Judge’s Comments

Cheryl Pontius, judge • Division I
Judge’s edited issue: Vol. 42 Issue 4

"Very nice paper that was fun and interesting to read. Design was good without overpowering the content. Lots of good things being done by this staff."

Positive comments:
• Nice front-page teasers on either side of nameplate

• Liked the play on journal and JourNoll in nameplate

• Noll Notes look good running down front page, but might work better inside. This space could then add in more teasers to get people to inside pages

• Very clean front page – dominant headline and photo let reader know most important story on page, good attention in internal/external margins

• Stories are well written with good leads. Some stories leave unanswered questions – if possible, have another person read the story and ask that person what they don’t learn from the article.

• Really liked Is it Right or ‘Ronko’

• Good to see an editorial based on front-page story (try adding a “refer to” to pull readers to opinion page)

• Also nice to see letters to the editor

• Lots of photos, artwork, drop caps, pull quotes

• Good packaging – really liked your Halloween center spread. In the Stress center spread, good to see students interviewed.

• Good use of color – not overly done

• Good informative cutlines

• Pretty good editing

• You avoid sprinkling columns and features with personal pronouns such as “I”

Constructive criticism comments:
• Photos are dark, at times blurred and could use tighter cropping

• On cutlines add in a direction so reader knows how to identify subjects

• While stories are written mostly in active voice, avoid passive if possible

• Nice change of headline style on Entertainment page, but I would suggest changing only your dominant story headline

• Be sure to provide sources for information (i.e., according to)

• No need to box a pull quote – since it has a different style than the story and text wraps around it, it distinguishes itself

• While headlines use active verb, try to liven them up a bit