The Seattle Times took a different approach to Wednesday morning's front page: They devoted all the space above the fold to a public service message.
In screaming, red headlines the
Times implored its readers to avoid using gasoline or charcoal
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page courtesy The Seattle Times
Click on the image to display a PDF of the page. |
generators inside buildings, noting that six Washington-area residents have already died. The
Times worked closely with the public health authorities in Seattle and King County to translate the warning into five languages in addition to English: Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish, Russian and Somali.
Far from the standard all-caps headline and giant photo disaster-style front, this page implored readers to take action. Heidi de Laubenfels, the
Times' assistant managing editor for visuals & technology, said the response has been overwhelmingly positive. She explained how this unusual front page came together in the following e-mail Q&A:
Can you tell me how the concept came together?
The concept was the brainchild of Executive Editor David Boardman, who woke up Tuesday morning with a clear sense that this was a way we could possibly help avert additional carbon-monoxide poisonings.
Also, on Monday Presentation Director Liz McClure introduced the idea of using rack cards to do something similar. Not sure whether we'll now do that, as well, but it's a good idea to stash away for the next disaster.
How did you picked the languages you needed?
King County (which contains Seattle and much of the rest of our readership) recommended the languages, based on what's most commonly spoken in our community.
Were there font challenges?
We started the day expecting this to be challenging. In end, dealing with fonts was surprisingly easy. By the time that was clear, though, we had crafted several contingency plans.
Here's how it came together:
Assistant Metro Editor Ian Ith spent the day working with Public Health Seattle & King County, which used a contractor to translate the warning into five languages. The contractor compiled the results
into an InDesign file for us to manipulate. The contractor also supplied PDFs, which were part of our backup plan in case we didn't have the fonts. It turned out that Arial (a Microsoft sans serif)
included characters for all but the Chinese translation. Another Microsoft font, PMingLiU, took care of the Chinese passage. Both typefaces are standard on Windows PCs, so we had them in house. We tested our ability to typeset the page early in the production cycle to be sure that it would print appropriately. (We did have some trouble with our electronic edition, which couldn't properly render PMingLiU. We fixed that in the morning.)
Who actually put the page together?
Denise Clifton, assistant art director for news presentation, worked on it throughout the day and handed off a finished graphic to A1 designer Sara Kennedy, who designed the rest of the page.
Did you consider other means for displaying the information (i.e. pictograms, photos, etc.)?
We did include some small illustrations to make clear what devices we were talking about, but we thought that words in languages people would recognize in boxes and on sales racks would be most effective. King County and Seattle Public Health have been using words in fliers and on Web sites in trying to get the word out.
What has the response been?
It has been overwhelmingly positive. One reader said it is one of the most valuable and socially responsible things the Times has ever done. The director of Public Health Seattle & King County said, "I want to personally express my deep appreciation for the top of
The Seattle Times front page dedication to warnings about carbon monoxide poisoning. You can be assured that your support during this time has helped prevent tragedy. I know that your staff are proud of your commitment and leadership, and we feel very fortunate to have you as a public health partner."
It struck me as a timely and daring use of front page real estate. Were there internal hurdles to publishing?
No. Most in the newsroom liked the idea and supported it. Pulling together the translations required time and Ian's close and intense work with the county, but we started early enough in the day to pull it off. We received the information in plenty of time to produce the page.
