsoft ruling, and for other high-interest events, such as Jazz playoff, BYU bowl or prep championship games, DeseretNews.com will post summaries on the Web shortly after the event happens.

Question: How do newspapers compare to competition from other news media, i.e. television, radio and weekly news magazines? — Elaine Boren-Hess, Price

Answer: Broadcast media — TV and radio — are geared toward getting out news quickly and usually in a short format. Weekly magazines can present news in a longer form, but not in quite as timely a manner and usually lack local news content. Newspapers afford readers the opportunity to receive local, national and international news in a comparatively timely manner and in a format that allows a quick review of the news — through reading briefs and headlines — or a more in-depth view — by reading full-length stories, analytical and investigative pieces and, on the editorial page, opinion columns and letters to the editor.

Question: The Deseret News used to print on the masthead, a statement to the effect that the paper stood for the Constitution of the United States as having been divinely inspired. When was the statement discontinued, and what was the rationale? Has there been consideration of reinstituting the practice? — Charles P. Lundberg, Hardin

Answer: In its earliest incarnation 150 years ago, the Deseret News proclaimed in its front-page masthead that it stood for "Truth and Liberty." During World War II and for several years afterward, the News' editorial page carried variants and extensions of the phrase, "We stand for the Constitution of the United States." Although the current editorial page design does not state this outright, the newspaper's editorial position is still in support of the U.S. Constitution. Reinstituting the phrase, however, is not being considered at this time.

Question: How does a newspaper meet deadline each day, and who are the people at each level involved in the final product arriving on my doorstep? — Gordon Swensen, Sandy

Answer: That a newspaper makes it into newsstands and onto front porches every day is a minor miracle. On a typical weekday, the Deseret News production process for that day's paper begins at about 6 a.m. — although reporters and photographers have already worked hours the day and night before to write their stories and shoot their pictures — and ends about six hours later with the press start. During those six hours, reporters, photographers, artists, editors, paginators and other production personnel work at a frenzied pace to put out enough text and art elements to equal a book.
It would be impossible to name all the people involved in putting out the paper each day, but the basic process usually begins with reporters and photographers, flows into editors, paginators and press operators and ends with your paper carrier.

Question: Why do newspapers have television columnists, and how do they decide which TV programs merit an extensive review, and what process do critics follow when viewing and reviewing programs? — Alex Berger, Jericho

Answer: Like any other columnist in the paper, television columnists aim to entertain and inform. The job is basically that of a consumer reporter. A movie critic tells you whether a film is worth spending your money on; a TV critic tells you whether a show is worth spending your time on.
Most of the time, TV critic Scott Pierce decides what to write about, trying to balance what looks interesting, what looks particularly good, what looks particularly bad and what is available to the most people. (All things being equal, a show on a major broadcast network will get more attention than one on a cable channel seen in fewer homes.)
As with all opinion writing, it's subjective. The critic's job is to be consistent in their biases so that if you read the TV column regularly you know how his tastes match up against your own.

Question: How do newspapers enable the public to share their important thoughts and concerns and have those published on the front page? How can a newspaper effectively listen and publish the ideas of the ordinary in a way that everyone can benefit from? — David Willden, Cedar Hills

Answer: Most newspapers, including the Deseret News, allow readers to express their thoughts through letters to the editor on the opinion page. On average, the Deseret News each week publishes about 50 letters to the editor submitted by readers. Generally, the front page is reserved for the top news stories of the day. The editors select those A1 stories, but many of them — and others throughout the newspaper — are initiated by calls from readers to one of our reporters or editors, alerting us to a potential news or feature story. To help readers contact us, section editors' phone numbers are published daily in each section.

Question: Why do newspapers not put the sections in alphabetical order? — D. Blackburn, Salt Lake City

Answer: The press run is determined by the number of pages in each section, and that is determined by the amount of advertising and where the advertisers wish to place their ads. As the section grows, it may exceed capacity on one side of the press, so in order to line up the number of pages and sections, press operators sometimes have to skew the alphabetical order.
Deseret News editors decided some time ago that we would keep the letters A, B, C and D with their respective news sections: A for world/nation, B for local, C for features and D for sports and business. We believe our readers are attracted more to the section covers than by a particular page number. Masthead information and the index on A1 point readers to specific pages.

Question: How do newspapers edit for grammar, punctuation, etc.? Is this the responsibility of the individual columnist? — D. Blackburn, Salt Lake City

Answer: Staff writers, their immediate editors and copy editors at the News strive to abide by the Associated Press Stylebook, a manual that sets forth preferred grammar, punctuation, spelling and even political and religious titles. The AP is a worldwide news service, and the manual helps its hundreds of clients and members coordinate and attempt a consistent approach to the often non-standard English language. Getting all journalists to follow AP style is a great challenge and compliance is at times imperfect. The copy desk is the last stand, so to speak — these grammarians are often a story's final editors and proofreaders, and they are the acknowledged style experts on the staff.

Question: How do newspapers decide which national columnists to publish? — Chet Barrett, San Diego

Answer: Newspapers have access to scores of national columnists, from advice mavens like Dear Abby and Miss Manners to pundits like George Will and humorists like Dave Barry and Art Buchwald. Some writers are available through general wire services, including the AP; most, however, are syndicated. That means their work is distributed through a syndicate, and newspapers usually have exclusive rights to publish a particular writer in their primary market.
The same exclusivity is usually true of other syndicated offerings, such as editorial cartoons and comic strips. Columns and columnists are selected for a number of reasons: Section editors may perceive the writers to be especially well-versed in their subjects or a good fit for their readers, or the editors may simply be trying to present a wide variety of voices, approaches and subjects. In addition to political and opinion columns, we publish columns about pets, antiques, history and hobbies.

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