Mail subs off to the regions

On their way: trainee subs Ben Winstanley, Jennie Agg, Anna Croall

 (back row) Dawn Wheatley, Fiona Roberts and Alex Richman (front). Picture by Andy Drinkwater 

We said goodbye to the six trainee subs from the Daily Mail today. After four weeks' training in Howden and three days in London, they now head off for placements at the Press Association, The Evening Standard, The Irish News, Stoke Sentinel, Hull Daily Mail and News and Star in Carlisle. All being well, they will end up on the Mail subs desk next year. It has been an enjoyable few weeks. The trainees, all very talented, have been learning the craft of sub-editing to national newspaper standard. Pronouns, apostrophes, stylebooks, structure, accuracy, intros, captions, tight-editing, news values, headlines, layout, picture manipulation and cropping, graphics, InDesign, Photoshop and much more have been on the agenda. It is the eighth consecutive year that the Mail has recruited and trained its own subs in this way. The Sun has also run similar courses. It clearly works. So while the rest of the industry is jettisoning sub-editors in the name of economy and efficiency, the daily papers that sell the most continue to invest in them. Coincidence? I don't think so.

The picture we have all been waiting for ...

... the first man freed from the mine underneath the Atacama Desert. And if there was ever an excuse for wiping out your whole front page, this was it. The dilemma for the picture editor though was not the size ... but the crop. Do you focus in on the hug, leave in the crowd or even the capsule? Do you go horizontal or vertical? In the end, just use it big. I would usually advocate the tight crop but in this picture the setting is pretty compelling and the capsule really needs to be in. But there are other contenders for the cover too - particularly the defiant stance of the oldest miner 63-year-old Mario Heredia whose wife had asked him to retire just days before he was trapped. Santiago's Las Ultimas Noticias used it really well. Nice headline too - certainly better than Free at last. 

I want to be a travel writer ....

How many times have you heard that from people who want to slip into the backdoor and become great writers?  Many thanks to David Kernek for drawing my attention to this very helpful video. I now know how to answer them. 

Headlines lost on the young at heart

This headline from the Sun about the X-Factor - Lloyd, Cole and the Commotion - gave me a chuckle. But it did strike me that anyone under 35, the people the coverage is mainly aimed at, just wouldn't get it. I was with the Daily Mail trainee subs this week - and it certainly drew blank looks all round. Lloyd Cole and the Commotion (a 1980s pop band) weren't even a household name in their brief heyday. Lawrence Donegan, the band's bass player, had a similar experience with his Guardian colleagues - who had no idea what the headline meant - and clearly weren't aware that they were working alongside a famous musical icon. Lawrence, who also played bass in the Bluebells (you must remember Young at Heart), switched careers from pop star to journalist, starting with a brief spell at The Northern Echo during my tenure. Writing headlines that can be understood by all readers is something we deal with on our subbing courses ... and I have plenty of examples that are just too cryptic. Remember the Clitheroe Kid? Probably not. He certainly wasn't famous enough for many people to get the pun in this Mirror headline from 2007. At least it still makes sense, even if you don't get the reference to the radio show from more than 40 years ago. But I have trainees who are regularly baffled by old song titles, Cockney rhyming slang and archaic phrases. The headline below from the Sun, quite brilliant though it is, wasn't understood by any of the paper's last intake of 20-somethings. "But our parents didn't do nursery rhymes with us," they said. Good point.  

Footnote: Lawrence Donegan is the Guardian's golf correspondent and has written four books including an enjoyable insight into Irish newspapers, No News at Throat Lake. It's not strictly a novel but I have added it to our ever-growing list of books based on newspapers anyway. Laugh out loud stuff.

Mail pair collect quiz Champagne - 16 to beat

The burnt out pier at Hastings (see Question 7)

The Daily Mail subbing trainees leave Howden today for three days in London before they head off for a few months subbing experience in the regionals. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find them placements where they still have a serious  subbing operation ... but we have just about managed. Congratulations to Jennie Agg and Fiona Roberts who were overall winners in the weekly newsquiz - and shared the bottle of Champagne. Fiona was the top Mail trainee this week with 14pts but the Telegraph's Sarah Rainey marches  on relentlessly with another top score of 16. See if you can do better. Possible 22 points this week as there are two bonus questions.

1. Which country is leading the medal table at the Commonwealth Games

2. Who is to be the first parliamentarian to face trial on charges arising from the expenses scandal.

3. Prince William carried out his first rescue since qualifying as a helicopter search pilot. In which bay?

4. David Cameron used the words "Your country needs you." Who was he quoting?

5. Which European river is threatened by a flood of toxic sludge?

6. Who is listed as the most powerful woman on the planet in the latest Forbes list? And for a bonus what number was the Queen?

7. Hasting Pier burnt down this week .. but what year did it open?

8. Name the rogue trader ordered to pay back £4 billion.

9. A politician who won libel damages from the News of the World is on trial for perjury. Name him.

10. What attraction were the four Britons who died in a plane crash in Peru hoping to see?

11. Which computer worm may have infected Iran's nuclear programme?

12. At what annual figure will a household's benefits be capped?

13. In which American city will the next Ryder Cup be played?

14. Which expensive wine was served at a dinner to mark the Tory treasurer's retirement?

15. Colourful potatoes are in the news. Which variety is Sainsbury's selling?

16. What will Britain's population be in 2027, according to official statistics? And for a bonus point, also from the National Office of Statistics, what is the average age of today's first-time UK bride?

17. What was the name of Norman Wisdom's employer in his most famous comedy films including A Square Peg and the Early Bird?

18. Who is Ann Widdecombe's partner in Strictly Come Dancing?

19. Robert Edwards was in the headlines. Why?

20. Rejected X-factor singer Gamu Nhengu is facing deportation to which country?

Answers

The case against upper case

The advance of lower case - road signs, health warnings and even tabloid headlines now embrace the more legible style

A timely piece on The Guardian's style blog this week. I had just finished a typography session with the Daily Mail trainees, banging on about why the world was rightly becoming lower case, when David Marsh posted his case against uppercase.

Middle market newspapers, I am pleased to say, are almost wholly lower case in their display typography these days. The Mail still goes for caps for impact on Page 1, but is just about exclusively lower case inside. 

Even the red tops have moved towards more lower case headlines. Why? Partly because capitals are harder to read. Anyone who went on a Bob James course, and there were hundreds, will have it drummed into us that lower case letter structures and word shapes are more distinctive - the ascenders, descenders and other projecting parts increasing clarity. Caps also eat up more white space, which is essential to legibility. Equally important is the fact that caps are less economical and therefore we get fewer meaningful words. The legacy of local newspapers trying to copy the black sans caps of The Sun and the Mirror, has been thousands of meaningless headlines in which none of the key words fit. I recently came across a local newspaper that carried this headline in 230pt Helvetica Neue caps on Page 1:

SUPERMARKET

CAR PARK ROW

It was a story about a shopper who had damaged a tyre in a supermarket car park and was cross because the store would pay up the £66.30 to replace it. Barely worth one deck of 14pt, let alone hitting the poor reader across the head with a dull mallet. 

Marsh mentions the lower case font now used on British road signs. When you are darting between the lorries on the A1 in the rain and dark. legibility is critical. A wide open sans, lower case, with plenty of background space is just what is needed. He might have also mentioned the warning notices on cigarette packets - all lower case by edict of European parliament. 

Caps are still needed of course, as Marsh's column illustrates vividly. 'I had to help my uncle Jack off a horse' really does need a capital J. 

Hardest news quiz yet?

The Mail and Telegraph trainees thought the newsquiz was difficult this week ... and it was reflected in their scores. No problem for the Telegraph's Sarah Rainey, though, who won again with 14. Jennie Agg was the top Mail trainee with 11.5. See if you can do any better.

David Miliband and his wife (see question 6)

1. What is the nickname of the cage specially built to help rescue the 33 trapped Chilean miners?

2. Who is the Defence Secretary?

3 Why was the name Gordon Bennett in the news?

4. Who is sixth in line to the throne?

5. In Round 4 of the Labour leadership election what percentage of the vote was won by Ed Miliband? You must give exact figure to nearest decimal point.

6. Name David Miliband's wife (must get both names for a point).

7. What is Ed Miliband's constituency?

8. The Ryder Cup started this week. Who is the captain of the American team?

9.  Who has fallen foul of the law and has had to take down a giant advertising banner erected at the Ryder Cup?

10. What is ITV's new Sunday night drama series called?

11. What were barrister Mark Saunders's last five words?

12.  Kelsey Martinovich was wrongly announced as the winner of Australia's Next Top Model  - who was the host of the programme?

13. David Cameron chose Dulce et Decorum Est  as his favourite poem. Who wrote it?

14. Fearne Cotton, Denise van Outen and Alexandra Burke are tackling a charity trek in aid of breast cancer in which country?

15. Prof Martyn Evans was fined £155 for getting off a train, a stop early.  Where did he get off?

16. Blackberry has unveiled its version of the iPad, what is it called?

17. Fraser Nelson writes a column for the News of the World but also edits which magazine?

18. This is a spelling question. When your pet is ill you take it to the vet. Spell the word that vet is short for.

19. How much did it cost to clean the Queen's chandeliers?

20. In which river did Segway millionaire Jimi Heselden die?

Answers

This week's newsquiz: an impressive 16 to beat

Well done to Sarah Rainey from the Telegraph who was the clear winner in this week's Newsquiz with an impressive 16 out of 21. The top Mail trainee was Fiona Roberts with 14, the same score as Telegraph trainee Josie Ensor. It's the second consecutive week the Telegraph has pipped the Mail ... but the Mail will no doubt point to their victory in the White Horse quiz on Thursday. It wasn't just about quizzes this week. The Mail subs have been doing feature subbing with Brian Page and advance InDesign and Photoshop with Alison Trueman. The Telegraph's trainees have been honing their writing skills, working from the wire and learning video with Andrew Glover.

While I am handing out the bouquets, well done to Telegraph trainee Raf Sanchez who completed the Great North Run in 1 hour 49 minutes and 20 seconds. See how you do in the quiz; 16 to beat.

The Miliband brothers - see question 16

1. According to Business Secretary Vince Cable .............  and ............. "did more harm to the British economy than Bob Crow." Fill in the gaps (half point for each).

2. Liverpool FC suffered one of the worst  defeats in their recent history on Wednesday by which League Two team?

3. Madonna launched her clothing line at Macy's in New York this week. What is the fashion range called?

4. At which court is the inquest into barrister Mark Saunders being held?

5. What date are the beleaguered Commonwealth Games due to begin?

6. What is the name of the magazine that David Beckham is suing over allegations  that he slept with a prostitute?

7. Who is the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport?

8. Six men were arrested for setting light to the Koran in which Northern town?

9. What was the name of the woman executed in Virginia?

10. Which song and dance man is reuniting with Andrew Lloyd Webber to take the role of the wizard in the Wizard of Oz?

11. President Ahmadinejad of Iran caused a stir at The United Nations General Assembly this week. Which City is hosting the Assembly?

12. The mystery over which song by Kate Bush was supposedly solved after her first boyfriend put a love note from the singer up for sale?

13. Who, with a fortune of £4.4 billion, rose to 35th in the Forbes list of America's wealthiest people?

14. Steve Finn, Tim Bresnan and Chris Tremlett were on which list announced this week?

15. Who owns the Evening Standard?

16. Give the ages of both Miliband brothers. (full point for each)

17. The result of the Labour leadership vote be declared at the Labour party conference tomorrow (Sat). Where is the conference being held?

18. Who is Dave McCabe and why he is in the news.

19. The Chilean miners have now been underground for how many days?

20. The website Ask Jeeves compiled a list of the Top Ten most asked questions which it could not answer. What was the most asked  'unanswerable question?

Answers