Herald of Rock Hill, S.C., asks readers to vote for July 4 front page design
We heaped praise upon our former paper, The Herald of Rock Hill, S.C., for publishing this page last Fourth of July:
Now that’s a poster page.
Our logic: Some papers have very poor rack sales on holidays. On the Fourth of July — and Christmas Day, in particular — it seems as if they can’t even give away papers.
So why not do something funky? Gimmicky? Something that will get attention? It’s not like you’ll damage sales by missing out on all those little headlines above the fold.
But — and this is important — only if there is no breaking news. Even if you have a killer poster idea, you’d have to dump it for breaking news. Right?
The Herald, apparently, enjoyed some success with this page. They’re doing it again. Except this year, they’re inviting readers to help pick the design.
Three are full-front poster pages. One is a wrap-around photo:
Of the four, I prefer “Page 1,” the wrap… until you take a look at what will be left when the page is folded properly. That’s not much of a presence in the rack window…
Oh, right. Of course: Never mind.
The Herald is asking folks to vote on the page they prefer. The winner will run in the paper July 4. One voter, drawn at random, will win a $100 gift certificate for fireworks.
Wisely, the Herald includes this fine print:
Note: If a major story breaks on July 3, we’ll move the front page to B1
Heh. Smart move.
The Herald circulates about 31,600 copies daily, just across the state line from Charlotte, N.C. Like the Observer, The Herald is owned by McClatchy.