TAKEAWAY: Waking up in Beirut to the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death. Already discussing it with art director at An Nahar, the Arabic language daily, and it will be interesting to follow up the rest of the day with the Lebanese perspective of this monumentally important development in the fight against terrorism. Stay tuned. ALSO: The Royal Wedding, part 2: a kiss pop up moment and a textbook case of good packaging for coverage of the event
And the crowds chanted….
Woke up at 7 am, turned on CNN and could not believe my eyes and ears: Obama Bin Laden dead announced the network’s Wolf Spitzer as a crowd gathered outside the White House around 1 in the morning, US flags everywhere, same thing in the reports from New York City’s Ground Zero, a symbolic gathering for those who came, as one firefighter put it “to honor my fellow firefighters who died here, now they know justice has been done.“
Outside my balcony in Beirut, total silence, a day off for workers who celebrate the May 1 International Workers Day festivity.
Then a meeting now with Ziad Kassis, the art director of An Nahar, to plan the front page of the newspaper. “Big news, indeed, “ he tells me, “and we will go 8 columns across with it tomorrow.“
The iPad already played a role here, as one of the guys celebrating outside the White House raised his iPad to show a screen that read: Obama1, Osama 0.
It should be interesting to contemplate this development from the Middle East. I promise more reports as the day progresses. Come back and check with me from time to time.
TheMarioBlog post #764
Royal Wedding and packaging of stories
TAKEAWAY: At a time when we cater to an audience who bring their click and go mentality to print, navigation and packaging gain extra importance. Take a look at Germany’s Bild Sunday editions and how the editors packaged the post Royal Wedding coverage: did anyone make it as easy to follow?
The wedding
The love
The kiss
The family
Pippa: the super sister
The father
The guests
The day after
The naked facts
The future
TAKEAWAY: Waking up in Beirut to the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death. Already discussing it with art director at An Nahar, the Arabic language daily, and it will be interesting to follow up the rest of the day with the Lebanese perspective of this monumentally important development in the fight against terrorism. Stay tuned. ALSO: The Royal Wedding, part 2: a kiss pop up moment and a textbook case of good packaging for coverage of the event
Today’s pop up
And don’t miss this kiss pop up moment: click the red button and the royal couple kisses. It’s love!
I was not really planning to touch the Royal Wedding again in this blog, believe me. We all have had our share of William and Catherine and I, too, believe they deserve to have a peaceful honeymoon.
However, when Frank Deville, our correspondent in Luxembourg, shared with me these pages from the Bild am Sonntag, I had to share them with you as well.
Here is simple, clear and easy to digest coverage of an event we thought we had so much of.
Follow the categories: The Wedding, The Family, The Love, The Kiss, The Guests, Pippa: The Super Sister, The Naked Facts, The Father, The Future.
Special congrats to the Bild photo editing team!
Clever, Bild. You’ve done it again. Many newspapers need to take a page or two from your book today! There are other royal weddings in store, for sure, but your example is applicable to a variety of stories.
TheMarioBlog post #763
The Royal Weddding: A kiss is not a kiss
TAKEAWAY: The marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton is now over and we have spent part of today Saturday looking at the morning after front pages of newspapers around the world. It is THE KISS photo on page one for 95% of the newspapers I have sampled. Ok, so when is a kiss just a kiss?
When is a kiss just a kiss?
The New York Times, USA
Germany’s Bild Zeitung displayed a double page poster of the Royal Couple riding the Aston Martin convertible
The Times of London
Il Secolo XIX, Genoa, Italy
The Independent, London, no photo; instead, a sketch by artist Tracey Emin on its front page.
Of course, the photo of the beautiful couple sharing their first kiss as man and wife on the balcony of Buckingham Palace shows the moment when this fairytale wedding between the middle class girl and the Prince became a reality to billions around the world. And, in fact, it was a historic moment when the couple shared a second kiss.
But, to me, the highlight was seeing the couple emerge from the gates of the palace in an Aston Martin convertible, complete with the hanging cans that are so symbolic of newlyweds everywhere. It was a common touch, a fun moment, the couple showing the world that, at the end, fairytale or not, they are like other couples in love celebrating their big day. That moment took all those experienced TV presenters by surprise. I was watching it on ABC, and the seasoned Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters were speechless momentarily when the couple appeared, with the Prince driving himself. To me, a highlight of the ceremony.
So I am happy to show some front pages here that put that one moment on their front page.
See here The New York Times, Il Secolo XIX (Genoa, Italy), and the Times of London. Bravo.
Note: I like the first kiss photo, of course, and I go on the record saying that I have nothing against kissing, but the surprise photo was the couple in the car!
Special kudos for The Independent of London, for being adventurous: instead of a photo, the editors chose to publish an original work by Tracey Emin on its front page.
TheMaroiBlog post #762
