S.F. Chronicle has two front pages Saturday for Bonds story

[ondeadline]

They couldn't decide which A1 design to go with between two choices, so they went with both. They alternated, so one person might get one front and their neighbor might get another.

This is the explanation on Romenesko:

San Francisco Chronicle AME Allen Matthews writes to Romenesko:

The Chronicle printed two front pages Saturday as a result of Barry Bonds story. Two of our designers were kicking around separate layout ideas, and we decided to use both. This is a first for the Chronicle. Our presses were set up so that the front page alternated with every other paper so that I'll get one cover and my next-door neighbor will get the other.

 

[Flip Wilson]

For those who collect newspapers of significant events, in sports or otherwise, they'll want to have both of those front pages, thus (potentially) doubling sales that day. I used to collect Elvis stuff, but when TV Guide printed four different covers of the guy on the same week's issue, I didn't buy any of them. Sounds like a marketing ploy to me.

 

[markvid]

Lemme ask something...this is from someone who's never worked in a paper, only TV and radio:
Is that standard to have 2 people working on 2 completely different ideas?

 

[Ace]

Lemme ask something...this is from someone who's never worked in a paper, only TV and radio:
Is that standard to have 2 people working on 2 completely different ideas?

Maybe not standard, but if you know something is coming, different designers may have been tinkering with different ideas.

Neither one of them is all that hot as far as I am concerned.

 

[markvid]

Lemme ask something...this is from someone who's never worked in a paper, only TV and radio:
Is that standard to have 2 people working on 2 completely different ideas?

Maybe not standard, but if you know something is coming, different designers may have been tinkering with different ideas.

Neither one of them is all that hot as far as I am concerned.

I did like the one on the right.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Hulk smash!!!

 

[wickedwritah]

I actually like this idea, and I wonder why it isn't done more often.

Innovative thinking, for once.

 

[Ace]

I actually like this idea, and I wonder why it isn't done more often.

Innovative thinking, for once.

For one thing, you'd have to have to right press setup to do it. For another, how does it benefit/interest the reader who gets one paper and probably doesn't know that there is another sports front out there somewhere.

 

[wickedwritah]

For another, how does it benefit/interest the reader who gets one paper and probably doesn't know that there is another sports front out there somewhere.

You're in the store, and you see both covers. And you probably pick up both.

I'm sure it boosted single-copy sales.

 

[Ace]

For another, how does it benefit/interest the reader who gets one paper and probably doesn't know that there is another sports front out there somewhere.

You're in the store, and you see both covers. And you probably pick up both.

I'm sure it boosted single-copy sales.

Possibly. If circulation did it so every other paper was different rather than you get big batches of one kind here and big batches of the other cover there.

 

[CentralIllinoisan]

Very cool idea. Entertainment Weekly does this often ... fun and innovative.

 

[riverrats95]

are both on ebay yet?

 

[wickedwritah]

Very cool idea. Entertainment Weekly does this often ... fun and innovative.

Innovation: Something our industry is lacking.

 

[Ace]

If finding ways to do more of the same with fewer people isn't innovative, I don't know what is.

 

[wickedwritah]

If finding ways to do more of the same with fewer people isn't innovative, I don't know what is.

I'm speaking more to the upper-echelon, glass-office folks. There are more of those than ever.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

I'm certain it's not this way in San Fran, but has anybody else noticed how Barry seems to have disappeared in the media since he broke the record?

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

Also done here: http://cgi.ebay.com/SPIDERMAN-1-1990-2-COPIES-DIFFERENT-COVERS-NEVER-READ_W0QQitemZ130155637771QQihZ003QQcategoryZ17082QQcmdZViewItem

in the comic book world.

 

[forever_town]

I did like the one on the right.

If I had to pick between the two, that'd be my choice. The one on the left just has too many elements competing for attention. The one on the right looks stark, which is appealing if Barry's as popular in San Francisco as he seems to be.

That said, I'd have a big problem with that being the front page of the entire paper if I were at the Chronicle. Didn't anything else happen that was newsworthy?

Barry's contract not being picked up would hardly merit dominating the entire front page in my opinion. Maybe a centerpiece story on A1. Probably should at least be somewhere on A1 if not above the fold. But it shouldn't be the ONLY story on the front.

If he were actually busted for steroid use, that would be above the fold worthy in my book.

 

[Shaggy]

This is an interesting take, but 80 percent of the newspapers in this country don't have the manpower to essentially have one guy dicking around trying to come up with something cool.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

I'm sure the guys working on these were pounding out daily pages while they worked on this. It's unlikely this was the only thing they were working on.

Personally, I think it would've had greater effect if they'd used "buh-bye" rather than "bye-bye."