The many faces of Page One
It is Tuesday and the front pages of The New York Times, as well as New York City’s free newspaper, Metro, display exactly the same lead art on their Page One: a collage of facial expressions by President Bush during his final press conference at the White House. No, no need to do a double take, that was, indeed, almost the same exact group of photos. But, alas, leave it to the New York tabs to provide visual balance. The New York Post decided to move forward to the next occupant of the White House, with an Abe Obama headline and picture, while The New York Daily News used ONE Bush facial expression with a Bush Wacky headline.
For Liberation and Seattle P-I: online daily, weekend print edition?
Two news items seem to act as bookends today for an idea that is becoming more popular and sensible among publishers worldwide: doing an online edition during the week, and publishing a robust, printed weekend edition.
Item # 1:
Liberation: In Le Figaro—Drastic economic measures for Liberation
– Economies drastiques pour «Libération»
http://www.lefigaro.fr/medias/2009/01/10/04002-20090110ARTFIG00202-economies-drastiques-pour-liberation-.php
Edouard de Rothschild, majority shareholder of Liberation, has demanded additional efforts on the part of the newspaper’s management to find 150000 euros of saving per month for the next three months.
Item #2:
Post-Intelligencer:
– USA: For sale: The P-I
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/395463_newspapersale10.html
The Seattle P-I’s parent company, The Hearst Corp., said Friday that it has put the paper up for sale and will stop publishing unless someone buys it in 60 days. If no buyer emerges, the paper would either become a Web-only publication or cease all operations.
Not the best news, but the sort we are getting used to. It no longer matters what an icon a newspaper is, every newspaper is a candidate to become history. It does not have to be, and I believe strongly that weekend editions have tremendous potential in print. It is a more leisure reader during the weekend, and the printed newspaper offers great portability and the allure of a book, if you will. Books are not necessarily disappearing just yet.
I experienced the allure of the weekend newspaper when working with the team of the weekly Die Zeit, in Germany. Always a weekly, Die Zeit editors produce a combination magazine/book, which continues to be successful. News is secondary; analysis, interpretation, extensive space devoted to arts, culture, science, politics and literature offer that something extra. In the United States, The Christian Science Monitor made a similar move in 2008.
I can see Liberation, which has traditionally been a sort of “alternative” newspaper with its left of the center editorial philosophy and its method of reporting news, becoming a natural to transition into an online newspaper during the week, but a “must have” weekend printed daily.
It may be more difficult for the P-I in Seattle to make this transition, deep rooted as it is in the more traditional American newspaper philosophy of covering news. But it is not impossible to move forward, retrench, reorganize staffs, and start thinking of a vibrant, well edited weekend edition.
The Front Page of the Day
I live in Tampa, and I woke up this morning to rather boring front pages of the city’s broadsheets: The St. Petersburg Times and The Tampa Tribune. It was business as usual here.
But, alas, move over to Aisle 3 and there is the irresistible front page of the freebie paper, tbt, (a product of the St. Petersburg Times, by the way), saying “Grab me, grab me”.
Good job, guys. It was a busy morning for me doing a dozen errands, but I had to stop and look at your paper. Isn’t that what it is all about?
….And the Ad of the Day
In today’s Wall Street Journal, an ad that one can’t avoid: it is a page totally covered with a red marker over each line of type, but leaving NINE words uncovered, to spell: It’s everybody’s business to be on the same page.
Ad is for: people_ready enterprise solutions.
Mario Garcia Jr. reviews ESPN’s newly redesigned website
How ESPN.com’s redesign got it right
http://garciainteractive.com/blog/view/28/
Links of interest from IFRA Executive News Service for 13 January 2009
– Let’s Invent an iTunes for News
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/business/media/12carr.html?ref=media
– Building an iTunes for Newspapers
http://www.slate.com/id/2208445/
– ‘Le Temps : Time’, a new French daily newspaper in Algeria
http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/177.html
TheMarioBlog posting #166