Fitting front pages for Nelson Mandela

There is only one story on this morning's front pages. And with many papers already printed by the time Nelson Mandela's death was announced, it was all hands to the pump for a quick turnaround. It's a simple page to put together of course - iconic image and poignant words - but highly effective nevertheless. There are so many great images to choose from and so many strong fronts as a result.

Let's start with The Daily Telegraph. This is when a broadsheet comes into its own. The eyes just sit above the fold and the whole page is like a portrait. Brilliant. The bar code (one of the broadsheet consequences) and the Autumn Statement blurb are unobtrusive enough.

The Independent lets Mandela's face dominate almost the entire front and uses an understated quote at the bottom right. No headline required. 

In Metro's case, no words at all are needed. As editor Kenny Campbell tweeted 'What words are there?' The man is the story and there he is ... in full dignity. A stunning and sad image.

The Times also decides few words are needed as it goes for one of its trademark wraps. On the back it runs one of the most memorable quotes from The Long Walk To Freedom: “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

The Guardian uses the Berliner size to great effect. It clears the front, skies the image, reduces the headline, takes it under the fold and uses a quote from Jacob Zuma. Simple - and powerful.
  

Hats off to the Western Morning News. A fantastic smile and a positive image, along with a strong headline. 

The same image graces the Western Mail along with another strong headline. The paper also blurbs a 16-page pullout inside.

The Northern Echo, perhaps appropriately, had its own Local Heroes awards last night and then had major press problems caused by the bad weather. It still managed to produced this great cover. The only paper I've seen so far to use the Flag of the Republic.

The Irish Independent uses an effective crop, bleeding off the page.

That smile features again on the Daily Mail - and if you are going to call him anything, colossus is just about right.

It's a story of such magnitude that even the i clears its front. 

The Scotsman does a good rush job for its early edition. It doesn't wipe out its front but a strong image certainly dominates. A light goes out it says, and few could argue with that. Later it clears the front for a dominant image, although it might have kept its first edition headline.

In the early editions the main redtops opt not to do a tribute and go for the same stark headline. It's not often they get a breaking story these days, so just decide to tell it as it is. The Sun updates later for a more fitting President of the World.

Meanwhile, over at The Times, Peter Brookes is in top form

Here are some more of Ireland's front pages.

And finally, a sneak preview of next the edition of The New Yorker. 

So, hardly surprisingly, all the newspapers are as one. Fitting tributes to the greatest statesman of our times. A memorable and special night. 

To see all of the pages and those I have missed out visit the excellent #tomorrowspaperstoday and @suttonnick

Nice one, Son ...

Here's the challenge. There are no pictures of the baby, no name, nothing that hasn't been online and not even a picture of the beaming dad leaving the hospital. So how were newsrooms going to pick the bones out of that one?

Well, full marks to The Sun ... a flash of brilliance. The po-faced Twitterati didn't all like it but credit where credit is due. And it's arguably more interesting than the event itself. Heirs to the throne come along every so often ... but when was the last time a newspaper changed its name into a headline? 

The Times goes for one of its trademark wraps - a striking picture of Kate is self contained on Page 1. Bizarrely it doesn't mention anywhere on the front or the back that it's a boy (I guess everyone knows already). It does look like it could have all been done in advance so everyone could go home. Powerful coverage though.

The Media Blog put together this neat spoof for The Times instead, reflecting the mood of the hacks outside the hospital ... and possibly the nation. It even mentions that it's a boy.

The Daily Mail took the focus off the couple and on to the grandad. Charles was out and about in York so live pictures were available. A nice bit of sideways thinking. Plenty of knockers for this angle too - but, come on, it's a live picture (and a good one too). An original front.

The Independent also deals with the story in its time-honoured way - by not leading on it.

My friends at The Irish News in Belfast can go one better than that though. Sticking to its Nationalist roots, the paper doesn't mention the Royal Baby at all on Page 1. A newspaper that knows its audience.

The Guardian, perhaps surprisingly, does lead on the story and manages to conjure up a lot of front page words.  It uses the easel picture and a headline that tries hard to be profound.

And here's another question. When was the last time The Daily Telegraph had the same splash headline as City AM, the Star, the Express and The Irish Sun?  My Twitterfeed was strangled by the words It's a boy yesterday, so we might have expected something that takes the story forward a little. And a hat-tip to @helenlewis who tweeted to point out that a Royal Baby pullout wasn't the happiest of phrases ... sounds like a forceps delivery, she said. I would have thought hanging on until the pictures of the baby were available would be the time to run the souvenir pullout. Can there really be enough new material to warrant a supplement?

The Mirror also carries a pullout, a file picture and an Our Little Prince headline. 

All very nicely executed ... but I was hoping it might have had a bit of fun with its front page from March.

In the regions, I like The Sentinel in Stoke - going for a blue for a boy makeover, right down to the choice of picture, and a nice headline on the fact that Potteries firms will make millions from the birth.

The Northern Echo also went for It's a boy - but the King Edwards tag on the fish and chips blurb is a nice touch.

Meanwhile Private Eye simply tells it as it is. 

Thanks as always to @hendopolis and #TomorrowsPapersToday

How the world reported terror on London streets

The brutal killing of Lee Rigby in Woolwich has outraged Britain. Every British national newspaper led on the event yesterday and the photograph of Drummer Rigby graces every front page today. But how did newspapers from other countries react to the murder? Do they believe this new approach to terrorism has global implications relevant to their readership, is it such a shocking and horrific story that it demands a place on Page 1 or is the killing of a single British soldier not regarded as significant? Here's a quick snapshot of some of the globe's front pages. Surprisingly, the US newspapers largely ignored it. Perhaps in the wake of the Oklahoma tornado deaths, the killing of one young soldier 7,000 miles away, albeit in such a shocking way, is not regarded as important. 

The Wall Street Journal uses the story but as a single column, headlined 'A killing puts UK on guard for terror' and the New York Times believes it is worth no more than a down-page cross-reference. 

Today's Washington Post leads on a terror story - 'Obama points to crossroads in terrorism fight' - but makes no mention of the UK. It does not even warrant a paragraph in the global round-up at the bottom of the page.

The only regional newspaper, outside of New York, I could find that believes it to be of Page 1 importance is The News-Sentinel in Indiana.

The New York tabloids, though, clearly think it is shocking enough to wipe out their pages and the New York Post uses a picture of Lee Rigby on Page 1 today too.

The National Post in Canada also uses the killing as the lead and main photograph. 

In the Middle East few mainstream papers appear to believe it is worthy of Page 1. The Jerusalem Post is an exception, opting for a police scene rather than the bloodied man and laying the blame squarely on 'Islamists'.

The English language papers in the United Arab Emirates, The National and the Gulf Times, and the Kuwait Times all run the story down page without pictures.

Today's Al-Mustaqbal, in Beirut, uses a front page picture of Drummer Rigby as does Kuwait's Arab Times.

Turkey's Haber Turk and Turkiye both use the report with a picture on Page 1 but India's Telegraph chooses only the story, with no image.

China's Global Times uses a large picture of a woman laying flowers on the road in Woolwich with the man with the meat cleaver as an inset

The Australian papers, including the Gold Coast Bulletin and the West Australian, generally give the pictures and report a lot of space.

Closer to home, these papers in Holland, Belgium, Spain and Sweden all use the picture of the man with the machete on their front pages.

In France, Liberation and 20 Minutes put the emphasis on a new breed of terrorists. The headline on 20 Minutes is 'L'ere des loups solitaires' - The era of the lone wolves

In Ireland there is an interesting contrast between the Irish Examiner which uses the picture of the man with the body of the young soldier in the background. The Irish Times, presumably on the grounds of taste, uses a generic picture of two policewomen in a London street. Today's Irish Times also uses a floral tribute picture.

Front pages courtesy of www.newseum.org/ and thanks to #tomorrowspaperstoday, @suttonnick