Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 61, Number 247, Decatur, Adams County, 19 October 1963 — Page 6

PAGE SIX

\\ "uivisvwmiMiXi I" \mhiwh« \\ c \\h wonts H ♦ I t* h * U NATIONM NfWSFAPER W£IK OCT. 13 19. 1963- ’

The Day In Pictures TTTMF'" 111— — iBnaHISQ ’W 18 ds *"hi .-sk* ■ u-<gsfo.- a,jx .w<‘ frjSgfe • joffl *'"' ''i I; 'fifcj i ®yf k _<. I - J' : '"' «afc Ai «/ i? SLIM- " ; /I mJ afil |B»>— ’wo i " , ' l> ' l i 'Mf'>j& , 'a/ a'■ W '■■«?■'fl )k. 1 *> a VJr j ‘ jy The day begins at 8 o’clock with the office staff performing the varied tasks wnich must be done each day to produce the paper. Ads are made up. news is taken on the phone and across the counter, bookwork and billing are handled, stories are taken from the teletype and edited, local stories are gathered and typed, while elsewhere ... . . I 1 / J-. ■-i.j.'ii »*■;.:. I - ————BMy "; f BJwiiM ’ . . . reporter Bob Shraluka begins his daily round of the police station, the courthouse and other prime news sources. Here he checks accident reports with police officer Pat Nelson Back at the office Bhfl^ j£if i/d| v iS^BS^BBBsi!^ a M ! B BF ■ ■Z--.'-”-- t •• 11 j HF IMMERF I • news and advertising copy have been taken ‘to the linotype operators where it is set into type of the proper size and wid h. Once set, it i? channel! ed to the make-up department, where ■ * 1 ~ l ’ ~ ■'■ I'fe' ' Wr* r I , ?i h B n au " and 9ho ? {? r 5 ma ? Lsch place the frp® and ads into page forms, prepare headlines 3nd pull page pr<x>fs to check for errors. Ohce the pages are completed

A Dav At The Daily Democrat V V

THE DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT, DECATUR. INDIANA

By Mike Thoele Photo Series by Dave Mac Lean In 1690 Benjamin Harris, a Boston bookseller, put together a three page sheet called Publik Occurences, thus visiting upon himself the distinction of being America's first newspaper publisher and. after one issue, the dubious distinction of being the first American newspaper publisher to have his newspaper suppressed by the long, censoring arm of governmental authority. None the less -the newspaper became a popular colonial pastime and. in a few rare instances, a profitable one. Now, 273 years layer, newspapers are big business and, though they are diminishing in number, total circulation is skyrocketing. The Decatur Daily Democrat is only one of several thousand small daily newspapers. It is in many respects typical and in others unique. Similar To Other Papers Its news and advertising copy follow the same basic chanels as on other small papers. Its staff is about the same size. Basically, it is concerned with about the same type oLnews. It keeps its eye on the lifestream of the world as it flows through the teletype, but its fingers feel the pulse of the community it serves, for it plays a truly unique role — it is the only newspaper in the world whose main interest is the people of Decatur. Indiana and the surrounding area. The Democrat’s prime function, like that of any newspaper, is the gathering and dispersal of news. Advertising, whch occupies about forty percent of the space in the newspaper, makes it financially possible for the paper to perform this vital news-providing function, as well as providing the com-

77ie American Newspaper: Private Enterprise For The Public Good

By Jim Bishop ll> permiMNlon of King Fen to re* Copyright 11MJ3 What is a newspaper? A' newspaper is lumber made malleable. It is ink made into words and pictures. It is conceived, born, grows up and dies of old age in a day. Yesterday’s newspaper is used to wrap today’s fish. Or to start a log fire, which brings it back to its origin. Most of all, a newspaper is current information. It is the bridge between a home and the rest of the world. It tells of people and events swiftly and in detail. It listens to the threats of a dictator, the crack of a bat against a baseball, the anguish of a lost child, and the recipe for making cookies . . Newsfiapers, like people, come in many sizes and many personalities. Some are fat and sedentary; others are lean and hysterical. And, like people, some are reliable and some are not. There are newspapers which scream for attention and there are others, on the same newstand which whisper the news. All newspapers reflect the- character of their owners. Must Show Profit A good newspaper must show a profit. All newspaper owners

riin .depress and placed on its twin beds. The makes a final check as pressman Jim Hawkins and Robert Wem S ircula , tlon department starts its work and another hoff mind the press. , nawK,ns and Wem ’ day b activities draw to- a close. Here publisher Dick Heller

munity with information on the offerings of local merchants. The making of a newspaper is a complex and, on occasion, marvelously confused, operation. It is an elaborate and involved process which runs its full cycle each day, always the same and yet always different. The process is repeated, with adaptions and variations for specific plants and editorial preferences, in every daily newspaper in the United States. This is how it is done at the Democrat. The Beginning The doors to the Democrat’s office and shop open at about 8 o’clock each day. On or about that time most of the office staff and shop crew report to work. Reporters and editors clear their desks for the day’s activities and “A free press stands as one of the great interpreters between the government and the people. To allow it to be fettered is to fetter ourselves.’— TJ. S. Supreme Court. make mentai or penciled notes of the tasks which they must perform during the day. Stories begun yesterday afternoon are completed. Last night’s meetings and sports events are written up. Managing editor Pete Reynolds takes his foot - long shears and begins clipping stories fiom the wide yellow ribbon of wire service copy which the clattering teletype has spawned during the night. Reporter Bob Shraluka begins his rounds of the police station and court house offices, but with his mind already tuned to next Friday’s football game. Society

know this. That is why they establish good character in their papers, and maintain it. Character is an indefinable quality best understood by women. They live by it. They can detect it in merchandicse, in people, in publications. They, more than their husbands, understand the newspaper they buy. Men usually read the front page news, the sports section, and their favorite features. Women leaf through a newspaper slowly, carefully, concentrating more on local news than international, assessing the advertisements, relishing the woman’s page with its club meetings, lawn parties and gossip, and reading the obituary notices. 150,000 Words * The average newspaper contains 150,000 words or more of information. This is the daily equivalment of two novels. It is never perfect, never completely accurate. It is as near perfect as a chain of human minds — leading from editor to city desk to reported to rewrite man to copy desk to composing room — can make it. A good newspaper maintains a balance of 40 per cents news to 60 per cent advertising. When wages go up, arid the price of newsprint is hiked, the ratios

editor Kay Shaffer begins working on a wedding story. Mike Thoele leaves for the county commissioners meeting. Back in his cubbyhole office publisher Dick Heller, Jr. pages through a copy of the Congressional Record, mulling over a topic for the day’s editorial. In the advertising department Dick Reidenbach and Dave Heller or Dick Ehinger look over their day’s work., There are ads to be drawn up, merchants to be contacted, yesterday’s ads to be killed. In the business department Charles “Jake” Holthouse and Mary Erp work at keeping the accounts of advertisers, subscribers and suppliers in shape. In what is traditionally known as the “back shop” yesterday’s paper is being taken apart as today’s is being born. Type which was set yesteday is already being melted down to be cast into today's news. Within minutes of the day’s beginning news and advertising copy begin to flow to the back shop. Stories turned in by the society editor and reporters, plus news from the wire is edited and marked for headlines on the editor’s desk, then given to the four linotype operators — Olin Moeschberger, Larry Fravel. Robert Garad and Kenny Vanhorn — to be set into type so rthe day's paper. The linotype is an amazing machine. Each line of type which you see printed on this page represents a separate piece of metal cast by the maching. The linotype has a 91 key-keyboard, wheih includes separate keys for small and capital letters, plus keys for punctuation, numbers and spaces. The mates are actuated by the keys, dropped into a form and a line cast from them. Then they are automatically returned to the magazine where they can be used

can slip further apart, particularly on larger newspapers. No one is shortchanged, however, because increased advertising has simply meant more space for news. Responsible Enterprise A newspaper is private enterprise for the public good. It relies On many minds to fill it every day, in addition to machines which chatter incessantly about news coming from Rome, from Bangkok, from Tokyo and Topeka. A boy on a bicycle can take all of these things, roll them up and toss them onto a front porch while chewing pum and preparing a good excuse for a poor report card. A blind newsdealer can sell al! this information for a small coin without ever seeing it. In some countries, the newspapers are the. instruments of government. In this one, the government is sometimes the instrument of newspapers. Perhaps the best thing which can be said about newspapers in the United States is that they are in chronic disagreement with bach other. This is what is meant by a free press. A newspaper-t. is always a little more than the sum of its parts. It is also a friend who can be dropped, or picked up at will. What is a newspaper?

in casting the next line. -A good linotype operator can set about six lines a minute. The Democrat also has an automatic typesetting device attached to one linotype. This device enables the machine to set wire stories automatically from punched - coded tapes. It set at a rate of about nine lines per minute. Meanwhile, ads and other display material have been sent to the, casting room where Robert “Tiger” Wemhoff and Jim Hawkins cast them into the plates from which they are printed. The castings and the type set on the linotypes are forwarded to the make-up department where Fred Isch and Rich Braun assemble the material and place it into the page forms. In the makeup department the larger headlines are set on a Ludiow machine. The smaller heads are set on the linotypes. The Middle This process continues throughout the day. Its most important aspect is continuity. At the same time that reporters are gathering news, ad men are preparing displays, the editor is writing headlines, type is being set, castings a e being molded and pages are being made up. A reasonably smooth work flow must be maintained, because the tight schedule of a daily newspaper allows little room for idle hands or wasted time. This is where the newspaper “deadline” enters in. It is of prime importance in the newspaper's timetable. Stories and ads must be prepared by 'a certain time, type must be set on schedule and a hundred other details coordinated. The responsibility i for much of this coordination falls on the shoulders of the editor. He must keep copy flowing smoothly to the back shop, so that machines are not left standing idle. Late in the morning another part of the newspaper makes its appearance. Photographs, usually by the Democrat’s assignment photographer, Dave Mac Lean, are brought in at about 11 o’clock. The pictures were taken yesterday, developed during the night and prints made in the morning. Other photos, such as weddings, the usually sent in a few days in advance. The photos are mounted on a photolathe, a machine built on A small lathe chasis which, through an electronic duplication process, -transfers the photographic images to a metal plae from which print- “ . . . The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty and can never be restrained but by despotic government.”— Constitution of the State of Virginia. ing is done. T As this is going on more and more copy is flowing to the back room. Much of the local news is done before noon and sent back to be set into type. As each story is setthe type is inked and a “oroof” made. This proof is sent back to the office for proofreading and its errors are marked. The linotype operators then make the necessary corrections. When the photo lathe completes

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1963

A >* \ k \\ T \wHWKi \\ C. \\UHOHVS NEWSPAPER WEEK OCT. 1319, 1963

the pictures the plates are mounted on wood blocks to make them the proper height for printing. Then they are sent to the make-up department, where the day’s news and ads are being gathered. By the noon hour most of the copy is in. The teletype has been hammering all morning and sometime after lunch, usually about one o’clock, Pete Reynolds decides what the day’s lead story shall be. This story and the last bits of local and society news are sent back to the linotype operators just before the final copy deadline at about ,1:30. And The End Once these stories are set, usually by about 2:10, all the eopy is in the make-up department. Here Fred Isch and Rich Braun have been working all day, putting the ads and stories into the page forms. Much of this work can be done during the early hours of the working day, but other items, such as the front page lead story must be held back to the last possible minute to make it possible to include the latest developments. The stories are set into the page forms and separated by column spacers. Headlines, which have been set o nthe Ludlow, are matched with their proper stories. Since all the copy must be locked tightly into the forms for printing each column must be "justified” and spaced out with strips of lead so that it fits snugly into the allotted space, i This paragraph is leaded.) The most important part of the day’s make-up is the front page, which is the newspaper’s “face." The Democrat’s front page is made up by Fred Isch. Once the pages are made up they are rolled to the press on a small two ; -wheel dolly and locked into place on its beds. The Democrat’s press is exactly 50 years old— it was installed in 1913. When the forms have been locked into place the press is started, slowly at first, by pressman Jim Hawkins. By now most of the back-shop workers and two or three of the office personel are gathered around the press waiting to grab the first copies. These are read carefully for mistakes in ’ advertising, news stories and headlines. If necessary the press is stopped and correction made. At about the time the press run begins Dave Baker, Dan Cole and Norb Bleeke arrive. Bleeke counts out the papers for the Democrat’s newsboy carrier salesmen. Baker and Cole prepare the several hundred copies which go out in the mail. The carriers fold their papers and distribute them througout the city. The mail copies are carted to the post office early in the evening. Another day’s Democrat is completed. Twenty-one Persons Included On Staff Os Daily Democrat It takes a lot of people doing a lot of tasks to put out a newspaper. Some 21 people pool their ..talents and efforts to put out the Democrats each day. Some of these people have been wit hthe paper for many yeans, others for only a few months. The staff and their respective lengths of service at the paper are: publisher Dick Heller, seven years; managing editor Pete Reynolds, 31 years; business manager Charles Holthouse, 30 years; advertising manager Dave Heller (not working at present because of illness), 14 years. Advertising salesman Dick Reidenbach, five years; advertising salesman Dick Ehinger (retired, now filling in for Dave Hel-v ler), 32 years; circulation manager Mary Erp, 4 yeans; society editor Kay Shaffer, five months; reporter Bob Shraluka, 4 years; reporter Mike Thoele, four months. Job printer Owen K. Baker, 24 years; shop foreman Fred Isch, seven years; make-up man Rich “The liberty of the press consists of the right to publish with impunity truth with good motives for justifiable ends though reflecting on government magistracy and individuals."—Alexander Hamilton. Braun, seven years linotyps operator Olin Moeschberger, 3 years; linotype operator' Larry Fravel 3 years; linotype operator Robert Garard, 47 years;, linotype operator Kenny Vanhorn, 7 years. Pressman Ji m Hawkins 5 years; stereotyper Robert Wemhoff, 10 years; carrier salesman supervisor Norb Bleeke, 7 yearsmailer Dave Baker. 3 years; maiL er Dan Cole, six months.