The newspapers of the future?
The future of newspapers?
Well, let’s start the revolution, as Mao said, with one first step.
And my “revolutionary” suggestion is very easy:
No more boring front pages.
After we do that, we can do more, of course, but this is very crucial.
Many of today’s front pages around the world are just …
Boring.
Dull.
Depressing.
Garbage.
Yes, real garbage.
Who does this terrible job at these newspapers?
These front page editors or designers must be fired.
On the spot!
This is what is killing our industry.
Not the Internet.
Not Google.
Not MySpace.
Not television.
Not radio.
Us!
Our poor news judgment.
Our lack of visual journalism.
Our boring, dull and depressing front pages.
Look at these ones just from today:
Perhaps you can do this in New York …
But not in Puerto Rico…
Hillary is going to sunny Puerto Rico and they select a picture of her with a winter coat.
What the hell is this?
Who writes these creative headlines?
“Crucial vote”?
Are you kidding me?
A green cover.
Yes, green fields.
So you know, they are green.
Yes, green.
Something really new.
Yes, a very compelling way to wake up your readers.
With things.
Like fields.
But what about us?
What about people?
What about real persons?
What about emotions?
What about human-interest stories?
What about passion?
What about humor?
Anything but front pages with nothing to say!
Are you ready for more surprises?
Well, look at this tremendous front page:
More green.
With politicians!
Posing politicians.
Is this a shocking picture?
Not really.
It’s a boring one.
Who cares about them except their PR-spin people?
But, wait a minute, please, I have more, worse stuff to show to you.
Look at this!
Yes, yes, more politicians!
Happy ones.
Smiling, but not too much.
Happy to know each other.
We are so fortunate to see them … shaking hands.
What a unique picture!
A Pulitzer winner for sure.
Readers in Shanghai must be rushing right now to get a copy of this paper.
Definitely a collectors’ issue — for how bad a newspaper front page can be, my friends.
But, again, wait, wait, I have more wonders of the world.
Now from Belgium:
A front page with just words!
Words.
Words.
Words.
In the most visual, multimedia, and graphic century of human history, a newspaper book front page!
Again, readers must be really excited in Belgium.
This must be a sell-out issue …
But if you are not interested in just words, here is a paper for you:
Well, green is the color of the day.
In Belgium, too.
In a popular newspaper, the readers are offered no pictures, but instead get this dramatic, compelling, unique and outstanding graphic …
They need to enter this front page at the International Malofiej Infographics Awards … and win the worst graphic of the year.
What a shame!
Let me finish with three different front pages, all of them from the same country, and all of them also from today.
They are not exceptional, but quite good compared with all that previous garbage.
And it shows different approaches to make your paper more appealing.
First, this one that goes from the front to the back:
Second, this one from Salzburg, that promotes reader’s pictures.
A front page done with the partnership of an advertiser — and audiences, readers and advertisers, will be happy with this poster today:
And third, this simple, but elegant, interesting and well-done infographic.
So let’s hire these Austrian front page editors.
They are doing quite a bit better than the rest of us:
And now a final word.
I just wanted to be funny … but, I’m sorry, this is a very serious issue:
We are failing daily to engage, connect and involve readers and advertisers — our CLIENTS! — with our front pages.
And our daily front pages are our best marketing tool.
And it’s not just a design question.
Sometimes they are very bad because they don’t have real news or real stories to tell us.
That’s the problem.
The solution?
Hard news.
Amazing stories.
Great pictures.
Smart graphics.
Good headlines.
Journalism.
Just journalism, my dear.
Journalism.
Period.
That has been and always will be the real revolution.
The future of newspapers.
And the newspapers of the future.
Let’s not be confused.