October 12, 2012

Who won Thursday night’s debate: U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan? Vice President Joe Biden? Moderator Martha Raddatz? The furniture?

The country’s chattering class may need all weekend to argue these points. But in terms of newspaper design, the Oshkosh (Wis.) Northwestern scored a decisive victory over the (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal. Wisconsin enjoys an unfair advantage in such competitions, with far more print outlets than tiny Delaware to choose from. But despite a snappy headline treatment, even the The Times-Tribune, the daily covering Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pa., can’t compete with the Northwestern’s use of negative space.

All front pages are courtesy the Newseum.

The space between Ryan’s and Biden’s heads resembles an inverted Grecian urn in the Oshkosh Northwestern’s instant classic front page.

The News Journal’s front shows a wonderful contrast between Biden and Ryan’s facial expressions.
Honorable mention goes to The Times Tribune for its kicky headline and deck.
The candidates are all business on the Wisconsin State Journal of Madison, not far from Ryan’s hometown, Janesville.
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Andrew Beaujon reported on the media for Poynter from 2012 to 2015. He was previously arts editor at TBD.com and managing editor of Washington City…
Andrew Beaujon

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