Myanmar cyclone
Charlotte, Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Asheville papers all put stories about the cyclone in Myanmar on their front pages this morning. So did many of the newspapers around the world. From the Newseum's front page analysis of the day's papers: Numbers make the difference. Yesterday, when the death toll stood at 350 for the cyclone in Burma (aka Myanmar), a few U.S. dailies carried the story on Page One. Today, with the guesstimated toll in the multiple thousands, it's Page One news on an international basis.
We published a promo on the front with a small photo, but put the story on page A9. A reader questioned that news judgment.
Certainly, playing the story on Page One was the safe bet. I know 10,000 deaths anywhere is tragic and big news. Yet I read about it online yesterday. The story was played prominently on the evening's network news programs yesterday. That story got even older -- and worse -- overnight and today as the death toll is now estimated to be more than 22,000.
We try to publish stories on Page One that are new to readers and/or have a direct connection to their lives. We want stories to be fresh and to avoid repeating what people have seen online or on television all day. Our election package today isn't necessarily fresh information, but it has a direct connection to citizens.
For the record, Myanmar isn't going to be on the front page tomorrow, either.
Wednesday update: Scott Karp has a somewhat related piece about redundant news stories that is well worth reading.
Comments (2)
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'When it bleeds...'
But when it bleeds BIGGER, then it's got to go HIGHER on the front page. I wonder what kind of int'l coverage the Katrina disaster got, especially because the loss of life was not a large as two other recent natural disasters. Would you happen to know?
Posted on May 6, 2008 6:45 PM
I do not. I do know that newspapers, in general, have much higher readership in European countries than here.
I know the death toll is one determinant of how high it goes on the page. I submit that timing is another....and one that I think is, at times, more important.
Posted on May 6, 2008 7:31 PM