How we covered the deadliest mass shooting in US history

  • June 14, 2016
Society for News Design

President Obama and authorities are calling the event an act of terrorism. A gunman opened fire in an Orlando nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning, killing 49 people.

As journalists, we rushed to respond to the breaking news in print and online. Many of Monday’s presentations aimed to reflect the enormity of the shooting and the immediate response, while Tuesday morning’s papers reflected on the lives of the victims and the continuing investigation. Following is a sampling of the work done around the country. (Click on images to enlarge)

Orlando Sentinel

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The Orlando Sentinel changed the format of their Monday paper, devoting the entire 10-page A section to shooting coverage. They chose to run a moving editorial on the community’s path to healing on the front page instead of a more traditional breaking news cover, which runs inside on A3. Managing Editor John Cutter explains the decision here. The Orlando Sentinel followed up on Tuesday a compelling lead image from a local vigil.

Monday’s inside pages:

 

Online, the Orlando Sentinel has devoted a landing page to hold their extensive coverage, including video, photo galleries and stories.

 

Tampa Bay Times

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The Tampa Bay Times led their Monday and Tuesday A-sections with coverage of the shootings, devoting the cover and 8 inside pages to content on Monday and the cover and 6 inside pages on Tuesday. Discussing the Monday cover,  designer Jennifer Wright said: “We wanted to focus on the breaking news and the enormity of the event. … It’s a straight-forward, traditional presentation, but the use of red display type and a one-story start is a departure from our norm.”

Monday’s inside pages:

 

Villages Daily Sun

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The Villages Daily Sun in Florida devoted its front and 7 inside pages to coverage, which included a live, detailed floor plan graphic of the nightclub on page 2.

New York Times

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In addition to their print coverage, the New York Times updated their “How They Got Their Guns” project with information from Sunday’s shooting.

NY Times

Washington Post

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The Washington Post coverage included 6 open pages on Monday and 10 inside pages on Tuesday in the A section, in addition to accompanying reaction pieces in other sections. Online, they published a graphic breakdown of what happened in the attack and updated their ongoing project “The math of mass shootings” to reflect information from Sunday’s shooting.

Wall Street Journal

WSJ victims

The Wall Street Journal published a moving tribute with vignettes profiling the shooting victims and has continued to update their graphic detailing how the tragedy unfolded as new information becomes available.

Los Angeles Times

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Monday’s inside pages:

 

Chicago Tribune

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The Chicago Tribune dedicated it’s Monday cover and 5 inside pages to coverage, including the ones below.

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Minneapolis Star-Tribune

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Monday’s inside pages:

 

The Oregonian

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Vox

Vox

Vox has updated their database tracking mass shootings.

San Francisco Chronicle

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SFChron061316_orlando pages 2    SFChron061316_orlando pages 3

Arizona Republic

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RedEye

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Share your Orlando pages or digital project links with SND.org editor Courtney Kan.