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NICK BERG EXECUTION COVERAGE

12:29 PM, May 12, 2004

Of 186 U.S. front pages, 140 ran an image (more than a mug) with the Nick Berg beheading story. Here's the breakdown, with examples:

50 ran the grieving father photo alone
40 ran the grieving father photo as the lead with terrorist video capture secondary
22 ran a video capture of terrorists alone
18 ran a video capture of terrorists as the lead with grief photo secondary
5 ran a less dramatic family photo alone
2 ran the family photo as the lead with the terrorist photo secondary
1 ran a terrorist main with family secondary
1 ran the grief and terrorist photos equally
1 ran a series of video captures

Of 125 foreign front pages, 28 ran an image:

15 ran video capture of terrorists alone
4 ran the grieving father photo as the lead with terrorist video capture secondary
4 ran a video capture of the beheading in progress
2 ran video capture of terrorists as the lead with grief photo secondary
1 ran the grieving father photo alone
1 ran the grief and terrorist photos equally
1 ran a less dramatic family photo alone

And here, the Testy Copy Editors' discussion over whether to run the URL of where to find the video has evolved into a discussion about grief photos.

>The Testy Ethicist® [Testy Copy Editors]

Comments

"Bastards" is one of those awful tabloid Page One headlines whose only saving grace is that they can be used only once. Someone at the Philadelphia Daily News forgot.

Posted by: Phillip Blanchard at May 12, 2004 12:57 PM

And here I thought the SF Examiner had the trademark on "Bastards."

Posted by: Kenney at May 12, 2004 01:56 PM

This is superb. It totally connects with readers and pushes beyond just repeating what I already knew to reflect instead how I felt. I don't think anyone at the PDN forgot anything -- they nailed it.

Posted by: Steve D at May 12, 2004 06:59 PM

What, FUCKHEADS wouldn't fit?

Posted by: Bill at May 13, 2004 02:17 PM