Obama Wins!

Last night, Barack Obama was elected the first African American president of the United States. Newspapers around the world covered this event, and it may be safe to say that almost every newspaper in the country and many around the world had a front page dedicated to his victory. On newseum.org, hundreds of front pages of newspapers are available to view. Here are some that I liked and some that I disliked...

Likes:

The first one that caught my eye was the Bakersfield Californian. I think it was the dark picture covering the entire page with white text over it was really striking. Although there is no other text on the front page besides a quote from Obama, I think it was effective and powerful. In a way, I think it was smart to just let him do the speaking.

Another page that I thought was interesting was The Record Searchlight in Redding Calif. I thought the photograph above the fold would have been very eye catching at a news stand. Also, there are charts and other photographs that are very informative below the header. There is also local election coverage at the bottom, which is important to include for local audiences.

Another one that I really liked was the Staten Island Advance, in N.Y. I think this graphic with a photograph of the first African American president placed in the middle of photographs of the past 43 white presidents, is both eye-catching and extremely powerful. I think newspapers that did a special edition like this were smart. I am sure some will disagree with me and think more text is needed, but I think this graphic tells a story better than words could have.

Dislikes:

At first I thought I liked the front page of The Sun Sentinel in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., but after viewing it longer, one of his daughters is positioned behind him and is out of the photograph. This was a very bad photo choice, since the newspaper decided to publish a photo of his family, they should have made sure everyone was in the picture. A few other newspapers used this photograph as well.

I was also disappointed with my hometown newspaper, The Peoria Journal Star. There was not one thing that I absolutely hated, but come on, give the readers a little bit more than a photograph of Obama waving. And to make matter worse, the main story was just an associated press story. It would have been nice to see a staff writer cover the story. It was just "bla."

I also did not like the head line used in the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, Maine that said "Oh-Bama!" I commend the paper for trying something different than a headline dealing with the word "Change," but I don't think a play on Obama's name is necessary on such a historical day. Plus, we were were taught to be careful when dealing with word plays with names. The Register-Gaurd of Eugene, Ore. did a similar headline that read "Oh!-Bama"

Here's one paper called the Mississippi Press that decided to publish Halloween costume photographs on the day after the election. I think the page speaks for itself. Could this paper be ignoring Obama's victory? My guess is yes. Look at the "Old Crab" illustration on the bottom of the page...so very sad.