Meget at lære

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.

Mest nyt under overfladen

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.

The rise and fall of press photography

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”.

Politiken strømliner udtrykket

”TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME”, stod der på bagsiden af David Bowies Ziggy Stardust-album. Tilsvarende burde Politiken måske forsyne sit nyligt redesignede website med instruktionen ”Bør kun ses i perfekt skærmkvalitet”. Undertegnede prøvede for eksperimentets skyld at læse Politiken.dk på mit lokale kommunebibliotek, og det var bestemt ingen visuel nydelse. Udstyret skal være tip-top, hvis ikke den ny rubrikskrifts sarte kurver skal forvandles til musetrapper.

Politikens overordnede designstrategi går ud på at strømline det formmæssige udtryk på tværs af platformene. Derfor har man slettet suffixen .dk, så sitet nu blot hedder POLITIKEN slet og ret; derfor har man droppet pastelfarverne, der skulle markere sitets forskellige sektioner, og destilleret paletten ind til sort, hvid og rød (samt en breaking news-gul); og derfor har man indført Capitolium News som universel rubrikskrift, ganske som i papiravisen.

En kort overgang var Capitolium også gjort til brødskrift, men det medførte så mange klager over læseligheden (først og fremmest fra pc-brugere, tænk at vi også har sådan nogle, kan man næsten høre dem måbe inde på Rådhuspladsen), at Georgia fik et lyncomeback i desktop-udgaven. Capitolium har derimod fået lov at beholde pladsen som brødskrift på mobilsitet, hvor den faktisk fungerer rigtig godt.

VISDOMMEN I AT KONSOLIDERE BRANDET på tværs af platformene synes indlysende, og her er typografien naturligvis et vigtigt redskab. Der er imidlertid himmelvid forskel på, hvordan den sirlige – i mine øjne temmelig impotente, men andre synes jo om den – antikvaskrift Capitolium News fremstår på papir, i et relativt roligt visuelt miljø omgivet af store grå tekstflader og masser af ”kreativ luft”, og på webforsidens virvar af annoncer, små billeder og korte henvisninger.

I desktop-udgaven er Politikens website således, indtil videre i hvert fald og stik imod hensigten, endt som lidt af et typografisk kludetæppe.

TIL GENGÆLD ER ARKITEKTUREN forenklet kraftigt. Navigationsbåndene er væk, bortset fra kundeservice i toppen, og afløst af to drop down-menuer med sektionsoversigten samt listen over de seneste nyheder. En logisk konsekvens af, at smartphones med ekspresfart er ved at overtage rollen som danskernes – og altså også Politiken-læsernes – foretrukne nyhedsplatform.

EN NY SEKTION med det forpligtende navn MAGASINET retter sig nok i højere grad mod tablet-brugerne. Her tilbydes ”langlæsning” – blandt andet artikler, der har været trykt i søndagsavisens PS-sektion – i en minimalistisk opsætning, som virker overbevisende ”politikensk” i sit udtryk. Også fordi avisen her får anledning til at eksponere sine dygtige fotografer, ligesom der gøres brug af det digitale formats muligheder for eksempelvis at inddrage videoklip.

Indtil videre er Magasinets artikelsider friholdt for annoncer; men lur mig, om ikke der ligger en plan i skuffen for, hvordan der kan kapitaliseres på dette spændende nye format, som er et lovende bud på, hvordan en stærk journalistisk tradition vil kunne transformeres til en papirløs fremtid.

MERE KONTROVERSIELT er det måske, at man også har indført såkaldt ”sponsoreret indhold” på sitet. Såsom en ”artikel” om julebryg – med Tuborg i bylinen. Denne relancering understreger således Politikens position i danske nyhedsmediers fortrop, hvad digital omstilling gælder. På godt og ondt.

A critical eye on Mandela frontpages

THE DEATH OF NELSON MANDELA was an obvious choice for yesterday’s frontpages, and art directors all over the world had to face the same challenge, quite symptomatic of the changing role of print media in a digital era: How do we communicate this story to readers who already know what happened?

Except, some seemed to think their readers didn’t know. Examples like these were mainly to be found among the evening papers – the ”real” tabloids. Not sure if this says anything about any general presumptions that publications like these might have about their audience, but it IS kind of interesting, isn’t it?

WRITING THE HEADLINE must be the hardest part. When you’re the paper of Mandela’s home town, it must be even harder. I really admire the good spirit of the Sowetan’s straightforward approach: Sure, it’s sad that our hero has passed away – but what we ought to remember, and celebrate, is the joy and hope he brought to our lives.
And for some reason, the French language makes everything – even the flattest clichés – sound, and look, better.

A NUMBER OF PAPERS chose this simple solution: Find the right portrait of the man – and with such a flamboyant figure, there must have been plenty to choose from – and just put his name and year of birth & death next to it. With a little bit of additional text, or maybe not, the whole piece will look noble, exclusive, and respectful.

Even though the communicative process can indeed become more dynamic with a photo choice that is just a tad bolder. Or a lot bolder. See how the third example, from Público of Lisbon, Portugal, suddenly adds one more dimension to the whole story and exploits the fact that Nelson Mandela’s facial features were engraved in our minds long ago. We all know what his face looked like, so here’s his fist.

FINALLY, THREE PAPERS – all from London, England – that took their frontpage one step further. The Independent chose a no-headline solution; Mandela’s face, and his words on freedom, say it all (in its later edition, The Guardian took a similar approach). The Times expanded its frontpage into a full cover and made intelligent use of the tricky format.

But the boldest move was the one of Metro – a freesheet which you might have expected to deliver its message as crudely and in-your-face as the traditional tabloids. Not only did the editor refrain entirely from adding words to Mandela’s portrait but the entire frontpage, including the nameplate (usually blue), had turned black-and-white. A symbolism which becomes so much stronger than in the previous B&W examples because no words are here to distract my attention.

A beautiful beast with a complicated life

THE LAUNCH OF THE DAILY BEAST, 6 October 2008, must be a textbook example of bad timing. Media mogul Barry Diller’s ambition was to revolutionize how news and, not least, advertising were presented on the web. But his news- and blogsite aired exactly three weeks after the Lehman Brothers collapse which triggered a financial crisis that would send shock waves deep into the media industry and, for some time, shatter its economic foundation by bringing advertisers to their knees.

The fact that the Beast – named after a fictional tabloid paper in Evelyn Waugh’s novel Scoop – has managed to survive long enough to now celebrate its five-year anniversary probably has a lot to do with the stubbornness of its publisher. While the main competitor, The Huffington Post, seems to be cruising down the lane of success, The Daily Beast has had its share of problems. Six million monthly unique visitors may sound impressive, but at HuffPost, they can multiply that figure with twelve. A failed, and recently ended, marriage with Newsweek led an operating loss of $44.8 million in 2012, and recently, two dozen staffers were laid off, leaving the Beast with roughly 65 employees – about the same number it launched with in 2008.

ON THE OTHER HAND, the design has gained wide recognition and won first prize in the News category of the Webby Awards in both 2012 and 2013. Partly because of the Beast’s distinctive frontpage with the signature column The Cheat Sheet – a sharp and uncompromising take at the curator’s role which is how many people see the news editor of the future. Another reason is the site’s simple and consistent architecture which has undergone only minor adjustments, editorial as well as design-wise, compared to the concept thought out by Diller and his superstar editor Tina Brown – with the help from design company Code and Theory – in 2008.

Technically, they were ahead of their time. Typography on the web was subject to a lot more limitations five years ago than now. The contrastful and refined type of the Daily Beast frontpage stood out. And the sharp, vertical page structure seems to be conceived with a portrait format iPad in mind; but Apple did not present its tablet until eighteen months after the launch of The Daily Beast (and the first Android tablets only appeared in 2009).

THIS SPRING, it was announced that The Daily Beast – by that time struggling to make its chaotic relationship with Newsweek work – was in for a redesign. However, this new, responsive design went with the news magazine to its new owner (IBT Media) – and instead, the Beast would have to make do with a facelift which was rolled out 29 October.

Typical to the times, this is a simplification most of all, and the designers have done everything they could to retain the clear frontpage structure, the bold colour scheme, and the powerful typography. Still, the Beast’s strong and recognizable identity appears a bit weaker in this new ”flat” version, almost completely cleansed of shadows and effects. The design looks clean and functional but not quite as unique as it used to be.

NOW, WHEN EVEN TINA BROWN – who was not only one of the masterminds but also the public ”face” of The Daily Beast – has left for new challenges, the current attempt to relaunch might very well be Barry Diller’s final shot. The publisher promises that we haven’t yet seen it all. Well, the rest better be great or this beautiful Beast may soon become history … as yet another proof that looks isn’t everything, and certainly no guarantee of success.

What a depressing place the world is

”FOR HELVEDE hvor er World Press Photo deprimerende”.

Even those of you who don’t read Danish might get the message? Anyway, the above was my spontaneous reaction last Saturday, after having walked through the exhibition with all the winners from this year’s World Press Photo contest. What a terribly depressing experience.
I posted the sentence on my Facebook wall and the immediate responses let me know that I might not be the only person feeling that way.

Well, the world is like that, my good friend Lars Pryds commented. To which my just-as-good colleague from the gooder-than-good old Politiken days, Helle Hellmann, responded: ”But it is also so much more … which apparently is not worth photographing”.

IN MY OPINION, they are both right. The world is indeed filled with sorrow and injustice and our media would ignore their obligations if they didn’t show that to us. But there is a limit to how much misery one can bear watching before developing kind of an immunity towards the dreary impressions, becoming ”comfortably numb” as Roger Waters once put it.
And press photographers do in fact produce other kinds of images.
Go through any issue of your daily paper, or a magazine, or a website, and you are likely to find a much more diverse, and much less dispiriting, selection of photographs than the dreadful horror parade of WPP. However, most of these pictures don’t enter photo contests, and those that do very rarely win.

At the exhibition in Politiken’s old print factory, this reality was exposed with almost brutal clearness as one exhibition wall was devoted to not-awarded (and probably not participating) photos by Politiken’s own photographers, all of them so much more life-affirming – yet far from bland or naïve – than the international winners. Like this one by Finn Frandsen, illustrating the feelings of a child whose dad just came home from war:

ONE COULD WISH that future WPP juries would try to send a message to photographers around the world that picturing cruelty and suffering is not the only path to winning awards. But I figure there may be no other way to effectively send that kind of signal than to completely refrain from awarding this kind of entries, if just for one year.

TO BE FAIR, even in the 2013 contest, there were a few positive exceptions to the gloom-prevails-rule … and not exclusively in the Sports and Nature categories which (although steroid freaks and endangered animals still appear to be judges’ darlings) serve as kind of sanctuaries where not everything is grief and anguish.

JAN GRARUP’s feature series with Somali women who insist on playing basketball under the constant threat from Al-Shabaab and other radical Islamist groups (who consider women playing sport to be un-Islamic) show glimpses of light in the bleak surroundings. These pictures are indications that there might still be hope, after all; something I know Jan is always trying to look for, even in the most desperate situations.

Yet my personal favourite is this little everyday scene from the camping holiday of a Danish family. The photographer’s own wife and kids, by the way. His name is Søren Bidstrup.

And yes, I honestly do believe it’s a coincidence that my three ”good” examples are all Danish :)