National Newspaper Association
Protecting, Promoting and Enhancing Community Newspapers Since 1885
News Guru by Kevin Slimp
Kevin Slimp has been a popular speaker and consultant in the newspaper industry since developing the PDF remote printing method in the mid 1990s. He can be reached at kevin@kevinslimp.com
Where did my email go? Kevin lists effective ways to help make sure people get your messages
I've gotten a lot of positive feedback about lists in my recent columns, so I will strike while the iron's hot. This month's list is Kevin's Five Ways to Keep Your Emails From Ending Up in Someone's Spam ...
Know when to use more of something and when to use less
After completing my work with the staff in Florida, it dawned on me that much of what I recommended in Wyoming and Florida came down to knowing when to use less of some things and more of others.
Headlines from the past remind me that 2024 could be a great year
I’ve made a career out of making good bets on the newspaper business. More times than not, my bets were not popular among “experts,” but I somehow kept picking the right team.
New tools in Photoshop elicit warning
I would never suggest it’s OK to use AI to generate or change images used in stories or other types of news content. But there are times when Photoshop’s generative AI will be useful when designing ...
MAKING MORE SPACE — Simple changes invite readers to pick up your paper
I’m thrilled to show the publisher, editors and others on staff the issue with bigger headlines, bigger photos and easier-to-read text. For a moment, I feel like a magician. Unlike any magician ...
Kevin shares ideas to prevent font and photo errors — fixing problems before they appear on the page
Kari’s email caused me to think of other problems that show up on the printed page but not always on the screen in the design process. ... The other most common issue I experience with newspaper ...
Sharing the good news: Everywhere I turn, I see healthy, growing newspapers
Having finished several major redesign projects in June, I’ve recently traveled to speak at several newspaper conventions and visit some newspapers on-site.
How to improve your newspaper
Story ideas came from the groups. Methods of interacting with subscribers were discussed. Before the 30 minutes ended, the group began planning a billboard campaign.
You think I’d have learned this advertising lesson long ago
After so many years leading webinars, you would think I’d know just about all there is to know about the webinar business. It wasn’t until three or four years ago I noticed a significant trend.
Questions posed by New York publishers; Small changes can make a big difference in how readers see your paper
I often found myself involved in conversations with publishers and others who came by my room immediately after a session or approached me during a “meet and greet” to ask for my advice.
Taking control of your time; Kevin shares tools that increase his productivity
Time is my most important commodity. I make a great effort to get the most out of my time. Maybe I can’t control a website host in Eastern Europe or an email server across the country, but there ...
The secret to growing papers is giving the readers what they want
This particular focus group was a little different than most. The paper had gathered 15 seniors — the minimum age requirement was 60 — to spend three hours discussing recent issues of the newspaper ...
It’s not luck — there are definite correlations among growing papers
I’m learning that many locally owned community papers had an excellent year in 2022, prompting them to reinvest in growing their papers.
Kevin’s To-Do List for 2023
As we get set to begin 2023, here are some steps I often recommend when visiting with community papers.
Many newspapers face these same design dilemmas
I worked with the staff of The Marysville Advocate on their new design, which went to the press today. Over the past few months, I’ve worked on redesigns with several newspapers all over the U.S., ...
Even more news about Adobe Type 1 and your newspaper
There’s no need to panic, but you need to prepare for January
Your (Adobe) Type 1 problem
Beginning in January, Adobe users will not be able to create documents using Type 1 fonts. Even more alarming, files created with Type 1 fonts before January will not be editable without replacing the ...
A Tale of Two Publishers — Harry Chapin was right; even in the publishing world, life is one big circle
I’ve worked with so many younger people that I sometimes feel like Yoda (for you Star Wars fans) to a sizable group of up-and-coming publishers in our business.
