Weekly newspaper

A weekly newspaper, or semi-weekly newespaper is usually a smaller publication than a larger, daily newspaper (such as one that covers a metropolitan area). Unlike these metropolitan newspapers, a weekly newspaper will cover a smaller area, such as one or more smaller towns or an entire county.

Most weekly newspapers follow a similar format as daily newspapers (i.e., news, sports, family news, obituaries, etc.). However, the primary focus is on news from the publication's coverage area. The publication date of weekly newspapers vary, but usually they come out in the middle of the week (e.g., Wednesday or Thursday). Semi-weekly newspapers may publish twice or three times a week.

Some weekly newspapers focus exclusively on business news. However, this article focuses primarily on traditional weekly newspapers which cover such events as news and sports.

Planning an edition of a weekly newspaper

As with larger newspapers, planning for a weekly newspaper takes much thought and planning to produce a coherent newspaper. Like their daily bretheren, good weekly newspapers are informative, contain vivid photographs, and provoke a wide range of reader emotions.

Usually, the editor-in-chief will meet with other editors and reporters at a specific time to obtain story ideas and make assignments. Story assignments and/or ideas are often determined by a reporter's beat (which may include such areas as city or county government, schools and education and general news). Sometimes, an editor will use a ladder (a listing of what will go on a specific page) or a "billboard" (a master list of what each reporter's assignments are) to track content and staff assignments.

At many newspapers, the editor will also contribute one or more stories, in addition to duties such as obtaining story ideas and laying out the newspaper.

After a story is written, the reporter or editor will turn in his copy to be proofread (either by another editor or a clerk hired specifically to proofread stories and double-check facts). After a story is "cleaned up" (i.e., edited), the copy is placed in a queue for placement on the pages.

Content

Many weekly newspapers follow a similar format, as seen below:
News

Often, a news or feature story may be longer and more in-depth than at a daily metropolitan newspaer. Events such as a deadly car accident or house fire may be "colored," that is, include quotes from investigators and others affected. A reporter may include more information about an issue discussed at a city council or school board meeting in his/her story, especially if it is of great interest to readers.
Many weekly newspapers also employ correspondents (sometimes called stringers). Often, they will be either a retired person or someone who has another job; although many college students or recent college graduates will work as a correspondent to build experience. Usually, they are assigned to cover general news and/or city council meetings and school board meetings from outlying towns in a newspaper's coverage area.
In the past, correspondents often submitted stories along the lines of "Mr. and Mrs. John Jones had company from out-of-town last week," along with announcements of upcoming events. While a few newspapers still publish these stories, most newspapers have done away with these types of stories. In part this is because of waning interest, but some editors believe burglars and thieves use these stories to plan their crimes, especially if the story includes information about someone being on vacation.
Sports

A weekly newspaper often covers sports teams from one or more area schools (mostly high schools). Often, a sports reporter takes great ownership in a specific team and writes stories containing detailed accounts of games; several photographs of the game may accompany the story. Other stories preview games, usually between traditional rivals, to build interest.
Family news and obituaries

Family news pages are frequently the most read pages of a weekly newspaper. These pages include announcements of births, engagements, weddings, and landmark birthdays and anniversaries. Frequently, these stories are accompanied by photographs.
Also of interest to many readers are obituaries, or announcements of a person's death.
Editorial pages

Like daily newspapers, weekly newspapers often have an editorial page. While an editor or featured columnist may discuss issues of importance to readers, often they will write ancedotes, or first-person stories about humorous incidents.
Editorial pages also include letters to the editor, written by readers on a specific topic. Often, the letter is in response to an editorial or a story that appeared in a previous edition of the newspaper.
Sometimes, an editorial page will also include an editorial by a state legislator from the newspaper's coverage area. The legislator will comment on issues and proposed bills being discussed at the state capitol that local readers may be concerned about, and provide information on how to contact him/her if they want to discuss an issue.
Public record

The public record section usually includes summaries of police incident reports, fire department calls and court dispositions (or, the outcome of a criminal proceeding). Many newspapers also publish a list of building permits that have been issued in its circulation area.
Public notices

Public notices typically fall into one of two categories:

Notices about hearings, advertisements for bids, financial reports, adoption of ordinances, and other government activities which local governments are required to notify the public.

Notices by the court system and/or law enforcement agencies. These can include such things as lawsuits, divorce settlements and foreclosures/property repossession.
Advertising

Weekly newspapers often have one or more advertising sales representatives whose job it is to sell display advertisements. Most advertisements are from local businesses (although some larger companies from outside the coverage area may advertise).

Other advertisements are called classifieds, which are placed by people who want to buy or sell something (such as a car or real estate), employers who have job openings, or property owners who have rental property available.
Along with paid subscriptions, a weekly newspaper receives most of its revenue from display and classified advertising.
Laying out the newspaper

Most weekly newspapers are laid out one or more days before the publication date. Sometimes, the layout of pages is staggered, to allow for multiple deadlines.
Like larger newspapers, most weekly newspapers these days are paginated, or laid out using programs such as Adobe Pagemaker, Adobe InDesign or Quark Xpress. Layout is the appearance of the page and includes photographs (along with captions identifying the photograph's content and people), copy (the text and its typefont), headlines and white space.
Copy is the main story on the layout, and is often typed and edited using a word processing program such as WordPerfect. The copy is saved to a hard drive or disk and later imported onto the pages. White space is the empty area between the other elements of the layout.
At many newspapers, reporters and editors use a digital camera to take photographs and download selected photographs using a card reader. Newspapers that still use 35-mm cameras often have a special negative scanner, which allows users to obtain more detail from a photograph than from a print. The photographs are cropped and edited using a program such as Adobe Photoshop.
After the copy and advertisements have been placed on the page, the editor will print out a proof and make any changes, if necessary; sometimes, he/she will consult with reporters on such things as double-checking facts, proofreading headlines and other copy, or writing cutlines for photographs. Once everyone is satisfied, a final proof is printed out and prepared for publication. The pages can either be placed on dummy sheets, burned to a CD-ROM or Zip Disk, or sent to the printing press (either located at the newspaper office or an off-site publication plant) by e-mail.
Staff

Often, the staff of a weekly newspaper is smaller, with employees having several duties. For instance, a news editor may also sell advertising, while reporters could also be photographers.
Many newspapers have at least one news clerk, who is responsible for typing family news and obituaries, as well as news releases announcing upcoming events. A circulation manager keeps track of subscribers (this can range from only a couple hundred to tens of thousands of subscribers), and may also be in charge of classified advertising.

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