President Ford got his final salute from newspapers today as they reported on the ceremony honoring him in the nation's capital. Most newspapers used one rather uninspiring photo in particular, as seen here in the Los Angeles Times. Many papers used a wide shot that had very little impact, even at the remarkable size used by The Modesto Bee.

The most interesting photo from any presidential funeral is often the image showing the surviving presidents. But few papers, other than The Miami Herald used it.

The State gave this story a bigger ride than any other paper an America, even more so than the Michigan papers which have a more obvious local connection. Placing the headline above the fold, as did this elegant treatment from The Virginian-Pilot, may have helped promote single-copy sales. Despite the attractiveness of a few of these pages, none of them displayed compelling, useful or interesting content.

Today's best front design was found in New Orleans at The Times-Picayune. They made their page work with effective packaging of mugshots and a news photo about a post-Katrina story, a fitting presence and headline for Ford's funeral, and good use of text and headlines to organize all elements on the page.

"Farewell to the chief" was an excellent headline. The best headline came from The Kansas City Star: A fanfare for a most uncommon man.



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