How super Sundays reported on super Saturday

I was going to take a night off looking at the front pages - but after a day like that, how could I resist? The adrenalin in the newsrooms will have been fantastic. After an early holding edition, there will have been all hands to the pump when the Jessica Ennis pictures arrived, just on deadline. But then Mo Farah was running even later - and in the middle of it all there was a ginger bombshell in the form of Greg Rutherford. Six medals, Britain's greatest performance and a selection of marvellous photographs. What to do? Well, this is how they fared.

For me, The Observer leads the way. The picture of poster girl Jessica Ennis is stunning - capturing the complete joy of her moment. And using the ecstatic Mo Farah across the top of the masthead is spot on. The headline just sums it up. When you get a day like this you just need to tell it how it is and cut down on the superlatives. I like the six Gold headlines down the side too (preferably without the exclamation marks). A good lesson in how to tell a complete story without using many words - and all put together in minutes. Fantastic. 

The Observer had brought out an earlier edition, to meet the needs of its country-wide distribution. The earlier front wasn't half bad though. The picture of the sculls duo is brilliant. Kate Copeland has one of the best winning faces of the Games. Gold Rush has, to be fair, been done to death this week. The paper took a punt on the pictures across the top - but missed out on Mo Farah and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Greg Rutherford. A change was inevitable.

The Sunday Telegraph also gets it right - poster girl Jessica Ennis as the main image, right across the full eight columns, and then every other Gold medalist featured. All turned around in a matter of minutes too. 'Sensational!' in caps with a dog's cock is about a tabloid as you can get - but these are extraordinary times. There are lots of words, a thorough round-up by Cole Moreton and Robert Mendick, but they could easily have gone inside.

And the The Sunday Times is top notch too - just a joyous picture of Jessica Ennis for its wrap with an understated 'Six of the very best' headline. Minimalist and powerful.

 
Inside the front page proper mops up the other stories. I hadn't expected anyone to go with Greg Rutherford ... but here he is across the full eight columns. I'm not sure about the headline over the picture though ... it was more than an hour, it was a full day. To me, it also suggests that Rutherford's performance was our finest hour? 

I only had the early edition of The Independent on Sunday last night but here is the later version, which is stunning and gives The Observer a run for its money. The picture is just a joy, cropped and placed really well. I know we saw the Happy and Glorious headline a few times during the Jubilee but it works. The flag cutting across the titlepiece is a smart touch.

Here's the earlier version of the Sindie ... strong in its own right.  

The Sun is the pick of the tabloids. It keeps the non-Olympic clutter to a minimum, has the cleverest headline and uses the picture well. Using the other five Gold winners in medals is a classic tabloid device. Not sure many will be bothered about the Jacko story but, on any other day, it would have been a splash.      

The Mirror reckons its 48-page football magazine is a big seller. It could be right as, with everyone else going Olympics crazy, it needs something to give the paper an edge on the news-stands. I will probably pop out and buy it on the strength of the blurb (although my views on 'Free inside' are well documented). The Mirror, like The Sun, goes for a three-deck headline but ends up squeezing it all into a tighter space. 'Yes. yes, Jess!' is OK but the paper could have used it smaller and let the cracking photograph dominate. No mention of the other three Golds. Wonder what the take-up will be on the 10p cuddly (really) mascot.  

Woah. There's an awful lot going on the Daily Star's front. It looks like a TV mag. Peel away the clutter and it's not a bad piece of work. Jessica Ennis in Seb Coe pose is a great choice, neatly cutout and 'Joy of six' is an ideal Star headline. Like The Sun it uses the other five Gold winners in medals. Few words needed.  

This version of the Mail on Sunday looks like it had to go to press not long after Jessica Ennis's race, so no Mo Farah on the front. Using 'Jess' as a pun for 'Just' stretches it a little and the heading could do with a tad more leading. Taking those great photographs and making them all squares is an unusual decision too. Ten thousand Olympic bags to give away is a strong promotion. Overall, though, it looks like it was put together in a rush. There is probably a later edition. 

The Sunday Express persists with its blurbs. Free CDs and Union Jack Flags (seems a bit tautological to me). The paper could have wiped them out and replaced them with some of today's extraordinary pictures. Jessica Ennis is probably the best story - and it's an iconic image - but we won six Gold Medals. 'Jess the Best' is the sort of thing my kids used to write on their schoolbooks. 

'Gold rush' is, by far, the most widely used headline of the Games so far. It's clearly difficult to keep finding more ways of describing Team GB's amazing success. The Herald uses the same picture as the Independent and, rightly, leaves in her left hand. The javelin through the sixth ring is a nice touch. 'What happens to sport in Scotland after the games hype fades?' is a good question ... nice to know the Herald is keeping our feet on the ground. This also looks like an early edition.

There has been some first class work by the writers, subs, designers and photographers again ... and there is a whole lot more inside. Hopefully people will not just admire the great designs but go out and buy copies of the newspapers.

Thanks as always to @suttonnick #tomorrowspaperstoday 

The Times gets off to cracking Olympic start

So, Britain is on the eve of its biggest sporting occasion ever. Not even the World Cup in 1966 or the Olympics in 1948 can match this one. For newspapers that means the chance to go for it ... to create a memorable, historic front page. It's not as easy as it sounds though. The front pages that create themselves are those that record something that has happened. You have photographs, quotes, victims, perpetrators and a record of events. The hardest are those that preview an event and try to report on something that hasn't happened yet. That's when creativity, planning, headline writers, photographers, writers and layout artists all have to come together to build something special. So how do today's papers fare?

For me, The Times wins it by an Olympic mile. A stunning photograph of only two colours used as a classy wrapround. If you'd told me ten years ago the Times would lead on a magenta splash headline, I wouldn't have believed it. But it works. The back page quote by the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, is a nice counter to all the corporate nonsense that has surrounded the Games so far. The picture is by the Press Association's Dominic Lipinski @domlipinski. Really deserved a byline.

The Daily Star and Daily Telegraph aren't natural bedfellows but both use the same photograph and, more or less, the same headline. Great photo, although I'm not sure that too much effort has gone into the Let's party/Get the party started approach. 

Despite the universal outburst of positivity, the brilliant Matt still manages to add his waspish view.

The Mirror uses the same picture as the Telegraph and Star and adds a trademark pun to the splash headline. It also tries hard to wipe the slate clean ... by reminding us of all the awful things that have gone before.

The Daily Mail also has a lively picture across the full width. This time it's 81-year-old Torch bearer Florence Rowe dancing outside 10 Downing Street, with Dave and Sam Cameron in the background. It certainly reflects the joy of the Olympics. The headline is on the predictable side - although stronger than Let's Party. But is the ! really necessary?

Instead of gravitas, The Guardian goes for circus. It's main picture is not really an iconic image ... Ab Fab stars Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders partying with the Olympic Torch in London. In contrast the headline has a certain poignancy. One way to deal with something that hasn't happened yet is to get the best writers on the job ... and typically The Guardian does that brilliantly with a think piece from author and columnist Jonathan Freedland.

The Independent wipes out the front page with a classic London symbol - a double decker red bus in Oxford Street.

The Sun has also comes up with iconic British symbols ... all expected to appear in tonight's opening ceremony. Perhaps inspired by Linford Christie's famous claim that he started races on the B of the Bang, they all begin with B. They are an interesting choice ... Bond, Becks, Beatles, The Baked Bean (why the definite article?). What else could they have thrown into the mix ... Beef, Beer, Buses, Big Brother, Breakfasts, Bovril, Brass Rubbing, Blackpool Tower, Buckingham Palace, The Beano, Bingo, Bubble and Squeak, Binge drinking, Bad Weather?  The list is endless. Could have filled the whole paper. 

The Express manages to get the royal family, including the ubiquitous Kate, into its Olympic picture but decides that pensioners being ripped off by the taxman is far more important.

 The FT chooses an arty shot but also decides there are weightier issues to lead on. With the Nomura axe falling on top staff, who could argue?

All very positive though ... fingers crossed for more spectacular and good news pages in the weeks ahead.
Thanks to @hendopolis #tomorrowspaperstoday