Your Newspaper
Many people, granted most of them in the newspaper industry, regard the publishing of a newspaper as nothing short of a miracle. Every week, day, or month, depending on the publication you're working for, writers, advertising salespeople, artists, production people, pressmen and women, truck drivers and countless other employees work together to manufacture and deliver an entirely different, completely new product. As you'll find, this unusual aspect of the newspaper industry will make your job very exciting at times and very frustrating at others.

So let's talk about the major departments that you'll probably find at your newspaper. The actual content of the newspaper comes from two separate departments. The ads, whether they be what many "display" ads (the ads with the borders around them) or line ads (the categorized listings of text usually found in the classified section of the newspaper) are sold and usually produced by the advertising department. Everything else--the news, stories, features, columns, stock quotes--all of that, comes from the editorial department.

The only real exception is at some newspapers, the advertising department will create the stories for special sections and features. Some call it "advertorial", often meaning a story about a business written by the advertising department that might not have appeared in the paper if that business hadn't advertised. You can learn more about these special sections in the upcoming section on the various products newspapers sell.

Anyway, all of this has to be printed on presses, often in the same building as you work, other times in a remote location. Many newspapers find it less expensive to have it printed by somebody else. Then the newspaper has to be delivered, and the circulation department is in charge of this. By the way, they also spend a considerable amount of time encouraging people to read your publication. Your circulation department might have a phone room set up somewhere telemarketers call and ask people to subscribe. They're probably very active in the community as well, maintaining a presence at many of its annual events. Sure there are all sorts of other departments--the billing department bills the advertisers who advertise, the credit department determines who is eligible for credit, the human resources department keeps track of hiring, firing, and other issues. These other departments can be spread throughout the building or sometimes even within your advertising deparment.

Many newspapers, when time permits, arrange for salespeople to spend anywhere from a half-hour to half a day sitting in the some of these departments, getting a better feel for what the departments do. If, in the next few days, you find yourself feeling abandoned while the rest of the advertising department is distracted by some special section or other initiatives, you might want to suggest this to your manager. At the very least, you'll find many people will be happy to show you what other salespeople do that drive the other departments crazy and how to avoid doing those same things.

So let's get into more detail about each major department.