Monty
Cook AME for Newsphoto and Art |
| Obviously, there were
two huge stories: 9/11 and the general primary election. With the voting
problems, and the close Democratic primary for governor, it became clear
that we'd have to give as much play to both as possible.
We decided we had to
give 9/11 its absolute due, but the breaking news Overall, a pretty big design challenge. We wanted to tell readers we do indeed have complete coverage of both issues -- we wanted to get both above the fold. |
| Monica
Moses Visual Journalism Faculty The Poynter Institute |
| The Sentinel staff had more obstacles than most to producing a strong Sept. 11 front page. Their priority was the Florida's election snafu, and they felt the need to make lead art out of two parallel (if uninspired) pictures of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates. They had to present election results and refer to a bunch of related coverage inside. And that was just for the lead package. Sept. 11 became the secondary package, and it had its share of refers and glance boxes too. It's an enormously complex page, just on the verge of being too diffuse to read. Fortunately, a grid holds the whole thing together (although the election results box might have been cleaner as one unit and not five little columns). And, even though the front page was no design showcase, the Sentinel's special section cover is unique, compelling and memorable. The photo illustration by Monty Cook has the power of the familiar along with the freshness of a child's face. And she's local. Lines from a Brooklyn poet laureate serve as headline. First-rate work. |