December 11, 2020
Do you read newspapers? Yeah, the dead tree model for information dissemination that’s still with us. And I am grateful for that. But even if you don’t litter your house with read and unread sheets of newsprint, you might be interested where all the words and pictures come from.
You may have noticed long ago that locally authored newspaper content has shrunk in concert with declining ad revenue and substantial staff cuts. So what’s a paper to do to in order to provide professionally written, illustrated and edited material? The Jeopardy answer would be “What are Newspaper Syndicates?”
We are all familiar with syndicated comics, word puzzles, advice and political columns. But there’s a whole ‘nother aisle in the information/entertainment supermarket we call Special Sections. At least that’s what they are called with the gig I have at Creators Syndicate.
Creators Special Sections offer columns, photographs and infographics (Yay! That’s my contribution) to cover a wide variety of seasonal themes. F’rinstance, I just finished up a set of infographics for their 2021 Brides and Bouquets package and by Christmas I’ll be in the middle of the 2021 Spring Lawn and Garden ensemble. Not only do we have to work months in advance, but so do the purchasing newspaper folks responsible for looking ahead.
Working in advance means you have to “get in the mood” for Christmas around late August and early September. I did fire up my snowblower this summer just to keep the parts moving and lubricated (referring to my aging body) and that did the trick. Here are a couple of infographics made available for the 2020 holiday season. I’ll post more goodies like this up to the end of December. By then you’ll have had your fill.
