Dave Eggers: Print Is Not Dead

From The Huffington Post:

Dave Eggers wants publishers and editors to get realistic about print.

Speaking at the New School's Tishman Auditorium in Manhattan on Wednesday night, the author and editor of McSweeney's was bullish about the future of newspapers and books, so long as their creators don't expect them to fund a media empire.

"The numbers can work out where you're not going to lose your shirt, but that's if you don't automatically buy a building or sports team," said Eggers. "Just be a little cautious and work within reasonable expectations, and people who are in it to make money can probably make money--as a lot of people still are."

Eggers outlined how print publishing could be artistically and financially rewarding as part of a discussion of San Francisco Panorama, the Sunday newspaper-sized issue of McSweeney's that came out in December. The 320-page issue is printed in broadsheet format and separated into traditional newspaper sections including news, sports and art as well as a book review and Panorama Magazine insert. Eggers was joined by Salon.com co-founder Laura Miller and McSweeney's staff editor and designer Chris Ying.

Eggers emphasized that newspapers could succeed by having a more independent mindset. While he acknowledged this may sound unrealistic in an age of massive media conglomerates, He pointed out that just a few years ago and certainly a few decades ago, independent papers were numerous and successful.

"But now they let people who are manufacturing widgets and other things determine newsroom budgets and what gets reported, so they are not necessarily looking at what's best for the media or the art of journalism," said Eggers.

Bringing in the talents of authors and artists, and several newspaper professionals who had recently lost their jobs, Panorama was done as an homage to the traditional newspaper and a demonstration of the potential that the form holds for creativity and compelling storytelling.

Panorama's initial print run of 20,000 copies sold out in its first day at newsstands (for $5) and bookstores (for $16) and a second printing hit the streets several weeks after, some copies of which are still available at The Strand and other independent bookstores in New York.

Eggers acknowledged that such independent papers could not compete with the Internet for breaking news, but that the printed format offers...

Full Article

Related: 
TIME Magazine "McSweeney's Proves Print Isn't Dead"
Flickr: Full page comics from McSweeney's Panorama

Humor Can Save the Daily

CARTOONISTS may have played a crucial role in the Australian newspaper industry - and they may have been lauded by John Hartigan, chairman and chief executive of News Limited (publisher of The Australian) at an exhibition opening several weeks ago - but the scribblers fear they are being slowly squeezed out of existence.

Nevertheless, they believe cartoons could be the key to luring younger readers back to newspapers.

Hartigan called a truce with his occasional foe ABC managing director Mark Scott last month to launch an exhibition of some of Australia's best political cartoons.

"Mark and I don't agree on everything," Hartigan said. "But I am sure he would acknowledge that while there are things broadcasters do better than newspapers, political cartooning isn't one of them.

"This great craft is not immune to new technology, but it remains an art that finds its best expression in newspapers."

Peter Broelman, a freelance cartoonist from Adelaide who was named cartoonist of the year at the 25th Stanley Awards recently, says many editors and newspaper bean counters have seen cartoons as an easy cost-saving target.

Broelman, whose political cartoons appear in 18 regional publications across the country, fears editors have forgotten the value of both political and strip cartoons.

"I think what a lot of people forget is that people still like comic strips," Broelman says. "I think a lot of editors forget that their readers are still visual people."

While many newspapers now have either dropped once popular syndicated cartoons or squeezed them into tiny spaces deep within the paper, Broelman recalls an age when cartoons were a crucial element of newspaper marketing.

And he also notes that cartoons were an important way of getting young readers to pick up newspapers.

"I guess the biggest impact has been the dreaded bean counters newspapers are now under the control of and the financial pressures of the global financial crisis. And there is also the internet," he says. . .

Full Article at The Australian

Newspaper Funnies Today and Yesterday

This is a comparison of a modern newspaper comics page and one from the hey-day of comic strips. It boggles the mind! Mine, at least. Not that it takes a whole heck of a lot to boggle it. BTW, the relative sizes are accurate. Newspapers in the thirties were around 15" to 16" wide. My local paper is 11" wide, the same width as the Dan Dare strip in this example.

(P.S. There is one thing that the two pages have in common. Can you guess what it is?)