Web-Width Guidelines Approved
Publishers now have guidelines to help them wend their way through the thicket of web-width reductions.
Following a call for standards that grew to a dull roar during NEXPO®99, the NAA Board of Directors approved in early February a recommended image width and page size for narrower printing webs. The recommendations, however, are not intended to replace Standard Advertising Units nor endorse the ongoing industry move to 50-inch webs, Association officials caution.
"These
guidelines are designed to help newspapers and advertisers work with reduced
page sizes," says NAA President and Chief Executive Officer John
F. Sturm. "The Board is neither recommending that these guidelines
replace the current SAUs, nor is it ad-vocating that newspapers reduce
their page size."
Board members recommended an 115/8-inch page-image width, designed for use on a 121/2 -inch page and including six columns and 1/8-inch gutters (at right, or download from www.naa.org/technology/ pressweb/Adunits50.pdf). An Association task force initially had suggested a narrower, 111/2-inch image, but the Board tabled the earlier proposal during a meeting last fall.
The NAA Board recommendations mark the first suggested image size for the 250 newspapers that have already reduced web widths or announced plans to do so. The current standard image width is 13 inches, based on a 133/4-inch page.
"The task force worked diligently to ensure that the Board’s decision is based on input from all newspaper departments, including ad-vertising, editorial, technology, finance and administration," Sturm says.
With a variety of web sizes in place across the industry, Sturm notes that some publishers may choose to adopt their own preferred ad-submission sizes, or PASS. For instance, The New York Times, which still prints on 54-inch webs, might select a PASS of 123/4 inches, while the Los Angeles Times, which recently converted to 50 inches, could opt for a PASS of 111/2 inches.
"We believe PASS will provide another tool to help newspapers and their advertisers do business better," Sturm says.
Web reductions proved a hot topic at January’s Newspaper Operations Super-Conference in Miami Beach. "The theory that the pace is accelerating is accurate," said Robert Palermini, Chicago Tribune manager for publishing technology. "I think in the future we’ll be seeing an increasing number of conversions."