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May 16, 2008

To the Sounding Board:

This month's survey on AP graphics drew 42 responses from 37 newspapers nationwide, making it the most successful Sounding Board yet and demonstrating the high interest in visual journalism.

Among them were editors at the Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee, Tampa Tribune, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Indianapolis Star, Seattle Times, Richmond Post-Dispatch and The Star-Ledger of Newark. Ensuring a cross-section were editors from other circulations/Web audiences coast-to-coast.

Managing Editor Lou Ferrara and Graphics Editor Nicolas Rapp singled out these survey results:

— Almost half the responders said they used an average of two AP graphics daily in their newspapers.

— 90 percent said they wanted more Flash graphics with interactivity.

All but three newspapers asked for increased production of interactive graphics. Sixty percent of the respondents said they also produce such Flash presentations themselves. The size they want most is between 550 and 720 pixels wide and a height of 480 pixels. The results indicate that graphics' customers may not be aware that the AP already produces Flash content.

— 46 percent of responders also use another graphics service; members mostly happy with AP production.

Forty-one percent use MCT (McClatchy-Tribune), 4 percent use New York Times graphics, and only one respondent used the UK-based company Graphics News. No respondent used Reuters. Forty-two percent said AP graphics are better, while 40 percent rated AP even with the competition.

— Demand stable, but shrinking news hole lowers use of graphics for some newspapers.

Twenty-six percent of polled members tell us they use fewer graphics now compared to 2005. Most of these members have reduced pagination and some are less interested in international and national news. Twelve percent use more graphics, which may be due to other services producing fewer graphics, or attempts by newspapers to use more alternative storytelling. However, 61 percent said they use the same amount of graphics as they did three years ago.

— Graphics departments shrinking somewhat nationwide.

Based on numbers provided, it seems that staff dedicated to graphics at newspapers shrank approximately 15 percent.

— Most popular are breaking news graphics.

Here's the ranking of most popular graphics.

1, Breaking news

2, Politics (We believe this may be higher than normal because it is an election year with heated contests.)

3, Sports

4, Business

5, Enterprise

6, Health

7, Logos

8, Lifestyles

9, Entertainment

It is clear that we need to focuses on our most popular graphics as we see news hole shrinking.

— Maps most popular graphic, small graphics successful.

Maps, charts and timelines get the nod for most-used types of AP graphics. Most members are not interested in illustrations. Most members are interested only in full-pages for big sporting events. Seventy-three percent said inside section A was the placement leader for AP Graphics. Ninety percent said one-column graphics are the favored size, followed by two- and three-column graphics. Ninety-five percent think the sizes of graphics produced by the department are right for their needs.

— Graphics service sometimes not easy to use.

There were complaints from a significant number of members about the accessibility of graphics. Some complained about the switch to AP Exchange and the discontinuation of a Web site dedicated to graphics. Others have frequent problems finding the digest.

Full results of the survey, including comments can be accessed at this link:

www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=
kKTs_2fhSrt7VL8qqdq8wYCVlEuD28kLuGbSRWEQszo5g_3d

Mac users may need the Firefox browser or a recent version of Safari to access the survey.

In negotiating the Web site, make use of the navigation arrow at the top of the page. Clicking on the "view" box at each question yields numerical lists of responders or comment texts. To pair a name with a comment, click the "find" box.

For additional comments/responders, use the left arrow atop the page to return to the summary page. Then click on the view box again and repeat the process.

CLICK HERE to download the PDF of the results.

Dave Minthorn, manager, AP News Administration, coordinates the questions and answers. Newspaper editors wishing to suggest a topic can send an e-mail to Minthorn at dminthorn@ap.org.

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