Portugal has a new, staple-stitched, full-color, full-bleed newspaper that was just voted the best designed paper in the world:
Apparently it is possible to launch an exciting, new newspaper, both in form and content. From the judges:
Its magazine-like size allows the reader to hold the newspaper close; the format invites the reader to engage more deeply. The publication is packed with information, yet extremely well organized, using elements of layering and editing to draw readers into every page.i walks the line between newspaper and magazine with perfect balance. Its format supports the kind of flexibility that lets it focus on hard news one day and features the next. The editions we saw featured a lead story about a great author one day, then strong reporting of the Haiti earthquake the next. We encountered stories told with a sense of urgency and newsiness, and others told with subtlety and humor.
The paper delivers traditional newspaper content with new, engaging presentation.
Huh. Maybe someone should try that stateside? Nah! After all, that takes some vision/chutzpah/freedom from 20% shareholder returns. And god forbid that a failing, increasingly irrelevant paper with nothing to lose might try to do something bold, in the vein of a Portugese upstart called i! But you know the old adage: if it is broke, I guess we can’t fix it!
And while you’re lamenting the myopia of local rags, don’t miss i‘s gallery of stunning covers.
