The Message Is 45 Years Old
Typewriters to computers. Broadsheet to tabloid. Regular mail to Internet. NW 3rd St. to Hesmer Road. Film to digital.
Any changes in The Message over 45-years? Oh my. Yes.
We were adjusting to an Evansville Edition of The Criterion at our NW 3rd St. office above the Diocesan Office of Education. J. Jeff Hays, managing editor, and I, as editor, typed our stories. Photos were processed at Schmitt Photo (since closed). These were sent by regular mail to Indianapolis, the Office of The Criterion, the Catholic newspaper for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. There, the stories were prepared into columns of print.
These copies were sent back to us by mail for proofreading. Usually, editing was completed by phone to save time. Page design was done at Indianapolis. The paper arrived to subscribers’ homes on Fridays.
We began with Volume 1, Number 1 of The Message, serving exclusively the Diocese of Evansville, in September 1970. We shifted mailings to News Publishing at Tell City, Ind. The process remained virtually the same.
Two years later, we entered the computer age of preparing copy for paste-up of the pages. The Message was the third Catholic newspaper in the United States to begin computerized typesetting. It was quite simple compared to today. We could print copy in either 8 or 10 point, regular or italic. Headlines were done with a separate machine where we wrote the headlines one letter at a time.
But what a step forward! Since then, advances every few years came to the digital age of desktop monitors and a wide range of fonts and typefaces. The revolution was well underway. We pasted up the pages, sold and prepared the ad copy, and sent the finished product in a large box to our printer at Tell City. Today at their desk monitors the editors view the whole page electronically. No more paste-up.
We used the Greyhound Bus, just a block away, to deliver the finished copy to Tell City. Tuesday evening was deadline. The papers appeared in subscribers’ mailboxes on Friday.
We hurried up the photo process by developing our own negatives, then choosing the ones we wanted to be blown up by Schmitt Photo. I developed negatives in my bathroom.
At the time of leaving Indianapolis, Jeff Hays did a mock-up of that week’s paper on a tabloid size. We had been using a broadsheet. Bishop Francis Shea and our Board of Directors approved the new look. The tabloid was becoming very popular because photos, ads and copy seemed to jump out more to the reader. With the beginning of The Message, the size became tabloid.
We moved to the Catholic Center in November 1976 with bright shiny offices and a darkroom. We no longer used the Schmitt Photo services, thus reducing time for production of up to date photos.
The purpose of the paper remained that of providing communication within and among members of the Diocese of Evansville. It was also the official voice of the church in Southwest Indiana. It serves as an avenue of Catholic teaching on a weekly basis. Through letters to the editor, articles submitted by various people, and contact for various events and plans throughout the diocese, the paper served and still serves to encourage and inspire across the diocese.
We had a Board of Directors for the Catholic Press of Evansville. Some of the names on the Board were Bill Burleigh, editor of the Evansville Press and subsequently CEO and Chairman of the Board for Scripps Newspapers; John Rumbach, owner and publisher of the Dubois County Herald; Diane Bender, legal counsel. They were so helpful in providing voices from various segments of our population.
The Church underwent many changes, many in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Catholic schools were closing. Priests and women religious left their careers. From an overwhelming presence of women religious and men religious in Catholic schools, lay personnel took over.
Subscriptions gradually reduced from 16,600 in 1970 to 5,000 today.
Many parishes changed from providing full subcription coverage to parishioners to a pay-for-your-own subscription.
Each of the bishops – Bishop Paul Leibold, Bishop Francis Shea, Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger and Bishop Charles Thompson – viewed The Message as the easiest and least expensive way of communicating with their people spread throughout the 12-county area of the Diocese of Evansville.
Blessings to those who prepare the weekly copy, and to those whom it serves.
Father Joe Ziliak served as the first Editor of The Message. We are grateful for his contributions – then and now!
