Detroit's Mayoral Scandal

The mayoral scandal has been front-page news in Detroit. The Free Press and The News devoted special coverage today to two guilty pleas by the mayor.

Un-conventional

With the Republican convention meeting in its city, the St. Paul Pioneer Press did a wrap special section. Across the river, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis put convention news on its regular front page and then published a convention special section inside.

Set to Print -- But No Electricity

The headline of The Times-Picayune says, “No flooding, but massive power outages as Gustav weakens.”

The lack of power in New Orleans has impacted even the newspaper, which has been reporting and photographing news of Hurricane Gustav. Using a generator, the staff was able to put together a newspaper. But without electricity to power a printing press, the newspaper could not print today’s edition. Instead, it posted images of pages on its Web site.

The Newseum -- like many others interested in news about the massive storm -- pulled a copy of The Times-Picayune front page from the Internet.

If power is not restored this afternoon, the newspaper says it will seek an alternative location to print tomorrow’s newspaper. And The Times-Picayune will be awaiting the return of newspaper carriers, many of whom evacuated ahead of the storm.

Palin for VP: Unexpected Choice

There’s a surprise on today’s front page.

John McCain’s unexpected choice of the Alaska governor as his running mate sent front pages scrambling to answer the question: Who is Sarah Palin?

A relative unknown on the national political scene, Palin needed an introduction. The Los Angeles Times provided a profile, “She’s no good ol’ boy.” The Detroit Free Press noted, “History maker is also hunter, hockey mom.” The St. Petersburg Times bulleted personal information and even explained how to pronounce her last name (PAY-lin).

Palin went to college in Idaho, where the Statesman in Boise printed positive local reaction. In Palin’s home state of Alaska, the news was so big that it filled the Anchorage Daily News.

The Washington Post noted McCain’s historic choice: “Palin First Woman on GOP Ticket.” The Arizona Republic in Phoenix said the choice reinforces McCain’s maverick image.

Some front pages asked why she was chosen and then went on to analyze the pick. “Choice of Palin could be stroke of brilliance or act of desperation,” the San Francisco Chronicle said.

A Great Week for News

Denver newspapers wrapped up a week of non-stop political coverage with convention front pages chronicling Barack Obama's historic acceptance speech. "It was a great week to be doing news!" said Kathy Bogan, presentation director of the Rocky Mountain News. Newseum colleague Sharon Shahid wrote on Newseum.org that Obama fulfilled "a dream that was expressed exactly 45 years ago in an electrifying speech delivered by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as part of the March on Washington."

Photo Choice

Hillary Clinton's appearance before the Democratic National Convention brought almost universal coverage by U.S. front pages. That offered front pages an opportunity after months of printing what some have called consistently and unnecessarily unflattering photos of the New York senator. Indeed, the Post-Tribune in Indiana and The Boston Globe were among newspapers that printed an AP photo of Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea. The Denver Post and the San Mateo Daily Journal, on the other hand, printed photos much like what we saw during the primary.

Conventional Wisdom

The Democratic National Convention is a local story for Denver, and its newspapers are covering the news with convention front pages in addition to their regular front pages. Monday's editions gave hints of what to expect this week.