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Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 
 

Today’s witty headline courtesy of the Beaver County (Pa.) Times

By Charles Apple  |  7:31 p.m. July 26, 2010  |  4 comments

A few papers put the reported departure of BP CEO Tony Hayward on the front page today.

But no one did it with more style than did the Beaver County Times of Beaver, Pa., circulation 32,905:

Pure genius.

This entry was posted 7:31 p.m. July 26, 2010 and is filed under News page design, Notable wordplay. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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4 responses to “Today’s witty headline courtesy of the Beaver County (Pa.) Times”

  • I like that.

    Too bad they misspelled both of the other proper names — Duquesne Light and Mount Gallitzin Academy — in headlines on the front page.

    I’m sure the response will be “This was only the Newseum version.” But I can easily find out what the print version looked like.

    BTW, today’s USA Today sports section had a reference to a “puss-filled bandage,” among the many other typos and syntax errors. Perhaps we are starting to see the results of assuming things don’t need to be edited.

    — Wenalway, 7:50 p.m. July 26, 2010

  • I have to agree with the 1st comment. I have written enough checks to both Duquesne Light and Mount Gallitzin Academy to remember how to spell the names.

    — Clif, 8:11 p.m. July 26, 2010

  • I was going to bring up the misspelled “Duquesne,” but I didn’t see the comment below (in a different spot from the previous layout).

    — Robb P., 8:17 p.m. July 26, 2010

  • I also feel like, beyond the wordplay, the main package doesn’t really handle the cutout too well. The white space isn’t very clean and wraps weirdly around his hand, almost like the hand was originally higher but they moved Tony down without moving the wrap. He feels like he isn’t big enough, like he should be filling out the space more somehow.

    The dek also troubles me because it’s essentially the same shape as the one-column headline to the left. (That left story has its own problems: Besides the misspelled word, it has a very unfortunate spat of white space next to it – “Duquesne Light Co. Requests Rate Boost” would have said the same thing in 4 lines with a much cleaner use of the white space.) The teases also feel like they needed more time in the oven.

    To top it all off, I guess I’ve seen enough emotional, nerve-wracked photos of this guy that he seems a little blah in this particular shot. They had to have more of him, right?

    I saw this page in the Newseum Top 10 today and I wasn’t sure why it belonged there besides the clever visual pun.

    Sorry to the designer if this sounds harsh; I mean it sincerely and with the best of intentions in mind. Details matter, and they often get overlooked when there’s a huge time crunch. I’m sure you were overloaded with work and you probably don’t need me making light of it. If it matters, I usually like Beaver County’s work. :/

    — Ernie Smith, 2:40 a.m. July 27, 2010
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