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She is a feature-page designer so Gladys Rios was pleasantly
surprised when chosen to design the Austin American-Statesman’s
front page on the historic afternoon of Sept. 11.
Stunning images were piling up from the scene of the first
attack upon the United States on its own territory. Rios kept
coming back to the one of dazed survivors leaving the collapsing
World Trade Center and covered in concrete ash.
"I thought it was the best photo to tell the story
the next day," Rios recalled. "We had published
an Extra, then another late-afternoon paper. In those editions
we had had big pictures of the planes crashing into the building.
"We started talking about it, and looking at all the
variety of photos. I went over our database (of photos) and
talked to Zack Ryall, our photo editor.
" I said ‘We can’t possibly do a regular
front. This is a big day. This is history.’
"There was some hesitation. This photo was from a group
that was all in black and white. But I never had a doubt that
a black and white photo could have an impact.
"I remained focused, and had the support of our photo
editor. I said, ‘This is perfect. One, it captures the
drama, and two, it’s about people. We can’t run
it small. We can’t run it small. This photo does a lot.’
"I made the decision. There was a question whether
we should run it gray scale (applying tones on the black plate
alone). I ran it four-color black and that gave a richness
to the grays in the photo.
"When (AME for presentation) Sharon Roberts asked me
that day to do the page, it was a surprise to me because I
am a features design editor, and hadn’t worked in news.
She just said, ‘You’re the best person to do it.’
I’m just glad I did my job."
Rios had been introduced to the design and typography of
posters in her native Mexico City. She knew "a little
bit of Quark."
After moving to Chicago in 1986, she got a job at a Spanish-language
neighborhood daily.
"The publisher asked me if I could do layout. I said,
‘Why not?’"
She was a design editor of news and business sections for
the Detroit News, and for five years an editorial creator
for the Chicago Tribune. At the latter, she was part of a
team that launched the Tribune’s Spanish publication
"Exito!" Rios was its art director for news, features
and sports pages.
At the American-Statesman, Rios teaches design, grids, page
structure and photo editing. She helped create the newspaper’s
now-defunct "Technopolis" personal technology section.
Rios’ Sept. 12 American-Statesman front page also won
a Texas AP Managing Editors’ first place and received
a Society of Newspaper Design award of excellence.
Her Best of Cox first place, and Rodolfo Gonzalez’s
in Photographer of the year and Feature photography, highlight
the American-Statesman’s and Cox Newspapers’ emphasis
on diversity. Two of the 13 firsts in the Metro Division were
won by Mexican natives, and part of Gonzalez’ portfolio
of work features an indigenous Indian tribe of Western Mexico.
"Working at the Statesman has been very challenging,"
Rios said. "I’m happy I have been able to make a
difference. I never could have done it without the support
of my editor; my managing editor; and my boss, Sharon Roberts."
© 2002 Cox Newspapers, Inc.
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