It goes without saying that the inauguration of President Barack Obama has dominated news cycles of late, a trend unlikely to abate for at least the next few weeks. Scarcely a newspaper nationally did not feature the beaming new president on its front page. My hometown paper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, was no exception, and its coverage of the inauguration (in a special, front-cover section) demonstrated several current trends in both news editing and newspapers in general.
When announcing important news, my newspaper reading experience has been that editors tend to splash a large, attention-grabbing headline across the top of the front page. It was interesting then to see that the AJC instead opted for an all-encompassing picture of the swearing in, with the new president surrounded by his family and many political luminaries, including his former opponent, Senator John McCain. The headline, “’A new era of responsibility,’” was placed below the fold. I would imagine that the AJC editors felt that a prominent headline was not needed in lieu of a photograph (an excellent one at that), presumably thinking that anyone reading the paper would be informed enough to understand the event’s context. In class, we have been told that editors cannot take anything for granted (i.e. the reader’s knowledge of the inauguration), but in this case I believe the AJC was correct in using a photograph entirely above the fold.
Flipping inside of the AJC’s special inauguration section was a clear look at the prevailing mindset among newspapers today- news is local. Although Barack Obama’s inauguration was a national event, many of the articles inside focused on local perspective and reaction. For example, one of the pages was devoted entirely to Atlantans in Washington, ranging from former Mayor Andrew Young to everyday citizens attending the event in various capacities. The opposite page, conversely, was entirely taken up by pictures and stories of local reaction, including such diverse perspectives as the King Center and Emory University. In an age where major metro newspapers are struggling against the specter of smaller local and larger national papers, it then was no surprise that the AJC brought Atlantans inauguration news of interest to Atlantans, demonstrating use of a “local lens.”
-Michael Brazeal (Post 1)
Michael,
ReplyDeleteGood analysis of the AJC's coverage in light of what we've discussed in class. I think it's probably fair to say that editors on Tuesday could take readers' knowledge that the inauguration happened for granted. Another thing we talked about in lecture was the "moment story," where reporting the news is secondary to capturing the moment in a unique way that would stick with readers. Do you think other papers were as successful at that as the AJC?
Perry
Isn't it nice to see concepts we've studied in class so wonderfully demonstrated in our own backyard, so to speak? I enjoyed reading our AJC's take on the inauguration, and the voice from Emory resounded particularly strongly with me, as I have a brother currently enrolled there.
ReplyDeleteWould you have moved the photo around the page, or even used a different one (such as the one on the NY Times front page)?