JUST CAME BACK from a very successful SND workshop in Frankfurt, and as this is supposed to be a blog about visual communication, I guess I should write about some of the great speakers and what they said. However, standing on the platform of the magnificent Hauptbahnhof on my way to the airport, I got this flashback of an experience so strong I had to share it with someone. Maybe you already saw my story on Facebook, in that case, just skip it, there’ll be no surprises.
I’LL NEVER FORGET the last time I was here.
Exactly thirty-five years ago, I had been backpacking in Greece with two pals, and a heavy storm had prevented us from getting back from the Isles to Athens which meant we missed our flight home and our plane tickets were now worthless. This was long before VISA cards and easy bank transfers and we had very little money left. Our chance came in the form of a bus company called Economy Travel which would, as it turned out, match its name with great accuracy. The destination was London but with stopovers in Frankfurt and Brussels. The only thing we knew about Frankfurt was that it’s in Germany and that is closer to home than Athens.
We had just enough drachma to buy three seats and with some of the small change that was left, one of my friends called his dad who would try to wire some money down to the central post office in Frankfurt in order to help us get home by train.
THE JOURNEY WAS INDESCRIBABLE. I’ll try anyway. No wash for two and a half days and hardly any food, the bus completely over-crowded, some people having to jump off to cross borders by foot as the bus was not allowed to pass with people standing. Getting through Austria took 24 hours because the drivers, who had never been outside Greece before and were already hopelessly late, had decided to take a shortcut by choosing the small roads. I’ve never worried for my life as much as when taking hairpin curves at 90 km/h, in the middle of the night, with a Greek behind the steering wheel.
Finally in Germany, having turned our very last change into a 10 D-mark bank note (roughly equalling 5 euro), we began to see road signs with the name Frankfurt on them. And as the bus just kept rolling down the Autobahn, we got the notion that our drivers intended to skip the Frankfurt stopover. They were late and the three of us, it appeared, were the only passengers wanting to get off there. I approached the driver and as I insisted that we had paid for a trip to Frankfurt, he asked me if I was looking for a fight. I answered no but kept insisting, and finally he shrugged his shoulders and pulled over at an emergency stop.
WE HAD NO CHOICE but to get off in the middle of German nowhere. As we looked around us, far in the distance we could see what might be an airport. With our backpacks, we crossed a couple of acres covered with wheat fields and eventually reached the airport from where, to our relief, a train was going to the city.
We figured that our ten Mark ought to cover the ride and got on the train, eager to make it to the post office before closing hours. But before the train had started rolling, a conductor asked for our tickets and we asked if we could pay with the banknote.
”Nein, das geht nicht hier in Frankfurt”, was his unappealable verdict. I have to add that the Frankfurters I have met on my recent trip have all been much nicer. Anyway, we had to get off, walk the stairs to an automat, buy three tickets, and wait for the next train.
We thought ourselves lucky as the post office at the Hauptbahnhof was open till midnight. However, our luck changed again when it turned out there was no transfer from my friend’s dad. Still to this day, I haven’t quite figured out why but I suppose he had been afraid of losing his money. So we sat there on the platform, totally wasted, discussing what to do now. We must have looked like complete shit.
”What’s the matter with you guys”, a beautiful girl our age suddenly asked in Danish. And when we had told her our story, she said, without hesitation: ”No problem. I can lend you money”.
FROM THERE ON, everything went smoothly. We sent her a cheque and never heard from her again. Dear lady, if you are not the angel you appeared to be but just an ordinary human being, and if you happen to see this post, let's make friends on FB.
PS: In case you’re interested, you can see my presentation (on Kristeligt Dagblad, The Christian Daily which is the only Danish newspaper managing to increase its circulation over a period of twenty years) here. It is a 49.8 Mb PDF file.
SJÆLDENT HAR MINE FORHÅNDSINTENTIONER om at være positiv været så udtalte, som da jeg fik Berlingskes nye børneavis i hænderne. Jeg har stor sympati for tanken om at formidle aktuelle begivenheder på en måde, som appellerer til dem, der skal overtage kloden efter os … og som sætter nyhederne ind i en forståelig
sammenhæng, der måske kan gøre verden lidt mindre skræmmende.
I skrivende stund, hvor jeg har tygget mig igennem de tre første numre, er min ja-hat imidlertid kommet til at sidde så løst, at den indtil videre må sendes tilbage på knagen – ledsaget af håbet om, at de mange svagheder i den ny avis først og fremmest skal ses som børnesygdomme.
Det kan virke unfair at sammenligne med Aftenposten Junior, der har haft to år til at etablere sig som en overraskende læsersucces. På den anden side modtog den norske børneavis allerede i 2013 prisen som Årets Nyskabelse i norsk presse. Måske skyldes det halvhjertede førstehåndsindtryk, Kids’ News efterlader, ikke så meget startvanskeligheder som mangel på talent og måske først og
fremmest ressourcer?
DET NORSKE FORBILLEDE bærer præg af, at der lægges mange flere redaktionelle kræfter i produktet. Men også af en helt anden opfattelse af, hvem børn er, hvad de kan formodes at interessere sig for, og hvordan man kommunikerer med dem.
Lad mig nævne et par konkrete eksempler. Billeder er naturligvis et vigtigt meddelelsesmiddel i forhold til denne målgruppe. Og der optræder ikke ét billede i Aftenposten Junior, uden at dets indhold forklares og uddybes med tekst, der kan tilfredsstille den unge læsers nysgerrighed. Dels den obligatoriske billedtekst, men ofte også med bonusinfo i form af små sjove tekstbidder, skrevet direkte på selve fotografiet. For eksempel ved jeg nu, at chefen for den norske oliefond hedder Yngve og er 51 1/2 år.
Denne tætte integration mellem billeder og ord giver hele Aftenposten Junior et tegneserieagtigt udtryk, som bidrager til at formidle avisens indhold meget direkte, uhøjtideligt og samtidig pædagogisk.
Til sammenligning kan en typisk reportage i Kids’ News indeholde fem-seks fotos, som hverken synes udvalgt eller prioriteret ud fra kommunikative kriterier, som for halvdelens vedkommende mangler noget så basalt som en billedtekst, og hvor den ”livlige” opsætning virker styret af angsten for at fremstå kedelig, snarere end af ønsket om at fortælle historien så godt som muligt:
BEGGE AVISER INDEHOLDER et mix af egentlige nyheder og reportager og stof, som kunne optræde i Anders And & Co. eller et hvilket som helst andet medie henvendt til børn. Kids’ News bruger imidlertid flere sider end sin norske pendant på underholdning, mode, dyr, sport og andet letvægtsmateriale, som næsten får de ”rigtige” nyheder til at ligne alibistof, der kan legitimere, at man kalder produktet en avis, selv om man måske inderst ikke selv tror på konceptet? Dette indtryk forstærkes af, at de ”tungere” historier ikke bliver fortalt med den fingerspidsfornemmelse for modtagerens signalfrekvens, som udmærker hver eneste spaltemillimeter i Aftenposten Junior.
Ikke meget kan virke så tåkrummende pinligt som voksne, der forsøger at bringe sig på bølgelængde med børn og unge ved at efterligne deres måde at tale på. Det er den slags sproglige signaler, Kids’ News sender. For eksempel, når man friskfyragtigt lader Cristiano Ronaldo sige ”Hva’ så Messi!!! Gi’r du snart en øl?” i en taleboble. Det klinger falsk – og antyder samtidig, at redaktionen ser børn som små teenagere, eller måske sigter efter en kernelæser meget tæt på den tolvårsgrænse, Berlingske selv bruger i sin målgruppebeskrivelse.
Den nedre aldersgrænse angives til seks år, hvilket forekommer helt absurd – størstedelen af indholdet må være komplet uforståeligt for en seksårig – og forvirringen synes total, når tophistorien på avisens website (og en helside i printavisen) handler om smart konfirmationstøj. Hvornår tror redaktionen på Kids’ News egentlig, at børn bliver konfirmeret?
PÅ SKRIFTFRONTEN fremstår Aftenposten Juniors kombination af klassisk avistypografi med skriftsnittet Eatwell, som imiterer en barnlig håndskrift, mere gennemtænkt end den lidt tilfældige skriftsammensætning i Kids’ News, der snarere lægger sig op ad reklamens typografiske sprog.
Lad mig trods alt slutte i den positive ende. Selve avisens grafiske grundstruktur er udmærket håndværk, og Kids’ News er fint trykt på kraftigt, hvidt papir. Bladets udstyr signalerer således en publikation på et helt andet niveau end de voksnes ”billige” avis. Dette virker som en klog strategi, hvis man vil skabe et nutidigt printbaseret alternativ til målgruppens digitale informationskanaler. Og Aftenposten Juniors succes viser jo, at man sagtens kan
få børn til at læse et papirprodukt, blot det har den fornødne kvalitet. Så nu er det bare det, der mangler.
I ÅREVIS har The New York Times været et journalistisk fyrtårn for verdens aviser, men med internettets globale udbredelse er ”den grå dame” blevet endnu mere end det. NYTimes.com læses nu 24/7 over hele kloden og definerer de standarder, alle andre nyhedssites nødvendigvis må forholde sig til.
Det gælder fx betalingsmodellen, som har betydet, at avisen for første gang tjener mere på sine læsere end på annoncer – og det gælder designet, hvad enten man lader sig inspirere af det distingverede, super-seriøse look eller ønsker at differentiere sig fra det.
Af samme årsag var der tale om en verdensbegivenhed den 8. januar, da The New York Times’ ny webdesign blev lanceret. Nyhedsmedier fra Aalborg til Auckland rettede søgelyset imod nye tiltag, som kunne overføres til deres egne sites – samt imod eventuelle svipsere med potentiale til at ophidse et altid konservativt web-publikum.
REAKTIONEN fra de 30 millioner månedlige brugere har imidlertid været forbløffende fredelig (som så ofte før var klagepunkt nummer ét, at man ikke kunne finde tegneserierne), og det skyldes sikkert, at de radikale ændringer i sidestrukturen ikke ser ud af så meget på overfladen. NYTimes.com ligner sig selv, især hvad forsiden angår, og kan læses nogenlunde som før relanceringen.
Sitet er først og fremmest blevet lækrere at se på, mere brugervenligt, og i højere grad tilpasset mobile platforme.
De store forandringer skal søges under kølerhjelmen, hvor et helt nyt framework og kilometervis af ny JavaScript-kode har gjort artikelsiderne langt mere dynamiske. Samtidig er det lykkedes at forenkle håndteringen af grafik og multimedieindslag – som den meget roste reportage Snow Fall, en for NYT karakteristisk overskudsagtig demonstration af, hvordan visuel journalistik kan foldes ud på nettet. Vi kan således se frem til meget mere af den slags i fremtiden.
NÅR VI SNAKKER DESIGN, er det i detaljen, NYTimes.com for alvor viser sine kvaliteter. For eksempel den diskrete ”klummetitel”, der øverst i skærmbilledet minder mig om, hvad jeg lige nu er i færd med at læse, og samtidig sikrer, at navigationsmenu samt søge- og delefunktioner kun er et klik borte. Bjælken er lige præcis stor nok til at blive set, men ikke så stor, at den distraherer.
Selve artiklerne kan nu læses i ét stræk uden de irriterende sideskift, der skæmmede den gamle version af sitet.
Artikelteksten omgives af generøse mængder ”luft”, typisk for et nyhedssite anno 2014 (omend NYTimes.com ikke er blevet responsivt i klassisk forstand; smartphone-brugere ledes fortsat videre til et mobilsite).
Her har den rigelige plads imidlertid en funktion, idet en spalte med brugerkommentarer ved aktivering popper op til højre for artiklen – klart differentieret fra denne med en anden (lidt for stor?) brødskrift.
At udviklingen af NYTimes.com indbefatter en gradvis tilpasning til touchscreen-baserede enheder som iPhone og iPad, fornemmes flere steder – eksempelvis i de horisontale swipe-funktioner, der dog sært nok fungerer bedre på desktop end på tablets, hvor man savner en visuel markør til at vise, hvor fingeren skal placeres.
På baggrund af det ny webdesign kunne man forvente en snarlig oprydning i mængden af forskellige apps, hvormed samme indhold kan tilgås. Herom foreligger der imidlertid ingen meldinger; tværtimod blev yderligere en ny app præsenteret på den nyligt afholdte South-by-Southwest festival.
NYT Now skal formedelst otte dollars pr måned levere et udvalg af øjeblikkets vigtigste nyheder til mobile-first brugeren – et af de få tilbageværende sorte huller i The New York Times’ erobring af det globale medieherredømme.
NO, THIS IS NOT a blogpost moaning the fact that a growing number of newspapers around the world are sacking their photographers. I feel very sorry for all these colleagues who lose their jobs, and for the readers of all these publications that are bound to decline in quality because their scope, concerning visual communication, will be reduced. But my aim right now is a different one. What the title refers to is a degeneration which I think is taking place within the field of press photography.
This degeneration can be seen as an inadvertent, and paradoxical, side effect of the press photographer’s well-deserved rise in status which started when newspapers began telling stories with a more consistent use of visual tools. The increased focus on visual journalism, and on international photo contests, appear to have led some press photographers into the misapprehension that they are artists, rather than communicators.
Whether this degeneration might be one of the reasons why some newspaper editors now seem to reckon they can get along without a regular staff of press photographers is not for me to judge. Feel free to draw your own conclusions.
AS OFTEN BEFORE, I was inspired (and provoked) by a page in a paper with which I have a love-hate relationship: Politiken, three times SND World’s Best-Designed Newspaper within the last seven years. Not least because of its extremely skilled staff of photographers who, in turn, are receiving more than their share of national and international photo awards.
This page contains a wonderful interview with a female doctor living in a rough neighbourhood who acted against the current and chose to put her kids in a public school instead of a private one. A great read about a topic that is right up the alley of Politiken’s well-off, well-educated core reader. So why did the editor devote half the page to an artsy-fartsy photograph that adds absolutely nothing to the story?
ON THE CONTRARY, this photo almost made me skip the page as I, by intuition, interpreted it as signaling more of the highbrow avant-garde artistic stuff that regularly contributes to the ”hate” part of our love-hate relationship. Had it not been for the headline – ”Those who do not choose a private school are almost considered bad parents” – I might have missed this great interview.
I LOVE THE WAY FACEBOOK has turned into a global forum for exchanging opinions on subjects that engage you. When I posted this photo, with remarks similar to what I just wrote, it prompted an old colleague of mine to comment: ”Politiken has got an incredible number of outstanding photographers. But quite often it looks as though their editors cannot tell a fine photo from a fabulous one. Everything gets blown up and the risk is everything will end up looking the same. Such a shame”.
Per Vadmand, who wrote the manuscripts for the Felix comic strip which I used to draw in my younger days, wondered: ”Could this be a way to save money? It’s much easier to fill the pages that way”. He’s certainly got a point there.
And Carsten Gregersen, a good friend from my time in the SNDS board, joined in: ”The choice of motif is the biggest problem, rather than the size of the photos. Many times you cannot see the objects clearly. Shaky on purpose, seen from behind, strangely cropped … please continue yourself. This is when press photography is forced into becoming art”.
When René Lynge – another old colleague – asked ”But who should make the decisions? The photographer, the reporter, the editor, the page designer … or all of them?”, Carsten responded: ”Common sense and professional skill. That’s what should steer the decision”.
Another way to put this could be: ”The story should decide. Every element of the page should contribute to telling the story. And everyone involved, with all their different professional skills, ought to cooperate on this mission”.
I ALSO POSTED THE EXAMPLE on the FB page of Pressefotografforbundet because I really think this is an important discussion and I refuse to believe that all press photographers would prefer to just be allowed to fill the pages of Danish newspapers with free-form art. Hope somebody will respond.
IN THE MEANTIME, let me close this post with another example from Politiken which demonstrates the flair for visual communication which earned this paper its world-class status. The opening page of an absolutely heartbreaking story about a girl who was abused by her father since the age of two, and whose nightmare did not end when the police put him to prison and she, by then an eleven-year old prostitute, was supposed to be taken care of by local authorities. The girl is now nineteen and has contacted the paper in an attempt to ease her heart and hopefully save other children from a similar fate.
This is a snapshot by a member of her family, but the fact that it was not taken by a professional photographer has got nothing to do with the point I wish to make. The secret lies in the words/visuals combination – and in this case, the sheer size of the photograph enhances its communicative effect. This is what a broadsheet newspaper can do better and stronger than any other media.
The headline says: ”I have never been to kindergarten. I just stayed at home. And when I was not alone in my room, I was my father’s slave”.
