Don't even get me started
I love seeing newspapers thrive.
The more people tell me things aren’t possible, the more I enjoy it. I guess it comes from years of being told things were impossible. Take the PDF printing method. In the early ‘90s, when I started tinkering with the idea of creating a system to allow people to transmit files for printing over this new thing called the Internet, people called me crazy. Even the folks at Adobe – except Gary Cosimini, my “secret ally” on the inside – said it wasn’t possible and to give up on the idea. Utilizing a new technology that Adobe had pretty much given up on – and making adjustments to get it to do what I wanted it to do – by 1995, the entire printing world was shifting to printing via PDFs.
Ten years later, Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe, wrote to thank me for “possibly saving our company.”
Over the years, many of the biggest names in the business world called for my assistance after reading about my work with PDFs. I received job offers from all over the world, but I always liked working independently. My favorite shirt ever was worn was by a young man at a convention in Iowa many years ago. It said, “I met PDF’n Kevin Slimp!” The rest is history.
These days, a good bit of my time is spent visiting one-on-one with publishers, advising them on ideas to grow their newspapers. As much as I sometimes get tired of looking at a screen, I’m thankful that I don’t have to jump on a plane to do this nearly as often as I used to.
Just this week, I received an email from a publisher to tell me his newspaper – which we redesigned just over a year ago – won the “general excellence” award from his state press association. I get this kind of message from publishers regularly these days – and since there are no awards for my work, I love seeing clients benefit from our work together. At a convention in the western U.S. earlier this year, a publisher – while accepting the top award from his association – gave me a “shout out” from the stage. I laughed but felt like I was winning the award myself.
What are the things I discuss with publishers when we meet? What happens when we redesign a newspaper? Why do so many of these newspapers win the top awards from their associations after we work together?
Trust me, I’m no psychic. I can’t predict the future. It’s nothing I do. I don’t have the final say when I work with a newspaper. The customer always does. So, they rightly deserve the awards they receive. I just talk with them about what they’re doing and suggest things I see work in other places that might benefit them.
The list of suggestions is never the same, but might include things like:
- Focus groups consistently tell us readers won’t read longer stories, so including 2,500-word stories might seem like a good idea, but most readers won’t take the time to read more than two or three paragraphs.
- Readers love sidebars, so instead of placing news briefs throughout the paper, consider putting a sidebar on the left edge of the front page with short news briefs. Most readers will actually read these.
- You’ll probably want to get rid of the weather report. Focus groups consistently tell us readers don’t understand why newspapers would carry weather predictions.
- Don’t be afraid to change the look and content of your newspaper. Almost everything goes out of style – cars, clothes, colors, and even newspaper designs. Change that front page flag now and then. Remove content that readers don’t read. Add new content that might just attract a few younger readers.
- Get rid of anything color in your newspaper other than photos and ads. I learned this from design guru Ed Henninger, and he was right. Ed used to say to me, “Good design never goes out of style, but ugly sticks around forever.”
I have a few newspaper conventions to visit over the summer but will spend the majority of my time redesigning five newspapers (from Colorado, Minnesota, and New York) and designing six books (Yes, I even design books now and then. They’re much easier to design than newspapers and take about one-tenth the time).
So before you spend all your time getting carried away about AI (artificial intelligence) and how it will transform your world (yes, that’s sarcasm, in case you missed it), take a few minutes and look over your newspaper. What noticeable potential changes that could create significant growth are staring you right in the face?
Okay, that’s 800 words. My work is finished.
Kevin Slimp has been a popular consultant and speaker in the newspaper industry since developing the PDF remote printing method in 1994. His upcoming webinars on design, circulation, and software can be found at newspaperacademy.com.
Kevin Slimp is former director of The University of Tennessee Newspaper Institute and founder of NewspaperAcademy.com.