Readership Institute: Excellence in Small Newspapers: Galleries: Lawrence Journal-World

Lawrence Journal-World (KS)

Images 1, 2, 3: An overall impression of the Journal-World is that it's a good-looking newspaper and easy to read. Some of the elements that contribute: a five-column format: clear and informal typography; judicious use of white space; right-sized, content-rich photos with excellent reproduction; pull-out quotes with substance; refers to related content.

Note the varied and effective use of front-page content promotion that helps keep it from becoming just part of the furniture. One day it was above the mast and featured several items. Another day it highlighted one big inside feature - a guide to the Jayhawk sculptures scattered around town. On a third day the promotion took the form of a left-hand rail.

1	2	3

Image 4: A front-page story about censorship of a local high school's student newspaper made an important-but-not-sexy topic interesting. It did so by focusing on the people involved and by recreating the confrontation between the student and principal.

Image 5: A three-page inside spread is a "go and do", people-oriented, clip-and-save guide to 30 fiberglass Jayhawk sculptures dotted around town and the artists who created them.

Images 6, 7, 8: People-focused stories and briefs are plentiful, including a regular "On the Street" feature that asks people for reaction about current news and issues, and a Sunday strip that asks people of all ages what books they are reading.

6	7	8

Images 9, 10, 11: The newspaper makes consistent use of guiding elements to other information on a story or topic, including audio, video, text and photos on the newspaper's online site and other non-newspaper sites.

9	10	11

Image 12: To advance government meetings, the newspaper picks a significant topic from the agenda - in this case development in an area where a Wal-Mart store is proposed, gives a bit of background, and then bullet-points other pieces of city commission business.

Images 13, 14: The helpful, graphic appeal extends to classifieds, too - color index with photos instead of clip art, and a locator map for all the garage sales advertised.

13	14