mario garcia
Longer isn’t boring Perhaps it is a result of post-September 11, or partially the influence of the Internet, but there is no doubt that texts appear longer in newspapers everywhere these days. This is a good thing. And for copy editors and designers who worry that longer texts mean more inaccessible or unattractive pages, my answer is that it does not have to be so. Even that pioneer and master of the short text, USA Today, seems to have opened the door for a few extra lines of text, especially in its cover stories. The good news is that many of these long texts are being read. This spark in reading is not limited to newspapers, by the way. The Wall Street Journal, in a November 9, 2001 cover story, reports that the under-twenty-five crowd is purchasing books in record numbers: “After a decade in which reading was considered about as hip as the Bee Gees, the under-25 set is now buying books for leisure reading at three times the rate of the overall market.� The Journal continues to explain that bookstores across the United States report jumps in sales of 20 percent to 75 percent in young buyers over the past three years. If this younger generation of readers enjoy their newly discovered activity, it is likely that they will start reading newspapers again. This is a good time for marketing and circulation folks to tune in to this trend, and revitalize their sales and promotion campaigns to tap 32
pure design
into this difficult-to-target group. What do we need to do to present these longer sorties effectively?
Make sure you have a very good headline that fleshes out the entire story. And, remember, longer texts require larger heads. They are the first signal to the reader of the story’s importance. Establish the type of story structuring that goes beyond the headline, to include one or two decks (or additional smaller headings.) Incorporate subheads at strategic points throughout the text. Place subheads at transitional points in the story, since many scanners may wish to move to the next interesting segment. (Simply because the text is long does not mean that readers will read it in its entirety. Facilitate navigation within the article itself. This is an important step, journalistically as well as visually). If visuals are available, play editor, and select the one image that is definitive in presenting the story. Avoid the temptation to incorporate too many visuals, some of which may not contribute much to the storytelling process.
If long texts are in, and more readers are coming to the pages we create, we must rally to the occasion. Facilitate movement in a dignified and simple way. Let the value of the story be the engine that gets and keeps the reader interested. 33