Not every newspaper distortion involves misspelled names or poor OCR. Sometimes the problem is simply spacing. In the era of hand-set type, compositors frequently adjusted the spacing between letters and words to make columns align neatly. Names containing prefixes, apostrophes, or multiple words were especially vulnerable. What appeared perfectly readable in print can become fragmented during digitization, causing search engines to treat a single surname as multiple unrelated words. As a result, researchers searching for a familiar surname may unknowingly overlook records hiding behind irregular spacing patterns.
Distortion Type
Irregular Word and Letter Spacing
Why it Happens
Manual justification and uneven type alignment.
Why it Matters
OCR often merges or splits words: “Mc Don ald,” “O’ Brien,” or “De La Cruz” becomes unsearchable when spacing varies.
Search Strategies
- Search both with and without spaces or punctuation (“OBrien,” “McDonald”).
- Try wildcards for spacing gaps (“DelaCruz”).
- In image view, scan nearby lines for clustered capital letters—names often stand out visually.
Example
A researcher searches for references to the De La Cruz family but finds almost nothing in a local newspaper collection. After reviewing page images manually, they discover that the newspaper frequently printed the surname as Dela Cruz, DeLaCruz, and sometimes De LaCruz. OCR interpreted each variation differently, creating separate searchable entries within the database. Similar issues occur with names such as McDonald, which may appear as Mc Donald, or O’Brien, which may be indexed as O Brien or OBrien. By searching multiple spacing variations, the researcher uncovers dozens of previously missed articles.
Key Takeaway
A surname doesn’t have to be misspelled to become invisible. Sometimes a single misplaced space is all it takes to hide an ancestor from your search results.
The Newspaper Distortions Field Guides
Discover all 25 Newspaper Distortions, companion Field Notes, videos, and audio lessons in the Field Guides Collection