At The Capital, Publisher Philip Merrill's influence will last

On the wall next to the copy editors who lay out The Capital's pages every day is posted a large sign.

It instructs that at least four of the six columns on the front pages of the paper's sections will have color in them "EVERY day."

"Break pages of this newspaper are supposed to convey LOTS and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of color," it says. "There will be NO exceptions to this rule, period! - Phil Merrill."

The sign, which has been up for about 15 years, was dictated by the publisher himself, complete with capitalization and exclamation point. He was in Brussels at the time as assistant secretary-general of NATO, and...