Page:Newspaper writing and editing.djvu/340

 *trast. With heads not at the top of the columns, effort is made to secure contrast by some form of alternation. A careful study of a number of papers will show a variety of ways in which the principle of contrast determines the arrangement of material on each page.

Principle of Symmetry. That this alternation of the prominent and the less prominent should be closely related to symmetry in arrangement, is evident. In the seven-column form, which is the usual one, the large heads in alternate columns produce a naturally symmetrical effect. When somewhat smaller heads are used lower down on the page, a similar alternation continues to carry out the symmetry. Large two-column heads in the first and second and in the sixth and seventh columns, or smaller two-column ones in the second and third and in the fifth and sixth columns, produce an even balance. In an eight-column page, in which this regular alternation is impossible, some symmetry is often maintained by means of cuts. Many papers do not attempt to have perfect balance on the front page, because of the desire to have the daily cartoon or a cut at the top of the right half of the page where it will attract most attention. Usually when symmetry is sacrificed, the regularity of arrangement is departed from by putting the largest heads, or the illustrations, on the right half of the front page.

Positions of Prominence. The most important news is generally put in the last column to the right on the first page. This is done for two reasons: first, because a long story in this column can run on continuously to the first column of the second page without a jump-head; and second, because, as the papers are laid out on the news stand, the right side of the paper is prominently displayed. This fact accounts for the placing of cuts and cartoons on the right side. If there