By BOB BUDD
Staff Writer
To gain a further understanding of how a newsroom operates, TCC Journalism students toured the Texarkana Gazette Nov. 12. They listened as Don Ferrell, executive editor, traced the course of a news story from A to Z.
A to Z, it turned out, involved a seven-pole slalom course with modern electronic devices designed to zip the news through the system at the fastest possible rate.
The news story reaches the Gazette through the efforts of a trained reporter. Ferrell emphasized the importance of reporters being involved in their community and of having a handle on the centers of influence.
“As I like to term it… you just kind of know the movers and shakers in your community and build up a wide acquaintanceship,” Ferrell said. “Here at the Gazette, there is going to be a lot more pressure on reporters to get out and become involved in the community.”
From the reporter, the news story goes to the City Desk, or Metro as it is called at the Gazette. The news item then passes to the Copy Desk where it is edited and made ready for print. The next step in the process is the VDT, or video display terminal where the story is put into print.
At the Gazette, the story then meets other news items of the day and is “dummied” into a page layout.
Ferrell explained that the makeup of a page is basically an “eyeball” thing.
“You have to have a good sense of balance to layout a page and make it up,” he said.
The page is then sent to the cameraroom where it is copied and married with other pages before going to the pressroom for printing. Though the mammoth Goss press was silent at the time TCC students viewed it, they were impressed with the amount of paper it takes to put out one daily newspaper. On Sunday, the Gazette will use twice that amount.