Yesterday, the Democratic National Convention nominated by acclamation (promoted by Hillary Clinton) the first African American candidate to President of the United States of America.
I watched the moment live, and the main TV channels did what all of us expected: show the emotional reactions of people inside and outside the convention center.
People crying.
People excited.
People happy.
People proud.
All kinds of people, from all races.
American people witnessing a historical moment.
Well, today, U.S. papers have two kinds of front pages.
For me, the photo and design team of The Virginian-Pilot did the best, and not just because my wife is the DME/Presentation there. They selected a photo that showed the emotion of Moe Spencer, an African American delegate from Washington, crying and being embraced by a white woman.
Talk about symbolism (Hillary embracing Barack?).
This magnificent picture by Justin Sullivan (Getty Images) represents that moment better than the traditional pictures of last night’s speakers (Bill Clinton, John Kerry and Joe Biden).
And the same kind of thinking produced the front pages of The New York Times and the Chicago Sun-Times, showing real emotions, not just well-known politicians posing for the cameras.
But the majority of U.S. newspapers did the opposite, including The Washington Post:
But worse than that, of course, was the “new” Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel that insisted today on banal and trivial journalism by giving the premium front page space to a stupid photo illustration.
This is not journalism.
This is not newspaper design.
This is window decoration.
This, my friends, is lipstick on a pig.
And as we said in the first screen of our INNOVATION presentation at the 2008 WAN Congress, “you don’t put lipstick on a pig when our newspapers need heart surgery.”
You use real pictures.
Real life.
Real people.
Real journalism.
This is what will sell newspapers.
This what will save newspapers!
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