Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

1967

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Journalism

Abstract

Since the early 1940’s there have been few experiments dealing directly with line width, and even fewer studies dealing with the effect of line width on productions output differences. However, there has been considerable speculation, and many hypotheses, about these differences. In a 1969 study, Leicht studied output differences on manually operated typesetting machines, using 11 picas and 15 picas.30 In the same year, Nuckols investigated comparative reading times using the same measures.31 These studies supported the hypotheses of the Louisville Courier-Journal that a 15-pica line width make for a more readable newspaper, and that type can be set manually with greater speed on a 15-pica measure than on an 11-pica measure. The Courier-Journal also hypothesized that typesetting speed would be increased if the TTS process were used.32 A trend to wider newspaper columns seem to have developed in the past two years. The Wall Street Journal changed to a wider measure some time ago and the Copley newspapers have started using the wider measure on their front pages. The Los Angeles Times also uses the wider measure on its front page and on section pages. Many of the smaller papers have followed the lead of these large dailies. Erwin Canham of the Christian Science Monitor believes newspapers must become even more concerned with their readers because “the future of daily newspapers depends, of course, on how they anticipate and meet the changing needs of readers.”33 If it can be shown that setting type on a wider measure would save a significant amount of time, changing to wider measures would be beneficial to newspaper publishers. Therefore, this study attempts to determine if such a production difference does, in fact, exist when the TTS process is used.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Type and type-founding
Typesetting

Format

application/pdf

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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