Front page

Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 

‘Obtrusive advertising’ archive

Number of comments in parentheses

Feb. 1: Does this page one campaign ad bother you? (8)

There was an interesting campaign ad in yesterday’s Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The ad is for the reelection of Fort Lauderdale Mayor John P. Seiler. As you can see, it references the endorsement the Sun Sentinel gave him in Friday’s paper. Click for a larger view. The problem I have with this: It ran on page one. On [...]

Jan. 31: Truly horrible juxtaposition today on the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun web site (2)

Surely you remember that horrific crash on Interstate 75 in Florida this weekend. Yesterday, we looked at page-one coverage of the accident — which claimed 10 lives and injured 20 more. Toronto Globe & Mail financial columnist David Milstead today directed my attention to ongoing coverage on the home page of the 29,024-circulation Gainesville (Fla.) Sun. A number of angles [...]

Jan. 17: Yet another amusing cruise ship juxtaposition (4)

Ingrid Muller — formerly of the Hartford Courant and the Denver Post and now a freelance designer and marking consultant in Denver — posts on Facebook today: News design lesson no. 1,327: Every once in a while, it’s good to step back from your page and see how everything works together. Sure, that is a dream holiday. If you’re Aquaman. [...]

Jan. 16: Let’s buy the Queen a boat… BUT NOT THAT ONE (1)

There’s a very odd — but amusing — juxtaposition today on the front of the U.K.’s Guardian. Today’s lead headline was about a government minister who suggests the country buy the Queen a new royal yacht for her golden jubilee anniversary. However, today’s lead art is about the cruise ship that sank this weekend off the coast of Italy. Sure, [...]

Jan. 14: An amusing online ad juxtapositon

From the Virginian-Pilot web site… On the left and middle is a story about that cruise liner that ran aground in Italy Friday, killing at least three. On the lower left and lower right are ads for… yep. Cruise liners. Thanks to the person — who I shall not name — who posted this on Facebook today. — UPDATE – [...]

Dec. 19, 2011: Today’s horrifying advertising juxtaposition (2)

This horrifying advertising juxtaposition comes to us from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. These two full-page ads ran on facing pages today. On the left is an advertisement from Backstoppers, which is an organization that helps families of officers killed in the line of duty. On the right? A sporting goods store is peddling handguns. Thanks to St. Louis TV station [...]

Dec. 3, 2011: Obtrusive ad alert… sort of

Check out this ad for Ford Motor Company on a news site called Masthead. Isn’t that horrible? But not so surprising, given current trends. And good luck finding the button to make it go away so you can read the freakin’ articles. But then check this news report about the ad: “They should be ashamed of themselves for letting us [...]

Nov. 19, 2011: A stab at the Occupy movement? Or business as usual?

A fellow visual journalist writes this morning: Hey Charles, A friend of mine just posted this (attached) photo on Facebook along with the following comment: Wait! ~ Was this really the cover of the Chicago Tribune? We’re marching the streets, in part to raise awareness of this banks crimes and here they are buying the press and the people’s attention [...]

Nov. 15, 2011: One of the most obtrusive ads yet… and it’s from the New York Times (3)

While I was out running errands today, I received a note from a former colleague: Shoot me now. This is just …. well, I can’t wait to hear your take on it. Go to nytimes.com and wait for the ad to overtake the page. Let me know what you think. Naturally, I zipped over to the Times‘ web site immediately. [...]

Oct. 25, 2011: When a sticker ad creates an awkward — but hilarious — juxtaposition

Submitted for your approval: Last Wednesday’s Daily Iowan, the student paper at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. That’s a PDF of page one. Meaning that’s the way the editorial staff intended you to see page one that day. However, the advertising folks had other plans. They sold one of those sticky-note ads for the top of page one. [...]

Oct. 6, 2011: Is it possible the S.F. Chronicle is the last paper in the U.S. with any sense?

A few minutes ago, I found myself laughing over this Steve Jobs headline in the satirical newspaper the Onion: Yeah, that sounds about right. Well, make it two American companies that possibly know what the fuck they are doing. Because I received an email this afternoon that knocked my socks off. Frank Mina — assistant managing editor for presentation at [...]

Sept. 16, 2011: Financial advice from the Virginian-Pilot (1)

Forget the stock market. Instead, put your money into dirt and debris. Today, in fact, is the time to buy dirt and debris, according to this morning’s Virginian-Pilot. I hate to keep picking on these guys. But damn. They’re making it so easy with stuff like this. I’ve picked on these obtrusive ads in the Pilot here and here. And [...]

Sept. 3, 2011: Invasion of the big, page-one-news-hiding Spadea, part three (1)

Twice over the past month, I’ve shown you Spadeas in the Virginian-Pilot that covered up big page-one news that potentially could have sold a bunch of papers that day.   On the left is the edition that was delivered to my home on Sunday, Aug. 7. The Spadea and sticker hides the story about the Navy Seals — based right [...]

Sept. 2, 2011: How NOT to sell today’s Virginian-Pilot. Yet again.

A few weeks ago, I showed you a Sunday front page of the Virginian-Pilot. It was a huge news day. A helicopter carrying Navy Seals — Seals based right her at Dam Neck in Virginia Beach — was shot down with multiple fatalities. The Pilot responded in a big way with a wonderful front page (left).   However, no one [...]

Aug. 7, 2011: What I love and what I don’t love about the front page of today’s Virginian-Pilot (3)

It’s not surprising that the Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk today played up the story about the helicopter shot down in Afghanistan. Among the 30 dead in that incident were 22 Navy SEALs, reportedly including several members of SEAL Team Six, the unit that brought down Osama bin Laden earlier this year. SEAL Team Six is based at Dam Neck in Virginia [...]

Aug. 5, 2011: Obtrusive front-page advertising alert (1)

A blog reader wrote today via Facebook: [Here is] one of the most obtrusive 1A ads I’ve seen in a while. At first glance, I thought they used Wallace & Gromit-style sheep clipart for their county fair story. That’s the very bottom of today’s Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, W.Va. And yeah: I just hate it when ads encroach into newshole. And [...]

Aug. 2, 2011: This is what newspapers will be competing with for ad dollars (1)

It’s amazing, really, what they’ll slap an ad onto these days. I’ve not seen this here in the U.S. just yet. But it’s just a matter of time before our newspapers are competing with parking lots for advertising dollars. That’s right. Parking lots. These pictures are of the parking deck at Blu Bird, a trendy shopping center in the northern [...]

June 8, 2011: Lesson learned: Never piss off a cat lover (2)

Shoe City — a retailer based in Cape Town, South Africa — ran a very interesting advertisement in the May 26 editions of popular South African magazines Huisgenoot, You and Drum. The ad was amusing. But only to people who are not cat lovers, evidently… Idea being that you ran over a cat. Therefore, you need to do something to [...]

Aug. 23, 2010: An obtrusive A1 advertisement in today’s Asbury Park Press

The ante has been raised again in the battle with obtrusive advertising. Check out the front of today’s Asbury Park Press of Neptune, N.J. (click for a larger view): This seems very similar to an ad treatment we saw in the Indianapolis Star last year… …except the Indy ad is nowhere near as distracting. Black is a lot easier on [...]