This would probably sell some papers
On Sept. 12, 2001, the front page of the San Francisco Examiner featured a photograph of the Twin Towers on fire with the headline "BASTARDS!" Then copy desk chief Steve Allen and I admired the bold word choice exhibited by the paper. At the same time, I told him that while that headline writer's sentiment may have been shared by many of our readers, we wouldn't have used that word. Some readers prefer that curse words not be in bold, capital letters across the front page of the paper, no matter what the story.
Go figure.
Still, Steve threatened to use that headline many times since whenever we had a story that needed a dramatic pop.
Now a page designer for the News & Observer, he just sent me a copy of his new favorite front page headline. I have no idea if it's a legitimate page. (But it sounds like San Francisco.)
Take a look.
Comments (5)
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Nah, it's a joke (The Examiner has been redesigned into a tab since then). Somebody sent it to me recently and I posted it here. It was perhaps created in response to this Miami New Times cover published in the wake of Hurricane Wilma.
Posted on November 12, 2005 3:28 PM
That dog, Steve Allen! He now owns up that he got it from your site. He'll never work in this town again.
http://www.newsdesigner.com/archives/002394.php
Posted on November 12, 2005 5:57 PM
I still have a copy of the Winston-Salem Journal's giant DANG! from the Panthers' Super Bowl defeat ...
Posted on November 12, 2005 9:01 PM
The Examiner's front page on 9/12/01 has always stuck with me. In fact, I think I first saw it on Good Morning America, as Charlie Gibson flashed it in front of the camera.
While profane, it sure seemed to sum it all up in one word.
Posted on November 14, 2005 12:16 AM
HA!
You see -- this is the kind of thing people sit around newspaper offices kidding about doing late into the night, but which never seems to actually happen.
I guess every now and then a "BASTARDS!" slips through. And thank God for that...
Posted on November 15, 2005 11:20 AM