US: Papers rethink front pages with readers in mind

Posted by Maddie Hanna on May 26, 2006 at 12:35 PM

What is the purpose of a front page? Is it to provide a comprehensive look at the day’s top stories? Or is it to win back dwindling circulation numbers?

That’s the question paper editors are asking themselves across the U.S., reports AJR in its June/July issue, at publications ranging from modest regional dailies to national powerhouses. The revelation: presentation matters.

Executive editor of the New York Times, Bill Keller: “Stories about how we live often outweigh stories about what happened yesterday. We think it’s okay to include in our front-page portfolio something that is fun, human, or just wonderfully written. It's part science, part art, with a little serendipity … The notion of a Page 1 story, in fact, has evolved over the years, partly in response to the influence of other media.”

Today, that “other media” is primarily the Internet. And with more and more people seeking news online, it’s extremely difficult for papers to build upon — let alone maintain — currently weak readership numbers. So many are taking a new approach to the face to the world, the front page.

Newspaper initiatives

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, N.Y.: A “front-page impact team” including editors as well as circulation and marketing executives analyzes what readers want and seeks innovative ways to generate reader appeal.

The Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Wisc.: A “Reader’s Choice” experiment offers the Web site’s visitors the chance to vote on what stories should make tomorrow’s front.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minn.: A project conducted with Northwestern University’s Readership Institute found readers prefer an “experience”-oriented front page, with wider columns, an easy-to-read format, “fast facts” and a “Have you heard?” box summarizing the most interesting stories of the day.

The Washington Post: It’s about using fewer stories on the front page, but a wider variety of topics within those stories, accompanied by larger photos. Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr.: “We still value yesterday, too. There’s a connection that people in this town have to that news ... It’s not a magazine, it’s still a newspaper.”

The New York Times: A reduced front-page story count — like the Post’s — makes the presentation more reader friendly, says Times assistant managing editor for news Richard Berke. Refer boxes are also a quick way to draw readers. Berke: “We haven’t settled on the perfect formula yet because we don’t know what it is.”