It has been one of those days. You’ve had them. It began with a website that wasn’t working like it was supposed to. When you have a website that lists items for.... Read More

Earlier this month, I traveled about an hour from my home to conduct focus groups for a weekly newspaper in Tennessee. Focus groups come in all sizes and shapes. This particul.... Read More

It’s been a while since a column has drawn as much response as my November review of Affinity Publisher, the layout application that has so many designers, editors and p.... Read More

As I write this column, vaccines are beginning to make their way to first responders, the New Year has begun, and maybe – just maybe – the world is seeing a light.... Read More

A few years back, I received an email from Nebraska publisher Rob Dump about a design application he’d read about named Affinity Publisher. He asked if I thought he migh.... Read More

Over the past few weeks, I’ve spoken (virtually) at five state and regional press association conventions. In all but one, my leadoff topic was “What’s Going.... Read More

So, what do professional speakers do during a pandemic? I can’t speak for all the speakers in the world, but among other things, I’ve been leading a lot of webinar.... Read More

It’s a crazy time for all of us. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Like many of you, I’ve been working out of my home office for six.... Read More

I will remember fall '19 as a season of research. I was involved in two major newspaper studies: one related to Millennials for North Dakota Newspaper Foundation and one to de.... Read More

I spent my morning writing about mergers, buyouts, and bankruptcies. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to spend a few minutes on something more fun. For the past three or.... Read More

Like many of you reading this column, I've been in the newspaper business a long time. I began delivering daily papers for the Johnson City (Tennessee) Press-Chronicle when I.... Read More

Andy Warhol once said, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes." I've experienced those fifteen minutes a few times, but it comes less often these da.... Read More

Kelli Bultena, publisher of Tea (SD) Weekly, sent me a link to a column titled, “The Bad News About the News,” in the October 16, 2014 edition of The Brookings Essay. The essa.... Read More

I sometimes write a column twice, for different audiences. This version of my column on Robert Kaiser's essay includes statistics from free newspapers across North America. K.... Read More

Checking my email has produced better than usual results this morning. Besides looking over questions from readers and browsing through the more than 2,000 spam messages I rec.... Read More

So much to write about, so little space. That’s my dilemma this morning. I’ve had people writing and calling, wanting my thoughts concerning some quotes from well known indu.... Read More

I’ve written a couple of columns related to the Adobe Cloud. Still, I’m stopped several times at every speaking event by publishers wanting to know if they should upgrade. C.... Read More

A colleague just walked into my office with a big grin on his face. “At the risk of making your head grow any bigger, I thought I’d show this to you.” He was holding a copy.... Read More

I first met Mike Mathes in 2012 when he invited me to visit the North Woods of Wisconsin to speak during an annual retreat for newspaper publishers. The retreat honored Wiscon.... Read More

Getting Real Instead of Being Cool in Collegiate Journalism Programs by Kevin Slimp I asked my new friend, Kevin Schwartz to coauthor a column about the trend of college n.... Read More

You should see my physical mailbox at home. Lately it’s been full of packages from newspapers. Sometimes these packages contain a letter with one or two copies of papers. Othe.... Read More

I don’t remember putting off writing a column as long as this one. I’ve talked to industry experts, polled editors and publishers, and spent the past four days thinking about.... Read More

It has been one of those days. You’ve had them. It began with a website that wasn’t working like it was supposed to. When you have a website that lists items for.... Read More

Earlier this month, I traveled about an hour from my home to conduct focus groups for a weekly newspaper in Tennessee. Focus groups come in all sizes and shapes. This particul.... Read More

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I don’t plan these columns in advance. Most months, I receive an email from newspaper industry executive Jack Guza remi.... Read More

As I write this, I’ve just returned from a trip to Marysville, Kansas, where I worked with the staff of The Marysville Advocate on their new design, which went to the pr.... Read More

Excuse my repetition, but for those who didn't read my column last month titled, "Planning for Adobe Type 1 Conundrum in January," there is a storm brewing, and it's not comin.... Read More

In 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote, “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.” (The more things change, the more they stay the.... Read More

I’m not that old. Seriously, I’m not. But in my work with newspapers, I’ve worked with so many younger people that I sometimes feel like Yoda (for you Star W.... Read More

In all, these videos include 4.5 hours of training for everyone on your staff. Topics include: Designing (and redesigning) better pages Creating more effective ads to imp.... Read More

I had a great time last month, as I got out a little more to visit newspapers in multiple states. What I learned inspired, invigorated, and reminded me of much that is going w.... Read More

It’s late as I write this column, just around midnight. There’s nothing unusual about that. I tend to write my columns, stories, and books late in the evening. App.... Read More