Newspaper publishers in the United States have long been enthusiastic users ! K" C6 N+ U1 [& f6 q3 G z
and distributors of weather maps. Although some newspapers that had carried the . @9 _0 e( w8 Q8 f7 [ E
United States Weather Bureau's national weather map in 1912 dropped it once the - f5 [2 N X2 b x
novelty had passed, many continued to print the daily weather chart provided by
5 P7 G* E g, W) H(5) their local forecasting office. In the 1930's, when interest in aviation and progress in
' B( a- r: \* A: D7 `& bair-mass analysis made weather patterns more newsworthy, additional newspapers / u- e! S2 x& u' {/ W' l
started or resumed the daily weather map. In 1935, The Associated Press (AP) news
! I; [% O2 r2 }9 S/ t& K8 hservice inaugurated its WirePhoto network and offered subscribing newspapers
9 ?9 q6 S& J& w. s5 Y& P& s+ x' nmorning and afternoon weather maps redrafted by the AP's Washington, B.C., office
) |7 z% p5 @' Y) H' }0 {# U: H(10)from charts provided by the government agency. Another news service, United Press International (UPI), developed a competing photowire network and also provided ! @0 U6 Z% r. L( |0 x0 m0 a8 N+ m# D
timely weather maps for both morning and afternoon newspapers. After the United $ a9 C; p& a) o+ L# |: A
States government launched a series of weather satellites in 1966, both the AP and 6 p" h) K: \* ~( b# @, ]5 g
UPI offered cloud-cover photos obtained from the Weather Bureau.
" ^5 U# {$ D$ z2 H9 L3 g(15) In the late 1970's and early 1980's, the weather map became an essential , @5 F. [; L+ s, t; u
ingredient in the redesign of the American newspaper. News publishers, threatened 7 T( ~& Y7 d' w" g/ p
by increased competition from television for readers' attention, sought to package
/ y+ Y1 Z' f3 T/ |the news more conveniently and attractively. In 1982, many publishers felt ; y3 J; G" y) k( y$ d. |
threatened by the new USA Today, a national daily newspaper that used a page-wide,
l5 N2 ]4 r+ ]' \6 ?5 ^# n(20)full-color weather map as its key design element. That the weather map in USA / C3 F% f6 N" _! H% D* D# r2 e
21 Today did not include information about weather fronts and pressures attests to the
. d( i* \7 |" S2 l* A5 Hlargely symbolic role it played. Nonetheless, competing local and metropolitan
! J2 w- r9 G6 ]- P9 ` p i Gnewspapers responded in a variety of ways. Most substituted full-color temperature
3 X7 X# w1 ~" W- Ymaps for the standard weather maps, while others dropped the comparatively drab - x, S4 A0 J {; a9 L/ U
(25)satellite photos or added regional forecast maps with pictorial symbols to indicate ! C. @4 Q; j4 {- `/ L" ] K: B
rainy, snowy, cloudy, or clear conditions. A few newspapers, notably The New York
; @9 I- ?8 z0 G; l+ eTimes, adopted a highly informative yet less visually prominent weather map that
. M: Q/ @8 x u& ~was specially designed to explain an important recent or imminent weather event.
: `6 ?6 E4 N. g$ j7 u: k# PIronically, a newspaper's richest, most instructive weather maps often are & o5 B+ W. J: v; s t# W; R& _7 I
(30)comparatively small and inconspicuous. |