Abstract
Design Variations Within and Among Newspaper Chains
Sandra H. Utt
Department of Journalism
The University of Memphis
Memphis, TN 38152 (901) 678-4795
Steve Pasternack
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM 88003
(505) 646-4638
Previous research has compared chain-owned to independently-owned
newspapers, often focusing on content-based comparisons. The present
study compared newspapers within one chain, and newspapers across
various chains in terms of their adoption and use of modern design
elements.
Data suggest that while most daily newspapers today have, to some
degree, adopted modern design elements, there is no greater
similarity
of design within a chain that there is across the broad spectrum of
dailies.
Newspapers in some chains, data suggest, show more signs of modern
design than others. In this study of 66 newspapers in 10 chains,
the
percentage of newspapers regularly using modern design to a large
extent
ranged from a low of 20% at one chain to 75% at another.
There is no such thing, the authors concluded, as a "Gannett look" or a
"Knight-Ridder look." If anything, analysis of data suggests
that future
research might examine circulation size as a factor between the more
and
less modern newspapers. The chain composed primarily of
small-circulation newspapers had the lowest level of adoption of
modern
design elements.
Design Variations Within and Among Newspaper Chains
By
Sandra H. Utt
The University of Memphis
and
Steve Pasternack
New Mexico State University
Submitted to the Visual Communication Division of AEJMC for presentation
at the Annual Conference in Washington, D. C.
Design Variations Within and Among Newspaper Chains
Two notable trends in the newspaper industry over the last 20 years have been
the
continued growth of chain ownership and revolutionary changes
in design and layout.
Ownership and design may seem unrelated. However, it is not uncommon for new
owners of
a newspaper to immediately change typeface and overall
design1 in an effort to create a
new impression for image for the newly acquired publication. Appearance
singularity is
important; one study of three cities with jointly owned morning and evening
newspapers
found both newspapers had clear differences in their makeup and typography as
if to
intentionally create a visual distinction between the two
newspapers.2
Today, with 123 newspaper chains3 in the United States, three-fourths of all
dailies
are part of one. The number of chain-owned newspapers and
the size of the chains
continue to increase, while the actual number of chains has decreased
as larger chains
swallow up smaller ones. Becoming part of a chain can provide
some publishers with
financial resources for equipment and staff to produce today's
graphically modern
publications.
While a significant body of research has developed in recent years regarding the
effects of chain ownership on newspapers' staffing, profit
orientation and news
product, any relationship between ownership and design has been
ignored. Studies have
focused on economic vitality, size of news hole, political
endorsement patterns and
marketing strategies.
Observers might anticipate that while newspapers in different cities would vary
widely
in their content, with different local news, columnists,
advertisements and comics,
that variation in general appearance would be less likely, due to
common technology,
similar designer training and space limitations. One might also
surmise that corporate
home offices, while providing funds for member newspapers to
create modern designs,
have little interest in--nor reason to--dictating a newspaper's
design. In other words,
design is an apolitical practice,4 not perceived by corporate home offices as
tied to
editorial success or a successful profit margin. Also, unlike
expanded (i.e. better)
local news coverage, better design does not necessarily require
more staff.
The purpose of this study is to examine the design and appearance of newspapers
from
the nation's leading chains to discover if there is
appearance conformity within chains
and if so, how conformity of design and layout varies among the among the
chains.
Chains and News
The growth of newspaper chains throughout the 20th century has brought various
companies huge profit margins and attracted a great deal of
criticism at the same time.
Bagdikian5 has criticized the potential of these conglomerates to dictate
newspaper
policy from afar--everything from budgeting to size of the news
hole, while conceding
that a few chains show evidence of publisher autonomy and
editorial quality.
Notwithstanding such criticisms, some studies have found that chain
ownership has not
had a deleterious impact upon newspapers nor those who work at
them.
Most of the research has compared chain newspapers to non-chain newspapers,
rather than
comparing the characteristics of individual chains and their member newspapers.
Coulson6 found that journalists at both chain and independent
newspapers held positive
views about their paper's local coverage. While the Thomson group
has often been
criticized for little attention to editorial quality, a case study
found little change
in one Canadian paper's "sensationalism" index after a Thomson
takeover, compared to
the period before the purchase.7
A 1979 examination of Gannett papers before and after the corporate takeover
found that
the newspapers looked more attractive than they had as independents, but that
changes
were mainly cosmetic.8 Another case study of Gannett
newspapers found them quite
similar to independents and to newspapers in other chains in terms of
their use of
graphics and white space,9 with more use of graphs after Gannett's
takeover. Gannett
papers were more likely to resemble USA Today than were other
newspapers.10
Soloski's11 case study examination of one chain newspaper found that members of
a chain
tended to share the chain's own wire service, leading papers in the same chain
to
expression of the same viewpoints. One study suggesting a
drive toward conformity found
that newspapers in the Knight-Ridder chain gave more coverage to the Gary
Hart-Donna
Rice story than did newspapers in other chains or independents.
The Miami Herald, a
Knight-Ridder member, broke the story.12
Several studies have focused on political endorsements by chain and independent
newspapers. One found that chains generally play a minimal role
in affecting the
political endorsements of their member newspapers.13 Some anecdotal
evidence indicates
otherwise. In 1972, the Cox chain's home office required all nine
of its newspapers to
endorse the Republican ticket for president; the Hearst chain
issued a similar
directive (for Democrats) in 1964 to its 13 newspapers.14
One chain went a step further in 1977, sending two anti-Carter articles to all
its
newspapers and ordering both run on page one. One editor
refused and was fired.15
Wackman et al.16 found no patterns in endorsements by the chains of
newspapers they
studied. A 1984 study found that chain-owned newspapers were more
likely to endorse the
candidate leading in the polls and within each chain, papers had a strong
tendency to
endorse the same candidate. Little evidence was found to support
editors' contention
that they had a strong voice in deciding whom to endorse.17 A
1987 study found neither
group nor independently owned papers had much impact on statewide
elections studied.
Group papers were rated slightly more liberal in their
endorsements.18
A comparison of chain and independent newspapers found few differences in front
page
content. Both used the same number of front page photos,
and averaged 23% of front page
space for photographs.19
Local autonomy at the chains varies. Matthews20 found that publishers in
privately held
chains were more likely to take certain news-related actions without home
office
approval than were those in publicly held chains. For example,
at privately owned
chains, 79% of local publishers were permitted to autonomously
increase the size of
their news staff, compared to 59% of those at publicly held chain
papers.
When owners are businessmen rather than journalists, the pressure for high
profits at a
newspaper will increase,21 perhaps at the expense of improved content. For the
publisher of a publicly owned chain newspaper, it becomes the
ultimate juggling act,
trying to satisfy the employer at the home office, provide
dividends for stockholders,
serve the readers and keep employees professionally content.22
Design and Conformity
One could eyeball daily newspapers across the nation and conclude, as former
newspaper
editor David Burgin did, that "they look alike; they feel
alike. It's me-too journalism
all over the country."23 If one accepts that assessment, it would be expected
that
newspapers nationwide share the same overall design as well as the
same graphic
elements.
Data since the mid-1980s have generally supported Burgin's view. Newspapers have
begun
more and more to resemble one another in appearance. This
is due to a combination of
similarly trained designers, availability of new technologies and
the proliferation of
graphics wires; as examples, 98.9% of the newspapers surveyed in
1993 receive
Associated Press Graphics and 100% have a Macintosh system; 96% use the
Leafdesk
picture editing software and 9 in 10 use color scanners. Evidence of
similarity is also
found in newspaper use of color, informational graphics and the modular format.
Offset
printing, used by 57% of dailies in 1988, was at 80% of them in 1993.24
Method:
In this study, ten newspapers from the top ten groups by circulation [See Table
1] were
selected using an interval sampling method from the 1994 Editor & Publisher
Yearbook.
A letter was sent to the individual listed as the managing
editor or managing
editor-graphics in December 1994 asking that five front pages from Dec.
5-9 be sent. A
second mailing occurred in January 1995. Because five newspapers
were not received from
one of the top ten groups, the managing editors from ten papers in the eleventh
group
received the second mailing.
Research Questions:
Which front page design elements are common among newspapers within the same
group?
Do the newspapers in one group use modern design elements25 more than newspapers
in
another group?
Characteristics of Sample:
Responses were received from at least five newspapers from each group. Of the
100
newspapers, 66 responded (return rate of 66%). [See Table 2]
Findings:
Gannett Co. Inc.
N=6
Five of the six newspapers used a modular design for their front pages; and four
varied
the width of their columns everyday. One newspaper averaged four or fewer
stories on
page one; four averaged either five or six; and one
averaged more than six. Five of the
newspapers did not have a pattern for their lead story placement. Three
newspapers ran
infographics; two were charts and one was a map. One used a digest on the left
of the
page. All newspapers ran their dominant photographs in the middle
of the page; three
ran them in a package.26
Four of the six used a modern flag with an serif typeface; and two used a
traditional
oldstyle typeface. Five used teasers; teaser content
included photographs, artwork and
headlines.
Two newspapers used a serif face for all headlines; two used to a sanserif for
the
major story; and two used a sanserif face for all headlines.
All newspapers ran four-color photographs; however, four ran four-color
everyday. Four
newspapers ran some of their mug shots in black and white.
Five newspapers used spot
color on tooling lines; two on artwork; two on screens; and two
on infographics.
One newspaper included modern elements everyday; three were mostly modern, and
two used
a combination of modern and non-modern elements. [See Table 3]
Knight-Ridder:
N=5
All newspapers used a modular design for their front pages; three of them varied
the
width of their columns everyday. One newspaper averaged
four or fewer stories on page
one; three averaged either five or six; and one averaged more
than six. Three did not
have a pattern for their lead story placement. Three newspapers
ran infographics; one
was a chart and two were maps. None ran a digest. All newspapers
ran their dominant
photograph in the middle of the page; three ran it as part of a
package.
Four newspapers used a modern flag with a serif typeface; one used a flag with
an
oldstyle typeface. All used teasers. Teaser content included
artwork, headlines,
four-color photographs or the index.
Three newspapers used all serif headlines; two used to a sanserif type for its
lead
story.
Pictures for all newspapers were four-color, except for two that ran their mugs
shots
in black and white. Three newspapers used spot color on
tooling lines; two on screens;
three on artwork; and two on infographics.
Three newspapers were mostly modern and two combined modern and non-modern
elements.
[See Table 4]
Newhouse Newspapers
N=8
Five of the eight newspapers used a modular format design for their front pages;
and
five varied the width of columns everyday. One newspaper
averaged four or fewer stories
on page one; five averaged either five or six; and two averaged more than six.
Six of
the newspapers did not have a pattern for their lead story
placement. Seven newspapers
ran at least one infographic; six ran maps; and one ran a chart.
Three ran a
digest--one across the bottom; one on the left; and one as a teaser.
Seven newspapers
ran their dominant photographs in the middle of the page; four
ran them as a part of a
package.
Seven newspapers used a serif type for its flag; one used an oldstyle typeface.
Six of
the papers ran teasers. Teaser content included
photographs, artwork, index and
headlines.
Three newspapers used serif typeface; two used a sanserif face; and one used to
a
sanserif face for its main story.
Four newspapers ran their page one photographs in four-color everyday; one ran
its mugs
in four-color. Four newspapers ran spot color on tooling lines; six on artwork;
two on
screens; and four on infographics.
One newspaper included modern elements everyday; two were mostly modern; two
were a
combination of modern and non-modern elements; and three did
not use modern elements.
[See Table 5]
Times-Mirror
N=5
Four of the five newspapers used a modular design for their front pages; varied
the
column width everyday. One newspaper averaged four or fewer
stories on page one; three
averaged either five or six; and one averaged more than six.
Three of the newspapers
did not have a pattern for their lead story placement. Two ran
infographics; both were
charts. Two newspapers ran a digest, both on the left of the
page. All newspapers ran
their dominant photographs in the middle of the page; two ran
them as part of a pac
kage.
Two newspapers used an oldstyle typeface for their flag; three used a serif
face. Three
ran teasers. Teaser content included artwork and headlines.
Two newspapers used a serif face for their headlines; two used a sanserif; and
one used
from a serif to a sanserif for its major story.
All newspapers used four-color photographs; however, two also ran black and
white
photographs, including mugs shots. Three newspapers used spot
color on tooling lines;
one on screens; and one on infographics.
One newspaper included modern elements everyday; one was mostly modern; two used
a
combination of modern and non-modern elements, and one used
non-modern elements. [See
Table 6]
New York Times Co.
N=8
One of the eight newspapers used a modular design for its front page; and five
varied
their column width everyday. Six newspapers averaged either
five or six stories on page
one; and two averaged more than six. Five of the newspapers placed their main
story on
the right, while three used the middle or top of the page. Six newspapers ran
infographics; four were charts and two were maps. Three ran a digest;
two on the left
and one across the bottom. Six newspapers ran their dominant
photograph in the middle o
f the page; two ran them as part of a package.
Six of the newspapers used a modern flag with a serif typeface; two ran a
traditional
oldstyle typeface. Four newspapers used teasers. Teaser
content included photographs,
artwork and headlines.
Three newspapers used a serif face for their headlines; five used to a sanserif
for the
major story.
Six of the newspapers ran four-color photographs everyday; one used four-color
and
black and white; and one never used a four-color photograph.
Two ran all mugs shots in
black and white; and two ran them in color. Six newspapers used
spot color for tooling
lines; one for screens; two for infographics; and two for
artwork.
Two newspapers were mostly modern; three used a combination of modern and
non-modern
elements; and three used non-modern elements. [See Table 7]
Thomson Newspapers Inc.
N=5
One of the five newspapers used a modular design for their front pages; four
varied the
width of their columns everyday. One newspaper averaged four or fewer stories;
four
averaged either five or six. Two of the papers did not have
any pattern for their lead
story placement; two always placed the major story on the right.
No newspaper ran a
infographic. One ran a digest in the left column. Three of the
newspapers did not have
a pattern for the placement of their dominant photograph. No
newspaper ran a package.
All of the newspapers used a modern serif for their flags. Two ran teasers.
Teaser
content included photos and artwork.
One newspaper used a serif face for all headlines; four used a combination of
both
sanserif and serif.
Five newspapers ran every photograph, except for some mug shots, in four-color.
Five
newspapers ran tooling lines in spot color; five on
screens; and one on artwork.
One newspaper was mostly modern; two used a combination of modern and non-modern
elements; and two used non-modern elements. [See Table 8]
Cox Enterprises Inc.
N=7
Three of the seven newspapers used a modular format; six varied the width of
their
columns everyday. One newspaper averaged four or fewer
stories on page one; five
averaged either five or six; and one averaged more than six. Four of
the newspapers did
not have a pattern for their lead story placement. Five ran infographics; three
were
maps and two were charts. Three ran a digest in the left column.
Six of the newspapers
ran their dominant photograph in the middle o the page; four ran
it as part of a
package.
Four of the seven newspapers used a modern flag with a serif typeface; three
used a
traditional oldstyle typeface. Six used teasers. Teaser
content included: photos,
artwork and headlines.
All of the newspaper used a combination of serif and sanserif typeface for their
headlines.
All newspapers ran four-color photographs everyday; however, one newspaper used
one
black and white mug shot. Six newspapers used spot color on
tooling lines; five used it
on screens; three on infographics; and two on artwork.
Three newspapers included modern elements everyday; two were mostly modern; one
used a
combination of modern and non-modern elements; and one used
non-modern elements. [See
Table 9]
Scripps Howard
N=8
Six of the eight newspapers used a modular design for their front pages; and
four
varied the width of their columns everyday. Two newspapers
averaged four or fewer
stories on page one; and six averaged either five or six. Five of
the newspapers did
not have a pattern for their lead story placement. Five of the
newspapers ran
infographics; four were maps and one was a chart. Three ran digests; two
on the left
and one on the right of the page. Seven ran their dominant
photograph in the middle of
the page; three of them in a package.
Seven used a modern serif flag; one used a traditional oldstyle typeface. Five
used
teasers. Teaser content included photographs, artwork,
screens or the Scripps Howard
logo.
Four of the newspapers used a serif face for every headline; four used a
sanserif face.
All photographs for five newspapers ran in four-color everyday. One newspaper
ran its
mugs shots in black and white. All newspapers used spot
color. Two ran tooling lines in
spot color; two ran infographics; two ran artwork; and one ran screens.
Three newspapers included modern elements everyday; three were mostly modern;
and two
used a combination of modern and non-modern. [See Table 10]
Media News Group
N=8
None of the newspapers used a modular design; and five varied the width of their
columns everyday. Seven newspapers averaged either five or six
stories on page one; one
averaged more than six. None of the newspapers had a pattern for their lead
story
placement. Four newspapers ran infographics; two were charts and
two were maps. Two
newspapers ran digests; one across the bottom and one on the left.
All newspapers ran
their dominant photograph in the middle of the page; three ran
them in a package.
Five of the newspapers used a modern flag with a serif face; and three used a
traditional oldstyle typeface. Seven newspapers used teasers.
Teaser content included
photographs; headlines, artwork and stories.
Three newspapers used a serif face for all headlines; two used a sanserif for
all
headlines; and one used serif italics for the main headline.
All newspapers used four-color photographs; however, three papers used
four-color
everyday. Seven newspapers ran some of their mug shots in
black and white. Six
newspapers ran tooling lines in spot color; two ran artwork; and one
ran screens and
infographics.
One newspaper included modern elements everyday; three were mostly modern; two
used a
combination of modern and non-modern elements; and two used
non-modern elements. [See
Table 11]
Freedom Newspapers Inc.
N=6
Four of the six newspapers used a modular design for their front pages; and
three
varied the width of their columns everyday. Two newspapers
averaged four or fewer
stories on page one; four averaged either five or six. Two of the
six ran infographics.
One ran one chart; another ran one map. Four of the newspapers ran their lead
story at
the top or the middle. Four ran a digest; three on the left and one on the
right.
Three of the newspapers ran their dominant photograph in the middle
of the page; two
ran it as part of a package. Three did not have a pattern of
placement.
All used a modern flag with a serif typeface. Two newspapers used teasers.
Teaser
content was limited to type and artwork.
Four newspapers used a serif face for all headlines; one used a sanserif face
for all
stories; one used the main story to a sanserif face.
All newspapers ran four-color photographs; however, four ran four-color
everyday; Five
newspapers used spot color on tooling lines; two on
artwork; one on screens; and one on
infographics.
One newspaper included modern elements everyday; two were mostly modern; and
three used
non-modern elements. [See Table 12]
Discussion
This content analysis of 66 dailies representing 10 newspaper groups found a
reasonably
high degree of appearance conformity within the sample; 77% of the newspapers
used a
modern flag, 65% used teasers, 56% employed a modular
format, 65% of (non-mug shot)
front page photos were in color, and 81% of the newspapers
averaged between 4 and 6
page-one articles.
However, these design commonalities are across the entire sample rather than
within any
particular chain of newspapers. For example, among the eight Newhouse
newspapers: five
used a modular format and three used a non-modular format, four of the
newspapers
published only color photos and four mixed color with black
and white, three papers
published a front-page digest and five did not.
A newspaper's membership in a particular chain appears to have no impact on its
use of
design elements. Elaine Rodriquez, spokewoman from
Knight-Ridder, said "Each individual
newspaper is responsible for it own [design]. No one is in charge of a
corporate
look." Her views were echoed by representatives of Gannet and Media
News.
Without logos such as the Scripps Howard lighthouse or the Freedom Newspapers'
torch, a
newspaper could not be labeled as a member of a particular group solely based
on its
appearance. There is no such thing as a "Knight-Ridder
look" or a "Thomson look;" a
Gannett newspaper is as likely to resemble a Knight-Ridder
newspaper in design as it is
to resemble another Gannett paper, or for that matter, an independent
newspaper.
Overall, 11 of the 66 papers were deemed "completely modern" in their use of
design
elements, 22 were "mostly modern," 18 presented a mixture of
modern and non-modern
elements and 15 were overwhelmingly non-modern in their use of
design elements. Within
each chain, the combined percentage of "completely modern" and
"mostly modern"
newspapers was: Freedom (50%); New York Times (25%); Newhouse (38%);
Media News (50%);
Cox (71%); Thomson (20%); Scripps Howard (75%); Gannett (67%);
Times Mirror (40%) and
Knight-Ridder (60%). [See Table 13]
In response to editor Burgin's comment that all newspapers today look alike:
they do
not. Use of the similar design elements or design
techniques might create some
ostensible similarities, but not to say that all daily newspapers look
alike based on
similar use of design elements, would be like saying that all
19th century French
impressionist paintings look alike because they use similar elements
and techniques.
Differing content, placement of elements, and other
variations--not to mention
distinctive flags--render each newspaper unique, despite the common
usage of graphic
devices and strategies.
If any single chain of newspapers appears to stand out from the rest of the
field, it
is Thomson Newspaper, a group of 109 newspapers with an
average circulation of 19,000,
making it the "small-newspaper chain;" most of its newspapers
have circulations less
than 20,000. Four of the five Thomson newspapers in the sample
used a non-modular
format; two of the five published teasers; none printed charts or
maps; one in five had
a front-page digest; and three of five used some black and white page-one
photographs.
Based on these preliminary data, future studies might consider circulation as a
predictor of modern newspaper design adoption.
Newspapers in this study ranged in circulation from 8,274 to 1,089,690, with 41
of the
66 newspapers having a daily circulation under 50,000 and
19 of those 66 being under
25,000. Generally, the larger (i.e. above 50,000 circulation)
newspapers had better
packaging of elements, more use of modern devices and larger
photographs on their front
pages. Glimpses of non-modern design elements surfaced more frequently in the
lower-circulation dailies. There may exist a modern design adoption gap
between the
larger and smaller-circulation newspapers.
Endnotes
1M. L. Stein, "The Reborn Oakland Tribune," Editor & Publisher (Feb. 1993):
12-13.
2Ronald G. Hicks and James S. Featherston, "Duplication of Newspaper Content in
Contrasting Ownership Situations," Journalism Quarterly 55
(1978): 549-553.
3The most common definition of a chain is "ownership of two or more newspapers
in
different cities by a single firm or individual." In B.M.
Compaine's Who owns the
media? 2nd ed. (White Plains, N.Y.: Knowledge Industry Publications,
1982).
4Kevin Barnhurst argued in his 1993 paper that in Peru, a newspaper used its
page
design to downplay news about a controversial anti-government
group.
5Ben H. Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly (Boston: Beacon Press, 1990).
6D.C. Coulson, "Impact of Ownership on Newspaper Quality," Journalism Quarterly
71
(1994): 403-410.
7W.I. Romanow and W.C. Soderlund, "Thomsom Newspapers' Acquisition of the Globe
and
Mail: A Case Study of Content Change," Gazette 41(1) (1988):
5-18.
8N.R. Kleinfield, "The Great Press Chain," The New York Times Magazine (April
1979):
41-63.
9Dwight William Jensen, "A Quantitative Profile of Gannett Newspapers," (Revised
version of a paper presented to AEJMC, Gainesville, FL, 1984).
10G.A. Gladney, "The McPaper Revolution? USA Today-style Innovation at Large
U.S.
Dailies," Newspaper Research Journal 13 (1&2) (Winter/Spring
1992): 54-71.
11John Soloski, "Economics and Management Technique: The Real Influence of
Newspaper
Chains" (Paper presented to the AEJMC, Houston, TX, 1979).
12Theodore L. Glasser et al., "The Influence of Chain Ownership on News Play: A
Case
Study of Knight-Ridder Newspapers" (Paper presented to
AEJMC, Portland, OR, 1988).
13J. Busterna and K.A. Hansen, "Presidential Endorsement Patterns within Daily
Newspaper Chains" (Paper presented to AEJMC, Washington, D. C.
1989).
14D. Wackman, D.L. Gillmor, C. Gaziano and E. Dennis, "Chain Newspaper Autonomy
as
Reflected in Presidential Campaign Endorsements," Journalism
Quarterly 52 (1975):
411-420.
15G. Stone, "A Mellow Appraisal of media Monopoly Mania," In M. Emery and T.C.
Smythe,
eds. Readings in Mass Communications: Concepts and Issues
in the Mass Media (4th ed.).
(Dubuque: William C. Brown, 1980).
16D. Wackman, D.L. Gillmor, C. Gaziano and E. Dennis, "Chain Newspaper Autonomy
as
Reflected in Presidential Campaign Endorsements," Journalism
Quarterly 52 (1975):
411-420.
17Byron St. Dizier, "Editorial Page Editors and Endorsements: Chain Owned vs.
Independent Papers" (Paper presented to the AEJMC, Norman, OK,
1988).
18Kenneth Rystrom, "Apparent Impact of Endorsements by Group and Independent
Newspapers," Journalism Quarterly 64 (1987): 449-453, 532.
19Bruce D. Daugherty, "Group Owned Newspapers vs. Independently Owned
Newspapers: An
Analysis of the Differences and Similarities," (unpublished
Ph.D. diss., University of
Texas, 1983).
20Martha N. Matthews, "Newspaper Ownership and Publisher Autonomy: A Ranking of
the
Chains," (unpublished Ph.D. diss., University of North
Carolina, 1994).
21W.B. Blankenburg and G.W. Ozanich, "The Effects of Public Ownership on the
Financial
Performance of Newspaper Corporations," Journalism
Quarterly 70 (1993): 68-75.
22Matthews.
23Former editor of the Dallas Times-Herald, as quoted in Matthews.
24Steve Pasternack and Sandra H. Utt, "A Study of America's Front Pages: A
10-year
Update," (Paper presented to the AEJMC, Atlanta, GA, 1994).
25Modern graphic devices include: flag style, use of width variation, number of
stories
beginning, lead story placement, overall style of page, use of tooling lines,
screens,
charts, maps and artwork, use of packages, use of spot color, use of
four-color, do
minant photo location, use of teasers, digest and headline
style.
26A package is defined as playing a story, photo(s) or artwork(s) and
headline(s) as a
unit, usually in a box.
Table 1
Largest U.S. Newspaper Companies
Company Daily Number Average
Circulation Dailies Circulation
Gannett Co., Inc. 5,843,328 83 70,401
Knight-Ridder Inc. 3,678,200 28 131,364
Newhouse Newspapers 2,983,429 26 114,747
Times Mirror Co. 2,713,742 11 246,704
New York Times Co. 2,471,587 25 98,863
Thomson Newspapers Inc. 2,072,649 109 19,015
Cox Enterprises Inc. 1,312,239 19 69,065
Scripps Howard 1,300,391 19 68,442
Hearst Newspapers 1,256,202 12* 104,684
Media News Group 1,045,406 17 61,494
Freedom Newspapers Inc. 943,227 26 36,278
*Five newspapers did not respond; therefore, the eleventh group was included.
Table 2
Responding Papers' Daily Circulation by Group
Gannett Co. Inc.
The Des Moines [IA] Register 187,746
The [San Bernardino, CA] Sun 83,812
The [White Plains, NY] Reporter Dispatch 46,970
Norwich [CT] Bulletin 33,621
Muskogee [OK] Daily Phoenix 18,908
The Ithaca [NY] Journal 18,780
Knight-Ridder Inc.
San Jose [CA] Mercury News 282,488
Pioneer Press [St. Paul, MN] 214,541
Post Tribune [Gary, IN] 74,155
The [Myrtle Beach, SC] Sun News 38,229
The [Milledgeville, GA] Union-Recorder 8,352
Newhouse Newspapers
Union News [Springfield, MA] 108,605
The Flint [MI] Journal 102,226
Kalamazoo [MI] Gazette 65,836
The [Harrisburg, PA] Patriot 62,652
The Saginaw [MI] News 56,577
The Ann Arbor [MI] News 51,578
The Muskegon [MI] Chronicle 47,196
The Bay City [MI] Times 39,921
Times Mirror Co.
Los Angeles [CA] Times 1,089,690
The Hartford [CT] Courant 229,504
The Morning Call [Allentown, PA] 137,735
The [Stamford, CT] Advocate 29,987
Greenwich [CT] Time 13,323
The New York Times Co.
Sarasota [FL] Herald-Tribune 122,606
The [Lakeland, FL] Ledger 82,151
Morning Star [Wilmington, NC] 52,988
Santa Barbara [CA] News-Press 52,324
Times Daily [Florence, AL] 34,499
The Gadsden [AL] Times 30,441
The Courier [Houma, LA] 20,108
The Daily Corinthian [Corinth, MS] 8,942
Thomson Newspapers Inc.
San Gabriel Valley [CA] Tribune 56,269
Portsmouth [NH] Herald 15,276
Northwest Arkansas Times [Fayetteville, AR] 12,791
Griffin [GA] Daily News 11,929
The Leavenworth [KS] Times 8,685
Cox Enterprises Inc.
The Atlanta [GA] Constitution 299,669
Austin [TX] American-Statesman 173,105
Dayton [OH] Daily News 171,667
The Daily Sentinel [Grand Junction, CO] 30,264
Longview [TX] News-Journal 28,967
The Yuma [AZ] Daily Sun 16,482
The Daily Sentinel [Nacogdoches, TX] 8,274
Scripps Howard
The Commercial Appeal [Memphis, TN] 183,185
The Knoxville [TN] News-Sentinel 123,904
The Evansville [IN] Courier 64,260
Birmingham [AL] Post Herald 60,129
Naples [FL] Daily News 44,068
Kentucky Post [Covington, KY] 43,917
Stuart [FL] News 33,108
El Paso [TX] Herald Post 25,150
Media News Group
The Houston [TX] Post 284,220
The North Jersey Herald News [Passaic, NJ] 58,757
The Tribune Democrat [Johnstown, PA] 48,530
Tri-Valley Herald [Livermore, CA] 34,140
Potomac News [Woodbridge, VA] 27,703
Las Cruces, [NM] Sun-News 20,801
Daily News-Miner [Fairbanks, AK] 17,860
Today's Sunbeam [Salem, NJ] 10,296
Freedom Newspapers Inc.
The Lima [OH] News 35,555
Times-News [Burlington, NC] 29,074
Fort Pierce [FL] Tribune 26,118
Delta Democrat Times [Greenville, MS] 13,671
The Free Press [Kinston, NC] 13,220
Porterville [CA] Recorder 12,919
Table 13
Modern Devices Usage By Group
Group Completely Mostly Mixture Non-Modern
Modern Modern
Gannett Co. Inc. 1 3 2 0
Knight-Ridder Inc. 0 3 2 0
Newhouse Newspapers 1 2 2 3
Times Mirror Co. 1 1 2 1
New York Times Co. 0 2 3 3
Thomson 0 1 2 2
Cox Enterprises 3 2 1 1
Scripps Howard 3 3 2 0
Media News Group 1 3 2 2
Freedom Newspapers Inc. 1 2 0 3
Totals 11 22 18 15
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