ABSTRACT
A writer working on a story and a copy editor later looking at that story both become absorbed in its intrinsic qualities. Editors working at both levels—that of the individual story and that of the page, package or site—are applying the concept of priority. They ask what is most important and most meaningful to their readers or viewers and then ask how they can best express that importance visually. This is increasingly important as copy editors produce additional pieces of the package. Editors of pages use the same news values that writers use in their reporting and that copy editors use when reworking a story. Editors laying out a page try to make it more lively by providing contrasts in shapes and sizes. They often will begin by sketching small "thumbnail" drawings of the page to work out ideas, and then "dummy" the page on electronic software.
