My 1st front page

This was the photo that made my first front page shot.

http://bxtimes.com/sections/newsstand/2013/6/

The shot I wanted was a young male but his face was turned away from the camera. It's not easy to not only get the shot but to have it composed as well. Even using the burst mode (10 frames per second) doesn't guarantee you'll get the shot when fast moving sports are involved.

My boss wants kids or animals on the front page, preferably from the Bronx. Makes sense. That's what the everyday reader is attracted to. The larger dailies (my paper is a weekly) lean towards celebrities and crime. This brings to mind a question: should a newspaper be about news or about entertainment?

I bet that most of the more popular dailies in most countries are popular because they entertain more than they present the news. Even on TV, have you noticed that most news broadcasts rarely ask the "hard' questions and rarely delve into the substrata of the events being spoken about. And the common complaint spoken by a few is "why is the news always about negative/bad stuff? How about talking about the good stuff?"

Gee, that's simple to figure out. Good stuff is boring. I want to be titillated, seduced by evil thoughts, witness death or near death, suggestive sexuality and esthetic eroticism - don't you?

Besides, isn't this very stuff that qualifies itself as news? Hmm . . . just what are the Kardashians up to today? The inquiring mind wants to know. One mustn't disappoint the public.

So much for the digression. Kids and animals (especially young ones) make for good front covers. Mine did and it made me proud and happy both.