Charles Apple

Denis Finley, editor of the Virginian-Pilot, wrote a page-one column today in which he apologized for reversing the score of the Super Bowl in Monday’s paper:

Finley writes:

How could this happen? Many of you asked that question Mon day in e-mails and phone calls to The Pilot. No, the sports department is not filled with Indianapolis Colts fans. Yes, we proof the paper. No, we did not have a Super Bowl party here.

It was, as simply as I can put it, human error. It’s hard to believe we can make a mistake like this when at least a half-dozen veteran journalists were involved in producing Monday’s Sports section. It’s hard to believe we can mess up what is arguably the biggest sporting event of the year, but we did.

I’ll also note that my old friend Denis felt compelled to forgo his usual smiling mug shot for one that seemed a little more somber:

Find the entire column online here.

In case you missed it yesterday, yes, the Pilot got the scores reversed on Monday’s sports front:

The error is in orange, just beneath the headline:

The Pilot got it right on Monday’s page one…

…but Denis reports it was also wrong on page nine of sports. I missed that one. And I’ve already thrown out my paper, dammit.

Here’s wishing the happiest of VizEds birthdays to four wonderful journalists…

Jim Hopkins is the man behind the popular Gannett Blog. A 1989 graduate of Brown University, Jim worked as a reporter and editor for 20 years at various papers around the country, ending up at USA Today. At its peak, the Gannett Blog got more than 100,000 page views and 10,000 unique visitors a month. Jim ended the blog last year but then quietly cranked it back up in December while also creating the New York Times Co. Blog and the News Corp. Blog. Jim turns 53 today.

Craig Lancaster is leader of the news and sports copy desks at the Gazette in Billings, Montana. A 1991 graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, Craig worked various copy-desk and design positions at the Dayton Daily News, the Anchorage Daily News, the Olympian in Olympia, Wash., and the San Antonio Express-News before joining the San Jose Mercury News in 2000 as sports editor. He moved to Billings in 2006 and published his first novel — 600 Hours of Edward — last year. Find his book here and his blog here. Craig turns 40 today.

Cliff Redding is a copy editor on the news desk at the Los Angeles Daily News and an editor for the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. A 1982 graduate of Troy State University, Cliff spent four years with the 33rd Tactical Air Wing of the U.S. Air Force before signing on as a copy editor with Newsday in 1991. He subsequently worked with the Baltimore Sun, the New York Daily News, the Virginian-Pilot, the Santa Barbara News Press and the Los Angeles Times. Cliff doesn’t blog frequently, but what he does post is brilliant. Find that blog here.

Linda Shapley is news design director of the Denver Post. A 1992 graduate of Colorado State University, Linda spent two years as a copy editor and designer for the Greeley (Colo.) Tribune and then a year-and-a-half at the Kansas City Star before joining the Post in 1996. She was promoted to her current position two years ago.

Linda, Craig, Cliff and Jim share a birthday with actors Ziyi Zhang, Joe Pesci and Mia Farrow; musicians Travis Tritt and Carole King; entertainers Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha (better known as Carmen Miranda) and Rose Louise Hovick (better known as Gypsy Rose Lee); baseball team owner Bill Veeck; novelist Alice Walker; secretary of state Dean Rusk and TV journalist Roger Mudd.

Plus, today is Toothache Day. Seriously.

Best wishes, gang, for the happiest birthday ever!

Here’s a roundup of post-Super Bowl papers — most of which you’ll find at the Newseum.

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NEW ORLEANS-AREA PAPERS

After four decades of mostly losing seasons, the New Orleans Saints finally won a Super Bowl last night. You have to be happy for them. Few teams have suffered as much as the Saints.

And you also have to expect the hometown papers to go absolutely insane today. And they did.

We’ll start with the Times-Picayune of New Orleans. A celebratory souvenir poster front just doesn’t get any better than this, does it?

Amen is a terrific headline — short and huge. The logo in the exclamation mark is a particularly nice touch.

Editor & Publisher’s Mark Fitzgerald reported today:

The Times-Picayune last week held a contest among readers to come up with the victory headline, and within 24 hours received 800 entries. Among the suggestions from Saints fans, who call themselves Who Dat Nation, were variations on the theme: “WE DAT,” for instance, or “BELIEVE DAT.”

But in the end, [Editor Jim Amoss] said, the headline was thought up in the newsroom, from “a couple of people, especially the Page One editor,” Terry Baquet.

The art of winning quarterback Drew Brees is by staff photographer Michael Democker. Average daily circulation for the Times-Picayune is 159,655, although I suspect they’ll be selling more than that today. A lot more.

One of the few front pages featuring on-field action photography today is this nice wrap-around cover by the Sun Herald of Biloxi, Miss., circulation 44,613:

It’s a nice enough picture by staff photographer Bill Feig. And, normally, I love wrap-around covers. However, this one doesn’t seem to utilize the back-side (or here, the left side) space well. When a wrap-cover would work even better with the left half cropped out, then you know you’re using the wrong picture.

Most New Orleans-area papers led their fronts today with pictures of Brees during the post-game celebration. The Advocate of Baton Rouge — circulation 87,881 — went with staff art by Bill Feig:

The Town Talk of Alexandria — circulation 30,858 — built a poster front with this Associated Press photo:

You can see one of the problems with placing text atop photos, however: That second line, in particular, is awfully difficult to read. It’s best to keep your cover blurbs confined to the dead spots in any page-one photo.

The News-Star of Monroe avoided that problem by using that same shot along with three others to create a montage of the day’s events:

Montages often don’t work on page one, because the photos often tend to fight with each other, leaving none dominant. That’s not the case here, though — the big shot of Brees draws the reader’s eye nicely.

Yet, the page still seems a little cluttered and uneven. I’d have suggested a larger, bolder headline and possibly moving the score over to the left-side double-column rail. This would have allowed the top of the action photo to square off with the top of the lede art and brought a little more order to the page.

Average daily circulation of the News-Star is 33,239.

The Mississippi Press of Pascagoula — circulation 15,411 — achieved a cleaner look and a bolder headline, despite choosing one of the weaker Brees + trophy shots I’ve seen today by the Associated Press:

Also, I’d argue the package didn’t need two Super Bowl logos up top, did it?

And the American Press of Lake Charles, La., added volume to its presentation by pushing it up into the paper’s nameplate:

Not a bad try. Next time, the designer might want to take the paper’s nameplate down 10 or 15 percent or perhaps having the “s” and the rule fun behind the trophy. This particular nameplate doesn’t really lend itself to this kind of treatment because of all the little text below, which then has to be reversed out of the picture.

I’d also argue there are too many fonts here — in addition to the regular headline font, there’s a different font on the big headline. Is that Optima? Plus, the team names appear in each of their own fonts.

The American Press circulates 36,270 papers daily.

The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss., chose a really nice photo as its lede art, by Lynn Sladky of the Associated Press. Just look at this. The kid is probably waving, but it appears to be reaching out for confetti:

The problem here is that there are extraneous details added to the package that detract from the whole.

• Do we really need the Super Bowl logo and the team logos and the score?
• Do we really need the thick, black border?
• Does the secondary picture of Colts quarterback Peyton Manning add anything to the story?
• Do we really need all those web refers — one wouldn’t have sufficed?
• Do we really want to notch into both legs of a two-column story?

I’d argue: No, no, no, no and no. In addition, that photo would had enormous impact at six columns, above the fold. Better to have pushed that political story downpage today.

The Clarion-Ledger circulates 82,673 papers daily.

The Daily World of Opelousas, La. — circulation 8,991 — made a poster front of an AP photo of Saints coach Sean Payton, carried off the field by his team:

Nicely done. And very clean. Great job by the smallest paper in today’s roundup.

We’ll close the Saints’ portion of our program today with what could have been the team’s home town paper, had folks in New Orleans not pulled together after Hurricane Katrina to keep the Saints in town. The Express-News of San Antonio, Texas — circulation 152,156 — led with an AP photo of the team owner hoisting his Super Bowl trophy:

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MEANWHILE, IN INDIANA…

The Indianapolis Star has been on a hell of a roll this week. Deputy managing editor Scott Goldman was kind enough, once again, to send us a few pages from today’s paper.

Here is the Star’s wraparound page one (click for a larger view):

Remember what I said earlier about wrap-around covers? Look at the left side of this photo by Matt Kryger. At first glance, it, too, might appear to contain nothing but dead space. But no, that’s the Saints’ coaching staff and sideline crew celebrating after Manning threw an interception, pretty much sealing the Colts’ fate.

The page was designed by Amanda Goehlert, Scott tells us. It was masterfully done, as were so many other great Star pages this week.

Here is the Star’s special Super Bowl section front, designed by Phil Mahoney and using a photo by Bob Scheer:

That’s my favorite photo of the day. Just magnificent. And again, magnificently played.

Scott also sent along this doubletruck from the special section (again, click for a larger view):

Scott writes:

The double-truck was a beauty. Great shots from the whole staff.

For high-resolution versions of each page…

• Click here for the wrap-around front cover.
• Click here for the special section cover.
• Click here for the inside doubletruck.

Average daily circulation for the Star is 201,823.

Most Indiana papers led with large photos of a dejected Manning walking off the field. My favorite is this one by the Star Press of Muncie:

It’s a fine use of an AP photo and a terrific headline. Plus, the headline of the story beneath ties in to the lede package in a witty way. Bonus!

The Star Press circulates 31,512 papers daily.

Another really good presentation was this one by the Times of Northwest Indiana in Munster, circulation 83,680:

Notice how crisp and clean these last two pages have been. Munster, in particular, went out on a limb and put no headline at all above the fold. Man, that’s radical.

The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne — circulation 64,304 — went with a less dramatic AP shot of Manning, but one in which you can see the Saints’ celebration on the giant scoreboard behind him:

And the Herald-Times of Bloomington — circulation 27,103 — cropped in to heighten the emotion of yet another AP shot:

The Kokomo Tribune — circulation 20,587 — sent staff photog Tim Bath to Miami but, instead of trophy and celebration shots, they also had to make do with a dejected player — running back Joseph Addai — walking off the field:

After sifting through so many photos of Peyton Manning, I like seeing someone else for a change. However, I’d argue that Manning — and especially his two interceptions late in the game — were the big story of the night.

After all Manning is even in the deck above the photo of Addai. This might be bordering on one of those headline-to-art disconnects we’ve been talking about lately.

What the headline afront today’s Chronicle-Tribune of Marion, Ind. lacks in imagination, it certainly has in directness:

It’s a wonderful shot by the AP’s Eric Gay. And you certainly see the player — running back Chad Simpson – trudging off to the locker room while confetti and pandemonium erupts for the victorious Saints. But again: Manning was the story Sunday night.

In addition, I’d argue against the two Colts helmets dropped behind the text of the story. That was visual clutter that detracted, rather than added, to the package.

Average daily circulation for the Chronicle-Tribune is 15,043.

You won’t find this one at the Newseum, but designer Kyle McCall of the Tribune-Star of Terre Haute — circulation 23,948 — was kind enough to send it to me:

Kyle writes:

We cover the Colts fairly close with a beat writer and shoot most of their games. The Colts have their training camp here.

Kyle also asked me to “rip it … if you’d like.”

I like the page, Kyle. You used your art very large, which is a good thing on a day like today.

But there are a few things you might want to consider for next time…

1. The photo by Joseph C. Garza is very crisp and clean. But was it really the best choice for today? We’re seeing a near-sack, the caption tells us. But the story as a whole might be better served with a picture of Manning during or after his interception. Something that really reflects what a bummer the night was.
2. However, that’s a very nice crop you used on that photo. If, in fact, Brees had blown it or something, it would have been perfect for today.
3. I like the celebratory feel of the art across the top. But there seems to be a lot of icons up there — the team logos, the digital scoreboard motif, the quarter-by-quarter scoring, the two palm trees, the Super Bowl layer… plus, of course, your paper’s nameplate which you thankfully took down in order to make room for all this. Try taking out the palm trees and the quarter-by-quarter scores to see if you like the result better. I’m betting you would.
4. All the stuff downpage is just perfect. Wonderfully done.
5. I love the “Bummer” headline. Very funny. And accurate.

Don’t get me wrong, dude, it’s nice work. I hope you find this mini-critique helpful.

While going though all these pages featuring sad, dejected photos and sad, dejected headlines, it’s a little jarring to come across this one from the Journal & Courier of Lafayette, Ind.:

Why the glee, smack in the middle of Colts territory? Because Drew Brees is a graduate of Purdue.

And you gotta love that lede photo. A brilliant picture by Lynne Sladky of the AP, who also shot the art we liked in today’s Jackson, Miss., Clarion Ledger.

The Journal & Courier circulates 34,545 copies daily.

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MIAMI-AREA PAPERS

The game itself was in Miami this year. I’m sure Florida papers went all-out covering the game, but — with a few exceptions — we didn’t really see that on page ones this week.

The Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale — circulation 153,563 — nicely played at Drew Brees trophy shot by staffer Jim Rassol:

That’s a pretty cool headline, too.

The Miami Herald — circulation 162,260 — focused on the entire Brees family after the game:

That’s a nice shot by staffer Al Diaz.

Between the two Miami-area major metros, we’ll have to say the Herald had the better art today but the Sun Sentinel had a better headline and presentation. Call it a draw.

I see what the designer was trying to do with the crop on the front of today’s Bradenton Herald, circulation 48,618. But I don’t think they quite pulled it off:

It’s a shame, too, because the rest of the page is quite nice. I like the size and impact of the headline, the nice use of white space and the structure of all the material below the photo. The picture — or, rather, the crop of the picture — is the weakest link here.

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BEST OF THE REST

OK, by now you’ve seen how many pages of Drew Brees holding the Super Bowl trophy? And don’t get me wrong: Some of them are quite nice.

But not a one has the emotional oomph of the one you find on the front of today’s San Jose Mercury News:

Now, that’s emotion.

The picture is by Ronald Martinez of Getty Images. I also like the headline, of course, and the secondary story that critiques at the TV ads. For a lot of us, remember, Super Bowl Sunday is about the commercials as much as it is the game.

Average daily circulation for the Merc is 225,175.

It’s probably no coincidence that my second-favorite non-area front today is this one by RedEye, the Chicago Tribune’s free commuter tab. The lede art, you see, is also from Getty:

And my No. 3 favorite non-local-coverage front today? The Metro newspapers of Boston, New York and Philadelphia, which led with an action shot by Jed Jacobsohn of — you guessed it — Getty Images:

I’m surprised more papers didn’t push this picture — or one like it — out front today. Imagine how it’d look with a Saints Go Marching In headline.

Or maybe not. I like good headlines, but I can’t necessarily write them.

I love the headline on the front of today’s Kansas City Star, circulation 216,226:

At first glance, the secondary art seems like an odd choice. But that’s a Chiefs player receiving the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

I also love the headline afront today’s Enterprise of Beaumont, Texas, circulation 45,684:

Very clever.

I do have a quibble with the main art, however. It’s supposed to be fans cheering during the game, but somehow, it looks more like the dance floor at a discoteque.

You might recall my complaint about the crop on the lede photo for today’s Bradenton, Fla., Herald. Here’s a similar picture — also by the Associated Press’ Eric Gay — cropped and used effectively:

Now, that’s how you do it. Average daily circulation for the Journal Star of Peroria, Ill., is 65,320.

The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, Ohio — circulation 271,180 — used that same photo…

…but, oddly enough, it has more impact in Peoria. Why?

Peoria ran it slightly bigger and cropped it a little tighter at the bottom. For a photo like this, a little more size can mean a lot.

Also, Cleveland chose to stack two decks of headline above the photo, plus a score label. It seems awfully wordy up there today.

The Dallas Morning News used a photo taken at that same instant, but from a position just to the left. Which allowed DMN staffer Tom Fox to include Brees’ wife in the picture:

Notice that the Brees family is smaller still than they were in the Plain Dealer. But the different composition plays better. Mrs. Brees appears to be shedding a tear, which adds even more emotion to the scene.

The Morning News circulates 263,810 papers daily.

And this one made me stop in my tracks today. What th…?

Why would anyone put their page one focus on the National Anthem before the game?

And the caption gives me the answer: because Carrie Underwood is a native of Oklahoma. That’s why.

And that makes it worthy of page one? Hmm.

Finally, we’ll close with…

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A SPORTS DESIGNER’S NIGHTMARE

What’s the very worst thing you can do, as an editor or a designer on Super Bowl night?

Answer: Get the score wrong.

That’s a snippet of the sports front of today’s Virginian-Pilot, circulation 164,454. Here is the entire page:

Pilot managing editor – and my former boss — Maria Carrillo posted today on the Pilot’s web site:

This morning’s Virginian-Pilot Sports front featured a horrible error. We accidentally reversed the score of the Super Bowl.

We’re embarrassed, and we apologize to all our readers, especially Saints fans.

If you’d like a corrected PDF, Maria writes, you can download one here.

For what it’s worth, the Pilot got it right on page one today:

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Find the Newseum’s own Top Ten Super Bowl pages here.

That was my first thought when I saw these two front pages today (click either for a larger view):

Don’t get me wrong — each is nicely done. But it’s still amusing to see that each paper used a tunnel shot of its team’s quarterback in order to set a mood for Super Bowl Sunday.

Average daily circulation for the Times-Picayune of New Orleans is 159,655. The Indianapolis Star circulates 201,823 papers daily.

The Sun Herald of Biloxi — circulation 44,613 — focused on the fans with a very fun photo today:

I think it would have worked a little better, though, without the tinted rail down the left side. If you going for major impact with the emotion in those faces, then go six columns with the picture. Cut a couple of refers out of that pack on the bottom right, if necessary — do you really need nine promos there?

I love the text in that lede package and the huge Saints logo.

The Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale — circulation 153,563 — used its A1 real estate today to worry about future Super Bowls and the ever-increasing competition from other cities.

Because, y’know, no one wants to go to Miami in the middle of February.

The Herald of Bradenton, Fla. — circulation 48,618 — built page one around an illustrated history of the Super Bowl’s importance to popular culture in this country:

Nicely done and very interesting. But I wonder if this might have made a better inside package. It seems an odd thing to put out front in hopes of selling papers.

The Herald-Times of Bloomington, Ind., too — circulation 27,103 – put a huge alternative story form-like presentation out front in which local folks gave their predictions of what they expect to see tonight:

Again, I feel like this might not have been the best choice for an A1 presentation today. It’s a little too scattered, visually, and lacks oomph.

On the other hand, is a hell of a fun read. And I read every word.

Finally, I was puzzled by what I felt was a retro approach afront today’s Las Vegas Review-Journal, circulation 175,841:

Fifteen or 20 years ago, we were all putting illustrations out on A1 and sports fronts for the Super Bowl. But frankly, this illo doesn’t do anything photos couldn’t have done better. And with a significantly smaller investment of man-hours.

If you can bring a mood or a new interpretation to an event with an illustration, then, by all means, do it.

But I’m not seeing that here.

I’ve always liked the Colts but I’m also partial to teams making their first Super Bowl appearance. Therefore, my prediction for tonight:

Colts 35, Saints 14

You’d be wise to take note and bet the opposite.

Enjoy the game tonight, folks!

Folks up north might be laughing at the panic recent snowfalls have caused down here in the not-so-damn-sunny-these-days South. But fact is, we’re simply not equipped to deal with snow. We get snow so infrequently that we’ve not made the investment in snow plows, salt trucks… or, for that matter, snow shovels and blowers for our sidewalks and driveways.

So, yeah: When we get snow, it’s a mess.

And where there’s a mess, there’s a talker. And a damn good story for newspapers along the Atlantic coast.

We’ll begin today with the best — and, coincidentally, one that wasn’t posted at the Newseum today. Meaning we might have a minor exclusive here. (Yay, us!)

Justin Ferrell, news design director of the Washington Post, was kind enough to send along the Post’s excellent front page today (click for a larger view):

You’ve heard it before, but here it is again: If you have a brilliant photo like this, play it big and get the hell out of its way. The photo is by Katherine Frey. Justin tells us this design was by:

Tan Ly with help from Dennis Brack.

Running it six columns wide maximizes its impact. And the nice horizontal set of bar charts across the bottom sets the whole thing off nicely, with the data everyone wants to see.

Even more brilliant — if that’s even possible — was the inside page by, Justin says:

Patterson Clark, also with help from Denny Brack and Larry Nista.

(Again, click for a larger view…)

Oh, wow. Putting this snowstorm into historical perspective — with great little pullouts on each storm — is interesting enough to send the history geek in me into conniptions. But this… this, my friend, is absolute brilliance:

Oh, man. I can see it now. Bill O’Reilly will be holding this page up on Fox News and blaming President Obama for paralyzing the capital.

This stuff is simply too good to look at via low-rez jpeg, folks. Please download the PDFs. Go on. I insist:

• Find the Post’s front page PDF here.
• Find the inside page PDF — including that incredible graphic — here.

Average daily circulation for the Washington Post is 582,844.

A number of other papers also produced notable front pages today. Let’s take a quick spin through them…

Not quite as good as the Post today but still really damn good and clean and crisp was the Baltimore Sun, circulation 186,639:

The Sun, too, used its best art — by Karl Merton — huge to great effect.

The Sunday Capital of Annapolis also went with a huge hed, bullet points across the top and a huge photo by staffer Paul Gillispie:

The Capital circulates 42,825 papers daily.

You’re seeing a lot of “digging” themes in the headlines, not surprisingly. Here’s the Daily Times of Salisbury, Md. — circulation 24,157 over on the Eastern Shore — where the headlines weren’t so big but you do get a nice John Deere tractor:

The photo is by staffer Joey Gardner.

I also like the rail down the right side: Sure, you’re snowed in. But at least the big game’s on tonight. Heh…

The Carroll County Times of Westminster, Md., isn’t just digging out today. They’re crippled:

The photo is by staffer Dave Munch. Average daily circulation for the Times is 24,623.

I dunno. We talked, a few weeks ago, about disconnects between headlines and photos. You shouldn’t show a guy walking down a snowy street with a headline that mentions “crippled.” Perhaps something showing stuck cars or traffic issues might have been a better choice.

Something, perhaps, like you see on the front of today’s News of Lima, Ohio, circulation 32,860:

The photo by Jay Sowers adds an immediacy to the page that some of these others lack.

And down in Richmond, the storm was a record setter:

Credit staffer Eva Russo with the nice picture of a huge tractor dumping snow as if it were nuclear waste. Which it might as well be, for all we Southerners know about it. The Times-Dispatch circulates 133,161 copies daily.

And from digging out on a macro scale to digging out on a micro scale, here’s the Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, Va., circulation 46,672:

Yet another nice headline, a clean layout and a nice photo — this one, by Mike Morones.

It’s amusing, really, to flip through the Newseum and check out just the headlines.

Atlantic City calls this the Blizzard of 2010:

The Washington Examiner says it was a Monster Storm:

Two Pennsylvania papers — the Post-Gazette of Pittsburgh and the Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown — went with Snowmageddon…

…while a number of papers were forced to break out their exclamation marks:

As you shuffle though all these fronts, notice that the most effective presentations all have certain things in common:

• They used huge, bold headlines.
• They picked powerful art to visually tell the story.
• They used pullout info to summarize the damage or tips on dealing with the aftermath.
• And the very best ones used white space and resisted the urge to clutter the page with too many other stories or doo-dads. Which was hard to do today, given that everyone wanted to plug their Super Bowl stories out front.

Here’s a nicely-presented example from the News Journal of Wilmington, Del., circulation 91,962:

That’s a story count of two. Appropriate for a day like today. That’s also a great photo by staffer William Bretzger, as well as an enormously entertaining piece of secondary art showing snow collecting atop a statue, turning it into a conehead:

Some of the headlines you’re seeing here today are pretty decent. Some of them seem a little laughable. Your make the call.

I did laugh at the optimism shown today by the Daily Progress of Charlottesville, Va., circulation 28,697. It was bad, the paper said, but at least they didn’t get more snow:

Yep. That’s one way to look at it. I’ll bet all those folks shivering with no power today are really into the glass-half-full thing.

And my favorite Headline of the Day is this one, afront the Vindicator of Youngstown, Ohio, circulaiton 56,412:

Groovy, baby. Groovy.

And just to show you that every rule has an exception, check out the giant headline on the A1 snow story in today’s Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, circulation 183,742:

That’s right. No big hed at all. Instead, the Dispatch ran a By-the-Numbers piece.

Definitely not what I would have recommended. But they made it work.