Newspaper

It has been 15 years since I stepped foot into a newsroom, but my passion for creating and designing a beautiful section has never waned.

Triplicate

I started in 1998 at the Triplicate in Crescent City, California, a small community paper (circulation of 3,500). At 23, I was the sports editor, and I covered one local high school (Del Norte) as well as athletic events and features in Del Norte County. This included an annual Triathlon, several runs, a demolition derby, and an exhibition wrestling event that featured The Honky Tonk Man. I was also in charge of designing my sports page each night.

Primary Job Duties and Highlights: 

• + Reported on all athletic events in Del Norte County. 
• + Covered one local high school, and all sporting events.
• + Wrote features on local athletes.
• + Designed one or two pages every night. Software: Quark.
• + Paginated pages and sent to press.

Standard-Times

In November 1999, I moved to San Angelo, Texas, and became the lead sports page designer for the San Angelo Standard-Times (circulation, 55,000). With a strong emphasis on high school football, the sports editor, a very talented page designer, wanted a section that popped. The Standard-Times was the best-designed sports section in West Texas. We had two very tight deadlines (8 p.m. and 11 p.m.), and coverage spanned nearly 500 miles. We were also in the heart of football country which meant our sports section devoted most of its space to preps. 

Primary Job Duties and Highlights: 

• + Designed the front page of the sports section and several inside pages as part of a two-man design crew. Software: Quark.
• + Covered several local events, including baseball games and a rodeo. Wrote several columns.
• + Assisted in design and wrote a couple of features for the 2000 High School Football Guide.

Mail Tribune

By September 2000, I had an opportunity to come back home to Medford, Oregon. An opening at my hometown newspaper allowed me to become the sports page/section designer for the Mail Tribune (circulation of 35,000). I was immediately a part of a committee that redesigned the paper. The last redesign was in the mid-80s, so it was past due. The Mail Tribune was devoted to local content. We had the best reporters and writers in the state, and it was my job to package their stories appealingly. The sports staff won several design awards in the five years I worked there. 

Primary Job Duties and Highlights: 

• + Designed a six to eight-page sports section five days a week (Wednesday through Sunday). Software: Quark, Newsedit.
• + Designed the popular 40-page Football Tab every August.
• + Created the popular Football Pick-It Line that ran every Friday.
• + Created a Prep Focus page that ran every Thursday.
• + Was part of the redesign committee that overhauled the look of the paper in 2000. Many of my design elements are still being used.
• + Section won the best design in 2000 in the Large Newspaper Category for Oregon Newspaper Association. From 2000-2005 the section was in the top three, competing against much larger newspapers in the state.

Software used:

• Quark - The weapon of choice for newspapers across the country. It was eventually replaced by Adobe’s InDesign.
• Newsedit - I am not sure this is even around anymore. It was for pagination purposes. Very clunky and frustrating to use.
• Photoshop - Staff photographers handled their own photos, but I took care of the AP photos. For cropping, editing, and masking.
• Illustrator - For creating graphics.