Missouri's Springfield News-Leader used both the front and back pages this morning to show in a single aerial photo the destruction left by Sunday's tornado in Joplin, Mo., about 90 minutes west of Springfield. The twister, the deadliest in six decades, left 122 dead, 750 injured, and 8,000 structures damaged, the paper says today.
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Got a Gannett front page to recommend? Find it in the Newseum's page one database, then post a link in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
[Image: Newseum]
I can remember when usat use to do innovative, lead-the-pack type of stuff like this.
ReplyDeleteGood staff photo coverage today. Better late than never.
ReplyDeleteThat's impressive. Nice job to the folks in Springfield. Thank you for sharing this with us Jim.
ReplyDeleteMy question though ... why didn't they take off ad on Page 1 ... not dead from the tornado? Then head to the car show!
ReplyDeleteone of the best layout ideas i have seen in my 35 years in the paper biz. darn why didn't i ever think of that.
ReplyDeletethe industries desperation to keep their audience is helping breed more creative innovation, if only we had done this years ago.
This layout was a great idea. I'm just sorry about the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThere is some talent left, after all. Superb layout, concise headlines and a good mix of coverage right up front.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of "up front," they can't take the banner ad off because that premium spot is in the contract. Wouldn't have been an incongruous problem in the days where front pages had no advertising. I guess this is what we're left with for whoring-out the front page to the highe$t bidder.
Green Bay did the same front/back design twice earlier this year, after the Packers won the NFC championship game and the Super Bowl.
ReplyDeleteNice recovery after a horrible start.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, you should take a look at any other News-Leader issue, it's not very good. Really.
Lot of canned AP copy and they have a strange placement of filler stuff like marriages, births, it's just a funky newspaper. It's not a surprise their circulation is so low for a town of it's size. Any for breaking news, the News-Leader website is the last place to turn to.
News-Leader didn't get off to a bad start. Mark Schefflbein is a staff freelancer whose been given an AP byline. He was there almost immediately. His photos ran in USAT and almost all the wires. Lots to complain about but they hit a home run with this story since Sunday night.
ReplyDeletePROUD of Springfield and their work. Criticize what you may, but that news team should be commended.
ReplyDeleteGreen Bay did it editorially for the Obama inauguration as well - but top to bottom, across the A section spine.
ReplyDeleteNever mind that prepress ran high-low double trucks for years on advertorial sections, but hey, we had macs to work on.
What is a staff freelancer? You're either staff OR a freelancer...
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to judge the quality of coverage (or lack thereof) from afar. I live in Springfield, and I can tell you for a fact that the newspaper lagged terribly behind local television coverage as well as coverage by the newspapers from Tulsa, Kansas City and even St. Louis. The News-Leader is running even with the competition now, but it got off to an embarrassingly sluggish start the first couple of days after the tragic storm.
ReplyDeleteSlow starts and ho-hum designs are going to be more common with the design studios, I expect. I'm ever hopeful, but I'm fearful you won't see this kind of work (even two days later) coming out of any of the design studios. And if you do, it will be the exception rather than the rule because will they ever think to ask "Hey, can I try this?" I'm betting they'll just follow the template and built the page ... not design it.
ReplyDelete