A horrible day on all fronts ...

OMFG in FTL: Note the strip story, the rail story and the photo centerpiece, then scroll down ...

Statement from Sun Sentinel on Wednesday's front page

Here is a statement from Publisher Nancy Meyer regarding the front page of today’s Sun Sentinel newspaper:

We deeply regret placement of a gun advertisement on our front page Wednesday morning.

It is against our policy to run gun and other types of controversial advertising on our front page.

We understand how the juxtaposition of certain ads and news stories can appear extremely insensitive, and we failed to prevent such a juxtaposition today.

We are taking steps to ensure this does not happen again, and the Sun Sentinel now has a moratorium on gun advertising.

 

Note: Not making light of this at all. Hard lessons to be learned again, etc.

 

Jesus Christ. If it’s against policy, why is it there?

Every newsroom I’ve ever worked in knew where the gun ads were every day.

Someone(s) should get fired for this.

 

This made me laugh.

I hate myself.

 

Thoughts and prayers.

 

I guess it depends on the setup there. I know at one point at my old shop we wouldn't see the ads until right before we sent the pages to the press. So basically right before we'd send, we'd click a button and the ads would pop into place. Most of the time, the ads were very vaguely labeled, like "Home 4X6" and that could have been anything.

But you're right. You'd think in this day and age of digital everything those ads would be on the page before the designer started laying out the page. Or at least the person setting the ads would know what ad they're putting where.

 

It’s also on whoever in sales OK’ed the client’s buy.

 

That’s an oh shit moment right there.

 

That's a no-win for everyone involved — the shooting victims, their families, the Gun Show wanting to advertise in the paper in the future and the paper missing on future ad revenue. Then there's possibility of losing subscribers.

It wouldn't have been much different had it been, say, Page 5A with those stories and ads on the same page, it just wouldn't sting as much.

Now, losing yearly revenue from their "moratorium" on gun ads might mean another person getting laid off. The gun show will find other ways to promote their event.

 

Maybe someone saw, and just didn't care. Or we've become so desensitized that it just wasn't seen in the context of the rest of the page.

It's unfortunate, but one, and maybe even both, of those things is probably what happened. Advertising and the news hole are often -- even usually -- still seen as and thought of and thought about as completely separate from each other.

Furthermore, six-column, front-page ads represent big money to newspapers, and really, any backlash caught over the juxtaposition will be over by...tomorrow.

Just saying, even as a decidedly anti-gun person who would celebrate if the things were completely outlawed.

What if, say, you were the person who did see and actually catch this -- on deadline, at the last minute. What would you do, to the paid ad, to the page, to any other pages involved in any rearrangement, and for the gun-show client? What do you tell them and do for them?