M.C Chronicle

Examination Guidelines

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:30:00 +0000

JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMAN KARACHI
Mass Communication BS (III)
Course # 3162 Course Title: Newspaper & Magazine Production

Terminal Examination - Final

Section 1 (write a brief note on each of the five topics) – total marks 30
Attempt any three questions. All questions carry equal marks.

Section 2 (Multiple Choice Questions) - Circle your choice – total marks 30
Attempt all questions. Questions carry equal marks.

Terminal assignment: prepare a magazine- total marks 20

Simple and neat magazine page layout

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:27:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

Whatever you do in real life, it has to be done with neatness and elegance. Get an attractive magazine and a shoddy one from the bookstall. Compare them page by page and you will know what makes one better than the other. Go step by step from learning the basic design principles to the most sophisticated touches.

What’s designing a good magazine layout all about? It’s presenting the content in the best way. Opinions may differ from person to person but a good layout speaks for itself. A sophisticated literary magazine is certainly different from a trendy teenager weekly. But there are certain universal principles followed by all layout experts. You start with ‘Page Setup’.

Page Setup

Because most articles encompass more than just a single page magazines use ‘spreads’ or ‘facing pages’ rather than individual ‘pages’. So you set page preferences to show ‘Facing Pages’ without any gap between the two (set consistent margins around the edges). Use option ‘Mirror Margins’ to make them balanced on each side.

A grid system, comprising a series of guide lines is used to quickly design consistently uniform pages throughout the magazine. The grid indicates lines and columns to accommodate text which is flowed in the preset columns, and images set in picture boxes. On a standard A4 page, three or four columns are usually laid out.

Placing Images

As you know, a picture is more eye-catching than letters or text. On any page or facing-page layout the main image related to the article grab the reader’s attention. However, you must never forget that a page is meant to be read. So the text flow should by eye catching too, and must not strain the eye of the reader. A layout designer may be compelled to spread large amounts of white text on solid black background but it is never wise as it puts strain on the eye of the reader.

The photographs should be of a high resolution: 70-100dpi on newsprint and 600dpi on matte-finish art paper. Offset paper can take 300dpi.

Pictures can be cropped or trimmed to fit the space provided for it. But never stretch or squeeze a picture to fit the space.

Some images require you to use ‘text wrap’ settings so that the text is wrapped to flow around the image.

Remember to look for and carefully adjust setting to bring text to the front because it would be the last thing you want for the article text to be hidden by a picture.

Type Styles

Your computer has so many fonts but you should not use too many on the same page. Select a good typeface that suits well for body text. Use one or more matching/contrasting fonts for headlines, highlights and captions. In the beginning, you may try only one additional font for headlines, subheadings and captions but in appropriate point sizes.

Begin by setting paragraph specifications, and that may include drop capital for the first (or the lead) paragraph.

Then set the headline and the subheading.

Lead paragraph is the first paragraph of the article. It may often be set in a slightly larger point size and may have a drop cap at the beginning.

The body copy style is the one used for the major part of the article.

Box-out or Highlight: A quote, a small paragraph might catch the eye of a reader and encourage them to read the full article, or it may sum up the spirit of the piece. That is also set as a highlight of the article.

Caption tells the readers the details about a picture or a diagram.

These are some of the basic elements of magazine design. As you make more sophisticated designs, more and more elements are added. You have to define type styles to ensure consistent formatting.

A number of fonts such as Helvetica, Verdana or Arial Black (both sans serif fonts) for headlines and serif fonts such as Times New Roman, Garamond or Palatino for the body text. Sans-serif fonts such as Arial or Helvetica can be used for the captions.

Make the Text Flow

Number of words in an article gives you a good estimate of how much space it would take up. Use your good judgment to decide how many columns would you like to the first two facing pages to have. Make text flow into the text box columns that you have set.

Most software take a font size of 12pt as default; however, magazines usually use a size of 10 or 11 points. Both sides justified is the standard format but it is less common nowadays and the right side is set as ragged (in other words: left aligned). Try the best combination of point size, line spacing and justification settings to find the best balance.

You must not fill the whole page with just the body text. You must use a photograph or some other visual element to make the page more attractive and less monotonous. A box-out/highlight would break monotony in a page when you run out of photographs or other visual elements.

As discussed in the classroom and mentioned in previous notes, when reading most languages, apart from Urdu, Arabic and Persian, a reader’s eye moves from the top left of the page to the bottom left. Page designing software allows for much creative freedom and you may feel like trying out crazy ideas. Do that as long as they look good but remember to give all the elements on a page enough room to breathe.

If page elements are clashing, separate them or get rid of them. Just remember that magazine pages are meant to be read, not to be put on the wall.

These were just the basics of page layout design. Once you familiarize yourself with them, go for more complex and more attractive professional designs. But first, do a lot of comparative study.

For questions click here

Reading and correcting text proofs

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:24:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

You get a text print as a galley proof or a page proof which is required to be proofread. So you read the proofs closely to detect typographical errors to be corrected before any printing is done. You mark the corrections on the page for aother person to correct, or do the corrections yourself on a computer. You have to do it so that the text printed is exactly the same as the original manuscript. This is proofreading. A proof reader does not have the right to make any corrections on his own. Any spelling, grammar or syntax error is to be marked and referred back to the copy editor.

Having been read and marked, proofs are returned to the typesetter (computer operator) or graphic artist for correction (when you are reading the proofs of a visual). Once the corrections have been made, a print is again made and read once again. This re-reading goes on until all the proofs are error free. The proofs read are signed by the person who has done the proofreading with date (and also time if required).

Fast proofreading: Proof reading along with copy holding (or copy reading), is a more quick method. It requires two persons. The first reads aloud the text from original manuscript. The second one listens and compares the composed (typeset) text and marks any differences between the text read and the typeset text.

Double proofreading: In this method, a proofreader checks a proof in the traditional manner and passes it on to a second reader who repeats the process. Both initial the proof. Note that with both copy holding and double reading, responsibility for a given proof is necessarily shared by two individuals.

More recently, the sub editors have to do all proofreading as well as correction on computers.

For questions click here

Selecting the content for your magazine

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:22:00 +0000

by: Sir Khalid Rahman

Once the basics of a magazine have been agreed upon and decided, the regular work of an editor begins. An editor has to plan the magazine, decide who to assign the contents, articles as well as pictures and visual. Once the contents start coming in, the editor has to start editing and thinking about the magazine layout.

The idea for an article may germinate in the mind of an editor, a corporate sponsor or a writer, like a painting which may be created by an artist or assigned to him by someone else. In either case, it is the writer, or the artist, whose efforts make the work happen. With an editor, it is different: he has to make the article more interesting and readable by using his professional skills.

The bulk of magazine writing is done on assignment. What sort of an article needs to be assigned? A how-to article? A personal experience? A first person narration? A happening? An observation? An analysis? Social issue? Art? Showbiz? Politics? Civil rights? Cookery? Anything or anyone under the sun can be the topic of an article; however it must fit in with the magazine profile. The editor has to assign the articles to the most suitable writers.

Almost every magazine has guidelines for their contributors. These guidelines should be understood well and strictly followed. A writer has to be careful not to annoy the editor with frequent and no-so-important queries. If a writer continues to be careless or insensitive, their name will be included in the list of people with whom the editor will not work. Instead, they should try to be included in the list of writer who are regularly called with ideas and assignments—those on the list of regular contributors.

What is most important is the editor is the captain of the ship that is your magazine. An editor has the last say and his word must be taken very seriously. On the other hand, selecting the content of the magazine is the acid test the editor has to pass. It is an editor's hardest test.

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Seven Traits of Highly Effective Press Releases

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:20:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

Why are PR people like nuclear weapons?
1. If one side has one, the other side has to get one.
2. Once the news release is emailed, it cannot be recalled.
3. When they land, they screw up everything forever.

A man phones a PR consultant and asks, “How much would you charge for just answering three simple questions?”
The PR consultant replies, “A thousand dollars.”
“A thousand dollars!” exclaims the man. “That’s very expensive isn’t it?”
“It certainly is,” says the PR consultant. “Now, what’s your third question?”

PR’s importance is changing. According to The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, American marketing strategists Al and Laura Ries argue that public relations has become the most effective way to build a brand. Well-known brands like The Body Shop, PlayStation and Harry Potter spend little on brand-name advertising. The same is true for many entrepreneurial companies like yours. Business owners become known in their respective fields of concentration many times through public relations and the associated media generated.

All companies and non-profit organizations have one important attribute in common: they have a need to communicate effectively with certain target audiences and they want to have a good image in the community.

Whether they recognize it or not they are constantly involved in public relations and government relations.

Why you need PR? Because getting the word out about your product or service should always be a priority.

“Public relations is the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an organization with the public interest, and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.”

--

Characteristics of successful press releases

Whether created by a PR agency or an executive in your Advertising Department, issuing an effective press release is very important to the outcome of your announcement. Successful press releases have a few traits in common.

Possibly, the most important factor in ensuring the success of your press release is ensuring that the information contained in the press release is newsworthy. It may be futile to issue a press release that contains too little information or information that is of no value to the media and the general public.

To gain additional success in issuing a press release, the content must appeal to the consumer. Explaining to the reader that the information contained in a press release is intended for them and why it is important to them will entice consumers to read the release in its entirety.

The chronological order in which you announce things is another very important aspect of creating an effective and successful press release. In the first few sentences you should provide a synopsis of the important news followed by who or what organization first announced it.

Wording your press release so that consumers can relate to the news will make the reader want to read more. Developing a press release in which consumers can connect will make the press release more effective.

The first ten words of your press release will make or break its success. Be sure that these words capture the readers’ attention and make them want to read and know more. Use language that is simple to understand. Using industry jargon and abbreviations is frowned on. Avoid fancy terms and over using adjectives. This will take away from the message you are trying to send.

Effective press releases provide extensive contact information. Names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and websites should all be listed in the press release. It is important that you convey who should be contacted about your release.

If the ideas above are implemented in the process of developing a press release, your message will be conveyed to the appropriate audience and you are more likely to achieve your desired result.

--

This is how a staff reporter describes as the best press release:

1. Everything must be accurate, plain and simple. From your name, your client's name, contact information and background. You screw up once, even if it's a misspelling, you're not opening my eyes.

2. Brevity is perfect. Get your message across in one page, if not less. You should be able to sum up your story pitch in three sentences. Those sentences should, in a perfect world, act as a reporter’s nut graph (a sentence or two that explains the point and relevance of a story).

3. Provide background. If you come with some statistics or proof that your story is actually important and relevant, you should have no problem getting additional attention from a reporter or editor. Without background, you’re forcing the reporter to take time out to find the relevance. In this day and age, time is currency. Also, provide a description of the client and some relevant history. Keep it short.

4. Know the particulars of the media and the section of the media to which you are sending your press release. To a technical section, you have to pitch stories that provide technical information and you will see that your story moves to the top of the list because you have taken time out to understand the publication.

5. Do not tell the reporter that the readers would benefit from your story pitch. Reporters are by nature arrogant. It is they who decide what their readers would benefit from.

That didn't take long, huh? Get my point?
--
Seven Traits of Highly Effective Press Releases
This study was taken recently by a PR agency in the US.
Let us look at releases which prove a hit, and see what attributes they have in common. Let us be simple and straightforward.
Count the words in the body, the date and time of release, whether the release included a photo, and so on for a total of seven main traits.

Click here to ask questions

what makes a magazine or a newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:18:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

Magazines and newsletters have an attractive and appropriate masthead that features its name (sometimes also called the nameplate) and its dateline details mentioned. It has a table of contents, main article, follwed by other articles, features, photographs, and pictures, body text and headlines. At least ten parts of a magazine/newsletter design must be kept in mind when planning or executing the periodical.
1. Masthead/Nameplate: The banner on the front of a magazine or newsletter that identifies the publication is its masthead or nameplate. It usually contains its name in graphics or in a logogram. It can also contain a subtitle or motto besides publication information including volume and issue and/or date. In newsletters it is on the first page. In magazines, it is there on the main title as well as inside, preferably with the TOC.
2. Body (Inside Pages): The body of the magazine or newsletter is the bulk of the text excluding the headlines and decorative text elements. It's the articles that mostly make up its content.
3. Table of Contents (TOC): It lists articles and special sections and the page number for those items. In newslettters it usually appears on the front page, and before the rest of the contents in magazines.
4. Print Panel: It lists the name of the publisher and other pertinent data, including staff names, contributors, subscription information, editorial and advertising contact addresses, etc.
5. Signposts: Visual signposts or cues let the readers know where they are and where they are reading. They break up text and images into readable, easy-to-follow blocks or panels of information. Apart from the main headline, various other heads are:
Blurb: The blurb is one or more descriptive lines placed between the headline and the body of the article. They indicate, elaborate or expand on the headline. They may be placed in one or more decks, set in a typeface size that is less than the headline and more than the body text.
Byline: The byline indicates the name of the author. Generally appearing between the headline and the body text, and prefaced by the word "By" or "From" or other wording, it may also be used to give credit for photographs or illustrations. It could also appear at the end of the article, sometimes as part of a mini-bio of the author.
Crosshead: It is one or more lines of text found between the text blocks of the article. It elaborates or expands on the headline and topic of the accompanying text. Sometimes it is given just to break the monotony of continued text.
Deck: You make a headline or subhead in single, double or triple deck as required.
Headline: After the nameplate, the headline identifying each article in a newsletter is the most prominent text element.
Kicker: The kicker is a very brief phrase found set above the headline, usually in a smaller type than the headline. It serves as an introduction or as a section heading to identify a regular column.
Running Head: More familiarly known as a header, a running headline is repeating text — often the title of the publication — that appears, usually at the top, of each page or every other page in a newsletter design. The page number is sometimes incorporated with the running headline.
Subhead: Subheads appear within the body of articles to divide the article into smaller sections.
6. Page Numbers: Page numbers can appear at the top, bottom, or sides of pages. Usually page one is not numbered in a newsletter.
7. Continuation Lines (also Jumplines): When articles span two or more pages, continuation lines are used to help readers find the rest of the article. Most commonly they appear at the end of a column, as in continued on page 45. Continuation lines at the top of a column indicate where the article is continued from, as in continued from page 16.
Continuation Heads: When articles jump from one page to another, continuation heads are sometimes used to identify the continued portion of the articles. The continuation headlines, along with jumplines, provide continuity and cue the reader as to where to pick up reading.
8. End Signs: A dingbat is usually used to mark the end of a story in a newsletter or a magazine. It signals the end of the article.
9. Highlight (also Pull-Quotes): Used to attract attention and to manage space, a small selection of text is pulled out and quoted in a larger typeface and placed at an appropriate position.
10. Photos / Illustrations: A newsletter design layout may contain photographs, drawings, charts, graphs, or clip art.
Mug Shot (also Portrait): The most typical people photograph found is the mug shot — a more or less straight into the camera head and shoulders picture.
Formal or informal pictures: Formal or ceremonial photographs are sometimes necessity of an article but informal photographs are more natural looking and hence more attractive.
Cutout: Some pictures or photographs are cut along the outline of an interesting shape — a head or body, and object in part or whole and set in an unusual position — sometimes even pushing into the text block, to make the page look unusual and more distinguished. This is a cutout.
Caption: The caption is a phrase, sentence, or paragraph describing the contents of an illustration such as a photograph or chart. The caption is usually placed directly above, below, or to the side of the picture it describes. /END

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More About Magazines Journalism

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:16:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

In the simplest terms, a magazine can be defined as a periodical publication containing articles and illustrations covering specific subjects. I would like to add to this: a magazine should also be loaded with interesting surprises. (No surprises, no sale. No sale, no magazine.)

Magazines are an important part of the profession of journalism. They have a long and distinguished history, and they continue to make significant contributions to the news of the day. Magazines have contributed or pioneered a number of important aspects to journalism, including (1) investigative reporting; (2) photojournalism; (3) the personality profile; (4) narrative journalistic writing (interviews, features and articles).

In the past, magazines have often been harbingers of change. When social, economic or technological shifts reshaping the culture took place, magazines were the once to move and bring the juicy details to the readership. While newspapers are tied to a specific geographic area, magazines are centered on interests or niches. Magazine writers are looking for trends. Titles are added or subtracted to attract specific audience segments or interests. Advertisers, too, pick up hot titles of the moment aimed at particular demographics and put their precious money on them.

Background

Magazines became the major forum for a special brand of journalism, photojournalism, in the middle of the 20th century. When television had just made its debut, pictures of important and interesting happenings with descriptive narration and relevant stories reached an inquisitive audience (then called readership). While newspapers were more concerned with reporting the day’s events with just a few photographs, weekly magazines such as Life, Time and Newsweek, and prestigious monthlies such as National Geographic distinguished themselves by their photographic imagery. The Reader’s Digest stood out by providing one article for each day of the month to interested readers as it contained 30 articles in each issue.

Bringing out quality magazines is expensive. At home, in Pakistan, good magazines have been brought out by big publishing houses or the government information departments.

The Golden Age of magazine journalism with photos as an integral part ended in the 1970s when good magazines faced tough competition with electronic media for advertising revenue to continue their large circulations and high costs. Many magazines had to close down and only those who turned their attention to television survived. Many newspapers too are struggling now to sustain their publication.

Ask your queries here

Basic Terminologies

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:14:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

This question was asked in my class. Here is a clarification "by the book".

baseline: In typography, it is the imaginary line upon which a line of text rests. In most typefaces, the descenders on characters such as g or p extend down below the baseline while curved letters such as c or o extend ever-so-slightly below the baseline. The baseline is the point from which other elements of type are measured including x-height and leading. The baseline is also significant in the alignment of drop caps and other page elements.

catchline: a word, phrase, or sentence used, especially in advertising or journalism, to arouse or call attention. 2. (typesetting) a temporary headline for identification on the top of a galley proof; 3. a line in which a catchword appears. 4. a line of lesser importance, set shorter or sometimes in smaller type than the lines above and beneath it. 5. (theater) a line of comic dialogue expected to elicit laughter. 6. Also see slug (see below).

credit line: A line of copy acknowledging the source or origin of a news dispatch, published article, or other work; 2. The maximum amount of credit to be extended to a customer. Also called line of credit.

slug: any of various snaillike terrestrial gastropods having no shell or only a rudimentary one, feeding on plants and a pest of leafy garden crops; 2. a nudibranch; 3. a metal disk used as a coin or token, generally counterfeit; 4. a piece of lead or other metal for firing from a gun; 5. any heavy piece of crude metal; 6. (printing) a. a thick strip of type metal less than type-high; b. such a strip containing a type-high number or other character for temporary use; c. a line of type in one piece, as produced by a Linotype; 7. Informal . a shot of liquor taken neat; belt; 8. (slang) a person who is lazy or slow-moving; sluggard; 9. a slow-moving animal, vehicle, or the like; 10. (journalism) a. Also called catchline: a short phrase or title used to indicate the story content of newspaper or magazine copy; b. the line of type carrying this information; 11. (metalworking) a small piece of metal ready for processing; 12. a gold coin of California, privately issued in 1849 and for some time after, worth 50 dollars; 13. (physics) a unit of mass, equivalent to approximately 32.2 pounds (15 kg) and having the property that a force of one pound acting upon a mass of this unit produces an acceleration of one foot per second per second; 14. an irregular projection or knob on the surface of yarn, usually produced by lint or by defects in weaving.

strapline: a subheading in a newspaper or magazine article or in any advertisement.

Still confused, ask here

Qualification and Job of an Editor

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:12:00 +0000

by: Sir Khalid Rehman

An editor is an experienced professional who possesses great knowledge of his subject. He reads news and articles, expresses his learned opinion. He makes sure that the policies of the magazine are carried out. He also edits and supervises production of the magazine. So editing is not a profession that you can jump right into. You must have a great deal of experience and education to be an editor. The editorial desk is populated by a number of sub or sub editors who assist the editor in the many ways in which an editor functions. In a newspaper, according to his seniority and functionality, a professional may be a senior sub editor, an assistant editor, a senior assistant editor, a news editor, a city editor, an assignments editor, a business editor, a sports editor, a magazine editor, a features editor or a supplement editor. In a magazine, there is usually an editor (who may also be called a chief editor), an executive editor (who holds executive power), an associate editor, one or more assistant editors, various section editors (fashion, art, fiction, cookery, features editor, etc) and editorial assistants. Obviously, different editorial sections have their respective editors.

Anyone who has the capabilities mentioned above can become a magazine editor.

Starting at the first rung of the editorial ladder, you start with a desire to become an editor and to have a great thirst for knowledge to stay in this respectable profession.

To become a newspaper or magazine editor, you start here:

Obtain a degree in journalism or English, take writing and editing classes, read different magazines, newspapers and journals a lot and write much less than that, but do write, build up your vocabulary, grammar skills and knowledge of current events.
Gain writing and publishing experience by getting involved in your local magazines. Make yourself familiar with research and interviewing techniques.
Call various newspaper and magazines to find out if they are hiring interns. Write a letter to the editor in charge where you would like to work. Send information on your academic background and experience and include the reason for choosing the specific newspaper or magazine. Jump on that internship offer even it is unpaid for. (Brace yourself for being coaxed and cajoled by your seniors. One day, you might be doing the same.)
Once you have gained practical experience, which depends mostly upon your own learning capability and the organization you are working for, assess yourself to see if you are ready for an editing position. Begin the search for a job. Prepare your resume and samples of your work. Get ready the references of the people where you previously worked for.
Search the wanted ads for any editorial job openings in your area or city. Send your resume to apply for the position that fits your inclination, experience and academic background.

Nature of the Work

Generally, magazines fall into different categories: business and professional, and those intended for the general public. Newspapers, too, are business and general. Even general newspapers have different sections and usually bring out a weekly magazine.

There are different kinds of editors on a magazine, and their specific duties vary. In large magazines, the executive editor or chief editor sees that the given editorial policy is firmly carried out. This is an administrative job. The magazine—from choice of contents to edited text, pictures, captions, and headings—is the responsibility of the editor (or the editor-in-chief in case of big newspapers and magazines). The editor (with the help of a panel of leader writers) also expresses newspaper or the magazine’s point of view through editorials, which are actually short essays on current topics.

Editors look after the day-to-day work of selecting articles, editing and arranging copy, and supervising other junior editors. Sometimes they are put in charge of a bureau or branch office in another city.

In general, editors do not write articles (but sometimes they do). Actually, they edit articles and form and shape its content. Articles are usually written by staff writers or freelancers. Editors revise articles and may write headlines and captions and review page proofs. They must also be sure that the articles are the right length. If a story is too long, for instance, it must be cut very to fit the space available.

Editors also plan the artwork, illustrations, and photos to go with each story. They work closely with the art and production departments to prepare and approve page layouts that carry out the magazine's visual or graphic style.

Editors have editorial assistants who may answer letters, do research, or screen manuscripts that arrive at the magazine. When the editor finishes with an article, it goes to a copy editor, who reviews, corrects, and tweaks the article to fit the magazine’s style.

In smaller magazines having smaller staffs, the executive or chief editor may perform a variety of editorial tasks, such as writing, editing, and copyediting, besides supervising the staff and keeping the magazine on schedule. In a small company each staff member has multiple jobs.

Special Experience Required

Advanced computer skills and a good sense of language and grammar are essential requirements for being an editor. For professional magazines, editors must have academic knowledge or working experience in the field in which the magazine specializes. For instance, an engineer may become an editor for a professional engineering magazine, a veteran photographer for a magazine on photography, and a fashion designer for a fashion magazine.

A Fashion Magazine Editor in the Making

A fashion editor finds beautiful or trendy clothes and works with photographers and models to create a fashion spread for a magazine or a whole fashion magazine. A fashion editor must be very detail-oriented and passionate about fashion.

If you are not a professional fashion designer, become an expert on fashion. Take fashion classes at a design school or teach yourself by reading fashion magazines. Getting to know the work and style of major fashion photographers, designers, magazine editors, models and other fashion world figures.
Start writing for fashion magazines, websites and blogs as a freelance writer. This will give you valuable experience and knowledge of the fashion industry. You will make contacts within the fashion world and write-ups and press releases on new fashions will start coming to you. You can expect receiving invitations to fashion shows too.
Follow a good fashion editor closely if possible. You will learn a lot from their experience, and have knowledge of fashion trends, styles, fabrics and a keen eye for detail. You must be prepared to do it for free.
Get an internship with a fashion magazine. As an intern you will be able to attend photo shoots and assist the fashion editor. Get in touch with key figures in the fashion industry and develop a good relationship with them.
Apply for a job at major fashion magazines. Once you have all the experience and knowledge, you can start applying to various fashion magazines. Prepare a detailed cover letter and impressive resume that details all of your experience and accomplishments. You should also include your published work or a portfolio of fashion spreads.

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How Magazines are Different from Newspapers

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:09:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

(This is too basic but pertains to BS Part 3 curriculum of Newspaper and Magazine Production)

Magazine journalism is different from newspaper journalism in many ways. Some of them are:

Periodicity: Newspapers are produced daily. Magazines appear weekly, fortnightly, monthly or any other regular interval.
Content: Newspapers provide short international, national and local news though op-ed pages contain opinions, editorials and other stuff too. Magazines contain detailed views, opinions, articles and features of a wide variety. Newspapers usually bring out weekly supplements and magazines which are distributed free with newspapers.
Audience: Newspapers have a much wider spectrum of audience than magazines which are aimed at specific audiences such as women, children, students, business community, medical or any other professionals, groups and communities, etc.
Size & Appearance: Newspapers are usually broadsheet although tabloids are half the size of a broadsheet. Magazines are usually A4 size; they may be tabloid but never broadsheet. Newspapers are printed on newsprint but magazines use better quality paper--offset, art paper or matte-finish.
Title and Layout: Newspapers have an eight-column grid and the page-one has a specific masthead instead of a full-page title like magazines. One page of a newspaper contains several items. Magazines have a full-page pictorial title with important articles highlighted. Each article may be spread over more than one page.

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what makes a good editor

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:06:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

What makes a good editor?

An editor should ideally have:
1. Human qualities of sympathy, insight, breadth of view, sense of humour and imagination.
2. A well-balanced and orderly mind, one suggesting judgment, perspective, and a sense of proportion.
3. A cool head; the ability to work in an atmosphere of excitement and hurry without becoming flustered or incapable of accuracy.
4. Quickness of thought — coupled with accuracy.
5. Keenness, conscientiousness and ruthlessness — rightly used.
6. Well-informed common sense that translates into sound judgment.
7. The ability to set aside your own feelings and see things from the point of view of the reader — whose representative you are.
8. A familiarity with the major laws concerning libel, copyright, invasion of privacy, and contempt.
10. Dedication to physical fitness in a trying, sedentary job that takes a toll on the stomach, eyes and nerves.
11. Team spirit. Publications, in order to be published regularly, require a dedication to cooperation and collaboration.
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Freelancers' Favourite Editor
What the freelancers want their editor to be like? Freelancers love to grouse about bad editors but good editors are a like treasure. So few and far between. Several queries to veteran freelancers boiled down to the following top qualities of a good editor.
1. Good editors have good etiquette. They inform you when they receive your story, call or email to discuss its attribnutes. Edit it in a timely fashion.
2. They are organized. They keep track of several writers working on multiple stories for multiple issues without constantly acting like the world’s about to end.
3. They have a good grasp of their publication or their department. They can explain to you why your article is or isn’t good. And they can make practical suggestions for appropriate changest.
4. They suggests sources for stories or makes themselves available for brainstorming.
5. They are not stingy with praise if your article is really good.
6. They are prudent copywriters and their editing actually improves your copy rather than making it confusing.
7. They are not egotist and can relate to writers as equals, not underlings.
8. They are good decision makers and do not change their mind, asking you to doi your story from a different angle after it has been done.
9. They keep their promises and retain their contracts. They make sure you get paid well and on time.
10. They show their appreciation, by regularly giving you assignments :)
Would you like to add any other qualities or as k a question click here?

Layout and Fonts

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

Layouts and Fonts

Fonts have great impact on the overall professionalism of a magazine conveys. Too many font faces is visually confusing to the reader. Too much varied stuff can be tiring on the eyes too.

- It is always good to use only one to two font families--one for the headlines and subheads, one for the body text.

- Research shows that serif fonts, especially small ones, are easier to read than san-serif fonts. The eye tracks across the serifs of the letters making reading easier.

- ALL CAPS are difficult to read. For emphasis using italics or bold is a good alternative to using CAPS.

- Stretching/compressing fonts on your desktop publishing set-up makes them awkward (watch for the dot above 'i' which gets distorted when the font is extended or condensed artificially). It is always better to use the extended or condensed version of that font or even another font family.

Multi-column Layouts

Magazines and newspapers use a multi-column grid for page layout. Measure their length and width and note them for reference.

Using one column across the page makes the lines unreadable because reader’s eye has difficulty following end of one line to the beginning of the next line. That is why regular sized magazines use three columns and digest-sized magazines use two. Not only does it look more professional but text will flow better on the page and you will have more options for placing photos.

White spaces look good

Stuffing as much as you can onto a page is visually overwhelming to the reader.

Although it can be difficult, but leaving some areas of the page blank make text and picture portions more attractive. Experiment with leaving some column white space in your multi-column layout. Run text in one of the columns only with a photo or graph covering the other two columns. Try starting your article halfway down the page with the top half being reserved for a photo. Experiment with layouts.

Never on the edge

Layouts with text too close to the edge of the page appear stuffed. Never try to fill up the entire space. At least ¼-inch margin is suggested but ½ inch or even more will look even better. It looks more professional to add more white space.

Fonts and typefaces

A font is an especially designed set of characters. It is the combination of typeface and design characteristics such as size, pitch and spacing.

The height of characters in a font is measured in points. Each point is 1/72 of an inch.

The width is measured by pitch, which refers to how many characters can fit in an inch. Common pitch values are 10 and 12. A font is said to be fixed pitch if every character has the same width (as in an old typewriter). If the widths vary depending on the shape of the character, it is called a proportional font.

Font Families

A font family is a group of fonts that have similarities in design. One member of the font family may be bold, while another member of the same family may be italic (these characteristics are also referred to as font style). Families are generally grouped into categories based on design specifications such as serifs, fonts that resemble handwriting, or even its proportional spacing. The five generic font families consist of fonts in the categories of serif, sans-serif, cursive, fantasy and monospace. There are other font families such as Times, Script, Arial and Courier to name but a few of the more popular families.

The term font is often used as a synonym for typeface, which is not technically correct. For example, some may refer to Times Roman as a font, but it is actually a typeface that defines the shape of each character. Within the Times Roman typeface there are many fonts to choose from — different sizes and styles (italic, bold and so on).

If you have the Times New Roman typeface installed on your computer, then you can make it most any size — from tiny to huge, italic or bold. Where the terms font and typeface, by definition, mean two different things, the capability to manipulate a typeface so easily on the computer means the two terms are often used as interchangeable terms now.

Got questions ask here

Meeting the Production Deadline

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:55:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

Meeting the Production Deadline

What is a typical production schedule for a magazine?

There is no typical schedule; only a specific one.

To calculate the timeline, you have to work backwards. From the appearance of the magazine right up to its planning and assigning of the contents to contributors, designers, etc.
Both advertising and editorial section have to work together to meet the deadlines.
Remember that meeting deadlines is essential to on-time publishing of the magazine.
A magazine that does not reach the bookstall or the reader on time loses its good name.

A weekly with a Sunday dateline has the following advertisement/editorial cut-off days:

In advertising, it is normal to set a deadline a day or two ahead of (earlier than) the date the final copy goes to the production department where the copy is pasted for printing, and films and plates are made before actual printing run is carried out.
For a weekly published with a Sunday dateline it must reach the stalls on Saturday. The deadline for booking of advertisements is one full week earlier (one Saturday ahead). The advertisement material can be received till Monday.
The advertisement material may be in the form of final camera ready design (by Monday evening), films and color separation along with art pull or color print for reference (by Tuesday). Electronic ad designs on CD are accepted by Monday.
No advertisement cancellation accepted later than Monday.
For holidays, the deadlines are adjusted at an earlier day.
For editorial section, trusted regular contributors are allowed to submit articles and other stuff a week earlier. For others, the deadline is set sufficiently ahead.
Assigning of the articles is done in consultation with the editorial board and, if required, with the business head.
Usually, phone calls are made to the contributors to assign them topics and wordage. Sometimes they are asked to come over for a meeting to discuss the topic in greater detail.
Planning for the next three issues is done in advance, keeping in view important days and festive occasions.

10. Scheduling can be done on paper or an Excel sheet.

11. Contributors are sometimes required to be coaxed and cajoled to meet the deadline through phone calls or emails.

12. At every stage, careful double-checks checks are carried out and signed by a responsible supervisor to eliminate any errors or oversight.
Any questions or explanations? Feel free to ask here.

Bringing Out Your Own Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:50:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman

You Can Bring Out Your Own Magazine

Be a magazine editor/publisher. Learn the ropes and try bringing out your own magazine. If you have have no experience, learn from others’ experience. When publishing a magazine for the first time you may make a few technical mistakes. To avoid them, learn some basics and attempt a try.

Get Inspired

Get a few magazines that you like. Go through them and try to find why you liked them at first sight. Why would anyone else find them eye-catching? Why would a general reader want to find in a magazine? What a music buff wants in a magazine he or she would buy? The photos? The layout? The subject of the magazine? What other element would a person would like to see in a magazine and like it so much as to buy it?

Pick out the elements you like in other magazines to inspire your magazine's layout. Make a list of those elements.

The Size

What size would you like to your magazine to be? A general readership magazine is okay in size A4. A pictorial magazine may need to be in tabloid size for a good display. The size may be different too.

The Paper

Art paper makes the glossies. Matte-finish paper lends sophistication to your up-class magazine or journal. Simple offset may be more practical for a general readership periodical. Then you have a choice of newsprint, white newsprint, rice paper (which does not have any rice in it). The title cover is usually printed on a heavier paper than the inside pages. Different papers have different weights, qualities and prices; and hence used accordingly.

Make Your Masthead Attractive

Your magazine’s masthead is its face—the first thing that anyone would see and get impressed. How would you like it to look? Attractive or mediocre? Exciting or sobre? Simple or elaborate? It projects the kind of image of your magazine.

At the newsstands, it must stand out. Only its top two to three inches will show. Does that area lock in the reader’s attention? Test your magazine by printing out the cover and putting another magazine in front with only the top of the masthead showing. Now look at it from across the room to know how it will appear to passersby.

Your magazine’s cover design will be fighting the other covers for attention. A well-designed masthead visually attracts the buyer to choose one magazine over others in its category.

Use a Great Cover Photo

Don’t try to save a few bucks on the cover. A well-designed cover can get your magazine noticed and, even more importantly, picked up. Hence all cover photos must be of good, high quality one (watch for colors and resolution).

Choose a photo that is interesting to your potential readers or which tells a story. Showing the unexcited face of an unknown person will not do much to get the potential customer to reach for your magazine. Choose a photo that is recognizable to your target readers or shows action, unusual colors, taken from unusual angles, or combinations of all these.

Remember, your magazine only gets one chance to make its first impression. Photos are powerful in making a good first impression.

Careful Font Usage

The choice of fonts can have a major impact on the overall professionalism a magazine conveys. Using too many font faces is visually confusing to the reader. He/she may have trouble distinguishing the stories from the ads. Not to mention that too much "stuff" can be tiring on the eyes.

Consider using only one to two font families in your articles; one for the headlines and subheads, one for the body text.

Research shows that serif fonts, especially small ones, are easier to read than san-serif fonts (serifs are the little tick marks at the end of lines in the letters). The eye tracks across the serifs of the letters making reading easier.

ALL CAPS are difficult to read. If you want to emphasize a word consider using bold versions of that font as an alternative. Stretching/compressing fonts look awkward. Consider the extended or condensed version of that font or even another font family.

Multi-column Layouts

One trick for having your stories look professionally built is to use a multi-column grid to the page. For regular-size magazines, try using three columns, for digest size use two columns. Not only does it look more professional but the text will flow better on the page and you will have more options for placing photos.

White Space Looks Good

Although it can be difficult, consider leaving some areas of the page blank. Stuffing as much as you can onto a page is visually overwhelming to the reader. Experiment with leaving some column white space in your new multi-column layout. Try running text in one of the columns only with a photo or graph covering the other two columns. Try starting your article halfway down the page with the top half being reserved for a photo. Experiment - computers make that easy.

Stay Away from the Edge

Don’t try to fill up the entire space. A quarter inch margin is the minimum that should be there but even half an inch or more will look good. It looks more professional to add more white space.

Use Quality Visuals

You are selling the story to the reader who has not read the story yet. With the first page of the article the reader decides whether to read on. Unattractive or cheap-looking layout and visual make the entire story unattractive, and there is a good chance the reader will not read the article.

Of course it should have relevance to the article and its subject.

. . . And Other Content

The topics should be relevant, revealing and too interesting. They must be well written and perfectly edited.

The Essentials Too

The editorial, readers’ letters and opinions are as important as they articles. Do not forget the list of contents. Photo features make a magazine more interesting. You can also add some DIY articles too as regular content.
Have questions... Ask here

Magazine Catergories

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:43:00 +0000

By: Sir Khalid Rehman
MAGAZINE CATEGORIES

Periodicity

Daily
Weekly
Fornightly
Monthly
Quarterly
Annually
Bi-annually

Circulation (Distribution)

Paid (Priced)
Free
Controlled (insider or industry magazine)

Subject

Adult
Art
Automobile
Boating & water sports
Boys
Bridal
Business
Children
Computer
Consumer or customer
Cooling & gourmet
Digests
Education
Fiction
Girls
Health & fitness
Home & garden
Horror fiction
Humour
International
Lifestyle & culture
Literature
Local (city)
Luxury
Music
Nature
News
Online
Parenting
Photography
Political
Pulp (compare to glossies)
Religious
Science fiction
Science & technology
Shelter (home design or décor)
Sports
Sunday
Teen
Trade & Professional
Travel
Wildlife & environment
Women’s

If you have any questions, or need explanation, ask here

Investigative Journalism

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:58:00 +0000

Background and other details of Urooj Zia's investigative piece on Salman Taseer

More to Salman Tasser's assassination than Mumtaz Qadri

Terms, names and concepts that you should know

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:13:00 +0000

Terms, names and concepts that you should know:

Axis of Evil
Rogue States
Failed State
e-waste
Liberalism
Socialism
Communism
Marxism
Secularism
Free market economy
Democracy
Conservatism
Dictatorship
Monarchy
Autocracy
Fascism
Nationalism
Adam Smith and Karl Marx
'Wealth of Nations' and 'Das Capital'
Bureaucracy
Military and civil bureaucracy
Orientals and Orientalist (Edward Saeed)
Conformists and non-conformists
Oligarchy
Globalization
Inflation
Recession
Depression and Great Depression
Westernization
Modernization
Police State
Cold War
Clash of Civilizations
Big Brother is watching you
Orwellian
Civil War
Proxy War
Holocaust
Jews Diaspora
Anti-Semitism
Ethnic Cleansing
Racial cleansing
Sects
Ethnicity
Race
Environmental degradation
Climate change
Global warming
Civil dictator
Imperialism
Empire
State system and treaty of West Phalia
Colonialism
Economic Depression
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Diplomacy, Track 11 channel diplomacy, Back Channel Diplomacy
Confidence Building measures (CBMs)
Conflict Resolution
Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
NATO
Charter of Democracy
Dark Ages
Renaissance
National Reconciliation Order
Machiavelli and "The Prince"
GNP
GDP
Poverty line
Guerilla Warfare
Genocide
Brain Drain
Genocide
Intifada
Apartheid
Noam Chomasky
Gada Karmi
Arundhati Roay
Fareed Zakaria
Local Government Ordinance Pakistan
Social Networking Websites
Cyber crime
Cyber bullying
Jasmine Revolution
Bourgeoisies
Proletariat
Islamophobia
Economic super power

Conditions for Nikah

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 04:01:00 +0000

Shared by: Ayesha siddiqui

THE Prophet (PBUH) is reported to have said, “The nikah is my Sunnah”, meaning that getting married and performing the nikah is not just a legal formality, but also an important example of the Prophet. This fact does not detract from the importance of the act of getting married, but it clarifies that a person who is not able to get married has not committed a sin.
In Islam marriage is a mutual, legal contract in which both parties agree about each and every article of the agreement, which has been called a “strong bond” (4:21). The articles can be anything that does not go against the tenets of Islam. It is not a holy sacrament which would tie individuals in a divine bond. This means that the contract can also be revoked according to the strict conditions as specified in the Quran in Surah Al-Talaq, Surah Al-Baqarah and Surah Al-Nisa.

Read complete story

When the Obamas go out for dinner ...- The Guardian

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 03:43:00 +0000

Shared by: Kiran Ashraf

When the Obamas go out for dinner ..

They are accompanied by up to 30 burly Secret Service agents and the other diners are scanned for concealed weapons. But what about our PM?

What happens when the president of the United States fancies going out for a meal? He brings a lot more burly men in black suits than our prime minister. According to the Washington Post, when the first family visit a restaurant, they eat quietly, say hello to the chef and leave a "nice, but not crazy, tip". It's the Secret Service who really go to town.

Preparations begin several hours before; a small detail conducts a walk-through with the restaurant manager and choose tables for the first family. An hour before the arrival of the president, 20 to 30 agents take up positions all over the building. At the front door, they wield electronic wands, scanning the evening's other diners for hidden weapons. In the kitchen, a Secret Service agent, who is also a trained chef, watches over the restaurant staff's every move...

read more

Technology Gives William & Kate the Upper Hand over the Press

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 03:23:00 +0000

shared by: Narjis Waseem

Technology Gives William & Kate the Upper Hand over the Press

1981, it's hard to remember how much things have changed. When Prince Charles and Diana married, there was no Internet. No Facebook. No Twitter. Personal computers were little more than word processors. Photographs were taken on something called film. No cellphones. Television basically consisted of the three broadcast networks. CNN was 13 months old – and looked it.

Each royal wedding seems to symbolize a technological shift. The last major British royal wedding before Charles and Diana's was that of Princess Elizabeth, currently the Queen, in 1947. Then, there were only about 100,000 televisions in the U.S., all black-and-white. The notion of a live, color television transmission from London probably seemed as fantastic then as email would have in 1981.

Something else was going on in 1981, too. The press was at its zenith. Although it seems unimaginable today, reporters had cachet. The three network evening newscasts hit their peak in 1981-1982, with a combined 39.3 rating. The movie All the President's Men was released five years earlier, and every reporter thought they had at least a touch of Robert Redford or Dustin Hoffman. (Remember: Few VCRs, no CDs, no DVDs. It took longer for a movie to circulate then.) Journalists brought a zeal to their work not seen before or since. There were exposés of garden clubs.

Read more

Internet pioneer dies

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 03:16:00 +0000

By: Noor-ul-ain Hanif

Internet pioneer dies

LOS ANGELES, March 28: Paul Baran, the US engineer who helped create the Arpanet, the government-built precursor to the Internet, has died at the age of 84 in California, The New York Times reported on Monday.

Citing the son of the scientist, the newspaper said Baran had succumbed to lung cancer at his home in Palo Alto, California.

In a series of technical papers published in the 1960s, Baran suggested building a communications network that would be less vulnerable to attack or disruption than conventional networks, the report said.

According to The Times, his invention made in the mid-1960s was so far ahead of its time that when he approached AT&T

with the idea to build the network, the company refused.

“Paul wasn’t afraid to go in directions counter to what everyone else thought was the right or only thing to do,” the paper quotes Vinton Cerf, a vice president at Google and longtime friend of Baran, as saying.

“AT&T repeatedly said his idea wouldn’t work, and wouldn’t participate in the Arpanet project,” Cerf noted.—AFP

Source-The Daily Dawn

A neglected coup de plume

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:28:00 +0000

Shared by: Narjis Waseem

An average Pakistani bookworm will read or come across a treasure trove of intense and often realistic literature composed by fellow citizens. In those words of experience and observation, fictional or otherwise, they will agree with at least some of what the book says or tries to convey, for that matter. That feeling of being able to relate leaves a positive message for the reader who might think, ‘Oh, we share something in common.’ A bond is built; trust is generated between the reader and the writer. A sense of belonging takes form and that is exactly what a bookworm searches for among other feelings while reading. If you look closer, you will see Pakistani English literature gracefully detaching itself from the resonating tone of Indian English tradition; stuck in the past, lamenting colonisation, analysing prevalent corruption in the system and sometimes, describing a room over ten or eleven pages with burdensome details.

Read the full blogpost here, by Mehreen Kasana

Reality check: India will win the semi-final

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:24:00 +0000

Shared by: Marium Nida siddiqui

The Pakistan versus India semi-final on March 30 has the general population psyched on both sides of the border.

People are vigorously praying to their respective Gods that they be given this win. Indians are keeping a vrat (fast) for the sake of the Indian team while people in Pakistan slaughter goats in the hope that God would accept their sacrifices and present a victory over India.

read more of this interesting blog post by Zunair Ali

Labour of Love--Express Tribune

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 02:55:00 +0000

Shared by: Sobia Abdul Razzak

LAHORE: With every cricket fan in Pakistan praying for the country’s victory in the ICC World Cup, all things revolve around cricket. While many plan on taking days off for the last three matches, other have preempted triumph and are busy scheduling celebrations, but two youngsters in Lahore have left everyone behind.

Read Full Story

Arab spring: an interactive timeline of Middle East protests

noreply@blogger.com (3rd year) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:58:00 +0000

Shared by: Ayesha Siddiqui

Arab spring: an interactive timeline of Middle East protests

By:Gary Blight and Sheila Pulham

Ever since a man in Tunisia burned himself to death in December 2010 in protest at his treatment by police, pro-democracy rebellions have erupted across the Middle East. Our interactive timeline traces key events