Last Updated: September 23, 1999
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The front page
The Front Page is an occasional look at how our front pages reflect
what our newspapers value. If you would like to have your front page considered,
contact Al Siegal of The New York Times at 212/556-1049 or siegal@nytimes.com
The front page for July illustrates some of the themes we emphasize
in choosing stories for the Sunday paper.
The Lambeau Field story was sure to have instant, widespread appeal
in Wisconsin, which is madly in love with the Packers. We identified it
early as the likely story to dominate the page — even though it was more
explanatory than traditional “news.” Yet its point — that the Packers must
make changes to survive financially — was compelling and important to our
readers.
The Chicago shooting rampage was also an obvious choice. The shootings
would have been outrageous on any day but were made worse by the timing
on a holiday weekend.
The two stories in the middle, about the rise of family and moral issues
in the country’s political landscape and about our society’s response to
changes in the last 50 years, were intended to provoke readers to think
and talk. Both were also stories in which readers could see their own lives
reflected. Those are important goals.
The story at the bottom, about a former German POW who adopted Wisconsin
and America after World War II, was a surprising twist on the Fourth of
July feature. The Madison dateline illustrates another element of the Sunday
paper: We generally try to have at least one element on 1A that shows we
are statewide.
Sevart is senior editor, Weekend, for the Journal Sentinel in Milwaukee.
