Jan. 20, 2006

What has five elements, is stripped in a ribbon across the bottom of the front page, and is designed to quickly and easily give readers interesting information?

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If you live in St. Paul, it's "5 Fast Facts" in the Pioneer Press.

If you live in Madison, it's "5 On The Fly" in the Wisconsin State Journal.

The features are remarkably similar in appearance and share several goals, but they are different in scope and execution.

The Pioneer Press was first with "5 Fast Facts," which launched in September. Lauri Hopple, senior editor for visuals, envisioned the ribbon as a complement to the paper's "Speed Read" on Page A2, which offers a five-minute summary of the top news.

"Speed Read" editor Amy Nelson gave the feature a twist. She decided "Fast Facts" shouldn't repeat items from A2 and shouldn't refer to stories promoted elsewhere on the front page.

"They are designed to drive readers deeper into the paper and make use of that limited space," Nelson says.

To make "Fast Facts" more interesting and challenging – and add a fun gimmick – the Pioneer Press requires that each of the five items contain the number that corresponds with its place among the five.

"The No. 1 items need to have a 'one' or some variation in the copy and so on for each number," Nelson says. "These can be strictly enforced or pretty loose. I think my favorite so far has been the H5N1 virus for the No. 5."

Many "Fast Facts" refer to elements that don't often get promoted out front, such as columnists, box scores and reader alerts.

"And finally, I like to have fun with them and push the envelope a little," Nelson says. "I pick a lot of pop culture references and sometimes include edgier commentary because 'Speed Read' is also supposed to be a bit edgier."

In Madison, not all of the elements in "5 On The Fly" promote stories in the paper. Some simply give readers "an entertaining break in their day," Editor Ellen Foley says, or provide standalone facts about important events or controversies.

Foley says the feature is designed for harried parents and others like them who like newspapers but don't have time to read stories early in the morning.

"Our intent is to give the 35- to 45-year-old reader with an oversubscribed life enough information to get through their morning conversations, but to also bring them back to the paper at another point in the day to read deeper," she says.

The State Journal plucks items from budgets and news meetings that may not deserve full stories but that people will talk about. News and section editors also send prospects to a file, and the night city editor pulls "5 On The Fly" together.

The newsroom had a contest with a $50 prize to name the feature. The staff enjoyed it, and the contest created a buzz before launch, Foley says.

Like Nelson in St. Paul, Foley wants her fab five to have attitude, and it's not there yet in her mind.

While they have differences, the two 5s share a common goal: give readers a quick hit on the front page that makes the paper more fun, more interesting, more enticing and more useful.