APSE 2005

MAKING YOUR SPECIAL SECTION

SOMETHING SPECIAL

Roger Simmons, Orlando Sentinel

Chris Rukan, The Palm Beach Post

BIG
So what makes a special section special?
Heres a hint: Its not a bunch of 18-inch player features, le photos and canned capsules. Sure, you need some of that stuff, but its not what makes the section special. What you need is a BIG IDEA content that surprises your readers and a concept that ties all of that great content together. Something that the section is about. We hope that youll be able to use this guide to help develop your big ideas and make your special sections truly special.

THE

The Palm Beach Post, 2004-05 NBA preview

IDEA

The Boston Globe, 2004 World Series preview

The Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine), on the 40th anniversary of Alis title defense against Liston, which was held in Lewiston.

BRAINSTORMING
Start early. Ideas that you come up with in 10 minutes will
look like you came up with them in 10 minutes.

Get out. If possible, take the meeting out of the ofce. No

one does their best thinking in cubicle in front of a monitor. Go to a restaurant, someones house or, better yet, a bar.

Thats so crazy it just might work. Be open to

and even encourage crazy, far-out-there, seemingly absurd ideas. A lot of times, these can develop into your best ideas.

Have more than one session. Youll come up with new

ideas between sessions. And youll sharpen your existing ones.

Three ideas. Try to leave brainstorming sessions with at

least three ideas, including one how are we going to pull that off idea (and, a couple of safe but solid fallback options).

With teams from Boston and Philadelphia in the Super Bowl, The Palm Beach Post went with an offbeat approach a spoof of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

Who says Rodney Dangereld didnt get any respect? The Orlando Sentinel asked him to pose for its all-clich football preview, and he said yes.

The all-time classic way-outthere idea: Ricky Williams? In a wedding dress? Marrying Iron Mike Ditka? Thatll NEVER happen ... theyll NEVER do that ...

PLANNING
Start early. There are lots of things that can go wrong.
Starting your planning early helps you take care of them.

Put it down on paper. Create an outline, or a prebudget, to write down your story ideas, graphic ideas and photo ideas. Itll sharpen your focus by ensuring that all your elements work together.

Talk with other departments. Talk to the pressroom,

advertising, other editorial departments and marketing.

Research. Know your subject. You dont want to tell readers

a bunch of things they already know. Also, its especially important if youre working on theme, so you can really nail down the details.
The Palm Beach Post pored through old sports sections to make sure they got every detail right in their throwback Base Ball Preview section.

Know your staff. Can you really pull this off?

The Orlando Sentinels special section on the St. Johns River started out as a sports-only affair, led by outdoors writer Don Wilson and deputy sports editor Roger Simmons. But it grew to involve news (environmental writer Kevin Spear), features (food editor Heather McPherson) and graphics (illustrator Scott Hiestand).

EXECUTION
Start early. The earlier you start, the more time you have to
actually get things done, the better your section turns out.

Use the little things to sell your big idea. Things

like specialized page toppers, themed categories in your capsules and pullouts that relate to your theme can add value and fun.

Create as much original content as possible.

If you use the stuff that everyone else has access to, youre going to look like everyone else.

Buy in. Want to create all that great original content? Youre
going to have to get your staff on board. Got someone who is great with pullouts and fact boxes? Put him in charge of them. And make sure he gets credit for them when its all done.

Create your nal budget. Break down your stories,

writers, graphics, and photos on each page. Be as detailed as possible about what you are looking for in each element. The more details you include now, the fewer loose ends youll have to tie up later.

For their playoff preview section cover, The Boston Globe used toy gures to help illustrate Crash Daviss famous quote from Bull Durham. They kept up with the use of the toy gures inside, rather than le photos, lending continuity to the section and adding a bit of fun to what could have been a somewhat drab capsule page.

Revise your budget. Be exible. Things dont always go

as planned.

Production schedule. More than just making deadline

(not that thats not important it is) you can use this to make sure you have people in spots where they can make the most impact. Schedule time for your best headline writer to work the display type. Find time for your best copy editors to thoroughly proof the entire section. Twice. And make sure your designers have enough lead time.

Mike Bianchis essay on football players who were also real-life heroes (left) along with brief sketches about players and their own personal heroes (right) were the heart of the Orlando Sentinels 2002 football section which had a theme of real American heroes.

As part of their retro/throwback theme for their 2004 football sections, The Dallas Morning News created page toppers that used a different players jersey number for the page number. Included in the page topper was a piece of information about the player featured. It was a great way to keep readers turning the page.

The Palm Beach Posts 2005 baseball preview section focused on power and home runs because of the Marlins signing of slugger Carlos Delgado, the steroids controversy and Barry Bonds pursuit of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.
Among the small touches used to help sell the idea: page toppers that included famous home run calls, and Power points in the team capsule, basically just a quick home run fact on each team.

Dont think smaller papers can pull off big stuff? Check this out. For their 40th anniversary commemorative of the Ali-Liston rematch, The Sun Journal of Lewiston, Maine (circulation: 35,000) wanted to use Sports Illustrated photographer Neil Leifers famous photo. Because they started early, they were able to contact Leifer directly and negotiate a deal for the photo at a reduced price. But that wasnt all. Leifer opened up the treasure trove, giving them access to long-lost, rare photos, including the photo they used as their section cover (right).

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF SPECIAL SECTIONS

1. Having a great cover but nothing cool inside. 2. Having a jumbled/confused/pointless theme. 3. Executing poorly. 4. Blowing deadline. 5. Being ordinary and dull. Just doing the expected. 6. Lacking truly special content. 7. Not thoroughly proong.

AND, THE GOLDEN RULE

(please see next page)

HAVE FUN!

Orlando closed its clich section with what else? a fat lady singing. Played here by columnist Jerry Greene.