Commemorative issues

[novelist_wannabe]

Maybe this belongs on the political threads, but I'll start it here ...

So, the AJC with today's editions had two commemorative sections dealing with Obama being elected president. I guess there was easy money to be made there. But does it fall into the category of good journalism? I can't help but wonder, with a mind toward the paper's reputation as left-wing, if they'd have done the same thing had McCain won? Honestly, I don't remember what, if anything, was done in 2000 and 2004. Still, every time I've looked at the paper today, that was the first thing in my mind.

 

[imjustagirl]

What history did Bush make?

i didn't ask for, and place orders for, upward of 20 newspapers from Wednesday because a president was elected. I got them because Barack Obama was elected.

 

[luckyducky]

Seattle Times did that today, too, with copies of the Times' and PI's covers in them.

 

[playthrough]

It's probably no more "good journalism" than a commemorative honoring a local pro or college team's championship. But can't fault the cash grab. I still say more papers should have taken advantage of the money-making opportunity on Wednesday morning from the single-copy-buying masses who were going right back to their non-newspaper lives on Thursday.

As for the AJC, with the obvious ties to MLK, I'd assume those were some pretty good sections.

 

[dixiehack]

The Birmingham News, McCain endorsement and all, had an eight-page special section today.

 

[Paper Dragon]

Give the people want they want and make money doing it.

Nothing to feel guilty about.

 

[steveu]

Precisely. Politics aside, even if you didn't vote for Obama it's got to be good to see people buying papers for one day.

 

[hondo]

No one would have done a commemorative edition on John McCain because electing an old white Republican wasn't that big a news item. ... and I voted for that old, white Republican. No matter who a paper endorsed, it was smart to A. make extra copies of the Wednesday paper, make posters off that front page, and make t-shirts, and sell them (as many papers did), and B. Have a Sunday commemorative edition, and make sure you have enough to sell this week.

 

[Blitz]

San Antonio Express News ran a commemorative edition Sunday.
Good pics, lots of info from the historic (anyway you look at it) campaign

 

[Dave Kindred]

I'm told The Washington Post has now printed 1 million commemorative editions....

 

[GB-Hack]

Holy jumpin', that's amazing.

 

[0-fer]

I don't think it's necessarily good journalism, but it could have been (obviously I didn't read through the special sections). I think major documentation is warranted considering Obama is the first African-American president-elect of the United States, even if we are several days removed from the election. If it's a lot of talk about his (read: democrat's) policies and so forth, then no, probably not good journalism, but to document the magnitude of electing a minority as president, no matter what the minority, is both good and necessary. In that regard, I think the question of whether they would have done it if McCain had won is moot. But, of course, that's only if the bulk of the commemorative stuff deals with electing an African-American president. Like hondo said, electing an old, white president is nothing new. Good business move, and if done properly, good journalism, too, IMHO

 

[SF_Express]

No matter what your politics, if you can't throw partisanship aside and see that this was a history-making event, then I'm not getting it.

It's good business AND it's good journalism. It's serving your readers.

Case in point: If your hometown team wins one of the major professional sports titles, and the paper prints a special section, is there a journalistic problem with that?

Not any place I've ever worked.

This was the equivalent thing in cities across nation, and if it makes the losing side ornery, well, whatever.

 

[Pancamo]

I'm told The Washington Post has now printed 1 million commemorative editions....

I heard it was $2.50 a pop. Is that true?

 

[Dave Kindred]

I'm told The Washington Post has now printed 1 million commemorative editions....

I heard it was $2.50 a pop. Is that true?

Originally it was the Sunday price, $1.50. I don't know what it is on newstands now. On the Post website, it's $9.95.

 

[Blitz]

No matter what your politics, if you can't throw partisanship aside and see that this was a history-making event, then I'm not getting it.

It's good business AND it's good journalism. It's serving your readers.

Case in point: If your hometown team wins one of the major professional sports titles, and the paper prints a special section, is there a journalistic problem with that?

Not any place I've ever worked.

This was the equivalent thing in cities across nation, and if it makes the losing side ornery, well, whatever.

Yes, this was a no-brainer to run a commemorative edition.

 

[Joe Williams]

Newspapers = Instant Nostalgia.

Funny, but readers have been treating us that way for a while now.

Selling them two-day old news (or last week's or last month's) isn't the answer we're seeking. Selling them yesterday's news today and tomorrow and all the tomorrows after that is a bit dicier.

Ain't nobody framing those front pages for the ads, so maybe we should charge the readers more as SOP. Both for print and for online.

 

[Freelance Hack]

Funny, but readers have been treating us that way for a while now.

Selling them two-day old news (or last week's or last month's) isn't the answer we're seeking. Selling them yesterday's news today and tomorrow and all the tomorrows after that is a bit dicier.

Ain't nobody framing those front pages for the ads, so maybe we should charge the readers more as SOP. Both for print and for online.

The C-J included a reprint of its A section in Sunday's paper.

But, if you didn't get the Sunday paper, don't fret. You can order an unframed print of the front page for only $99.99. Add $50 for a framed copy.

Don't have $100? You can't still buy a piece of history! You can buy a commemorative mug for $15 or a Christmas ornament for $19!

Interested? Click here, but let's not all go at the same time for fear that we might crash the site.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

I totally get the magnitude of a black president being elected. Sure, it's a big story. Still I don't think the hometown team analogy works. Obama's not Atlanta's, or Georgia's, hometown team. He's from Illinois by way of Hawaii, and McCain carried the state. So the sports analogy loosely equates to the AJC doing a commemorative section for the Phillies winning the World Series.

 

[Joe Williams]

I totally get the magnitude of a black president being elected. Sure, it's a big story. Still I don't think the hometown team analogy works. Obama's not Atlanta's, or Georgia's, hometown team. He's from Illinois by way of Hawaii, and McCain carried the state. So the sports analogy loosely equates to the AJC doing a commemorative section for the Phillies winning the World Series.

Or it's like the AJC doing a commemorative section for Michael Phelps winning all those gold medals. Only it's, like, partisan and about someone they'll be providing news coverage and hopefully scrutiny for the next four or eight years, at least.

If I'm going to buy a front-page souvenir, not sure why I'd buy the one from my local paper. The WaPo or NYT would be a more impressive memento.