College Media Matters

The 89th annual ACP/CMA National College Media Convention is well under way in crisp, sunny Louisville.  A highlight of the morning sessions for me: a news design revival of sorts led by journalistic guru Michael Koretzky.

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I’d heard stories from many others about his entertaining and unconventional convention presentations.   I can now say after seeing the man put on a show firsthand: I am a believer, a true Koretzky-ite.  The standing-room-only crowd in the mega-room in which he spoke confirmed I am far from alone.

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He wore sunglasses, in a room with the lights shut off.  He threw gold coins at students who answered his questions correctly or wittily.  His PowerPoint slides were alive- bursting with colorful examples, musical interludes, occasional profanity, and even a dollop of full-body nudity.  His mantras on basic news design, photography, and headline writing principles were sound and wonderfully caked with sarcasm.

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A few standout lessons he imparted to the current generation of student journalists, whom he chided for being “averse to taking any risk”:

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Write headlines for students, not boring bureaucrats.

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Don’t feature so many stories and photos focused on old people.  Student papers, first and foremost, are for students!

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Clip art is for amateurs, losers, terrorists, and pedophiles.  Don’t use it.

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“If a story has a bullsh*t paragraph in it, you cut it out.”  Why not crop a photo with the same BS filler?

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If you can put your finger over a face in a photo and completely cover it, make the photo larger.

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There is a law of diminishing returns in the news design game.  At some point, spending more time designing a page does not mean it will result in a better page.

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The biggest photo on a page does not have to be the most important.

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“When you have big news, make it look big.  Blow it up!”  It is better to be criticized later for playing up a story a bit too much than not enough.

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“Embrace white space.  White space is your friend.  Too many students are afraid of it.”

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If all photos and headlines on a page are the same size, start redesigning immediately.

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“You have the next 50 years to be boring.  Be bold now.”