Newspaper Design: Best Front Design

The Record had a poignant photo from a folo on a fallen police officer. The Sun-Times was awash in faces: one glad but mostly sad. The Chicago Tribune had less impact with a looser crop on the same funeral story. The Virginian-Pilot did the best job on the peanut butter story, and had a beautiful map, to boot! The Salt Lake Tribune had another strong folo on the shooting there. The Kansas City Star had another fire-based front, but not as strong as their previous one.

Traffic woes were "Totally unacceptable" in The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Morning Call and The Patriot News.

Today's BFD is the Daily Press for its cover that combines impact with information.

With this page, the Daily Press served up the sizzle and the steak. There's plenty of visual firepower but plenty of useful information presentation in quick-and-easy-to-grasp short-form format. Other stories on the page were kept visually subdued to avoid competition with the main image.

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By Alan Jacobson, Brass Tacks Design

Last week NYT Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. admitted that he really didn't know whether he'd be printing the Times in five years. Based on recent events, he is wise to admit what he doesn't know and to "Never say never."

Before you say "never" about newspapers, consider this:

Two years ago, Tony Ridder never thought he'd sell the company that bears his name.
One year ago, Gary Pruitt never thought he'd buy Tony's company.
Six months ago, Gary never thought he'd sell McClatchy's "crown jewel" – the Star-Tribune. And certainly not at a half-billion-dollar loss.
One year ago, Dennis FitzSimmons never thought he'd put Tribune up for sale.
Six months ago, Dennis never thought a qualified buyer would be so difficult to find.
We never thought papers like The Boston Globe and The New York Times would cut their newsroom staffs.
We never thought newsroom layoffs and buyouts would become as common as typos.
We never thought a guy named Craig and websites with silly-sounding names like "Yahoo" and "Google" could undermine our main sources of revenue. And we never thought classifieds were so important.
We never thought The Philadephia Inquirer (winner of 17 Pulitzers in 18 years and the biggest paper in America's fifth-largest city) would see its newsroom staff and circulation drop to the size of a secondary market.
We never thought we'd publish our stories for free online before we published them for payment in print.
A year ago, we never thought we'd see bottom-page strip ads on section fronts (unless we worked for a Gannett paper).
Six months ago, we never thought we'd see bottom-page strip ads on front pages.
A week ago, we never thought we'd see display ads on front pages.
We never thought newsroom raises would be tied to newspaper revenue, as they are now at the Boston Globe. (Four months ago, I suggested that newsroom salaries should be tied to circulation, never thinking that anything close would happen any time soon.)

There's only one thing we can be sure of: More Never Say Nevers TK.

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