What purpose does the front page serve in a newspaper?

An example of a Chronicle front page

The front page of a newspaper is the first page that the reader sees as a cover. It contains the lead stories, photographs of the day and even the most bizarre news. Apart from setting the tone of the day and creating an appeal for the newspaper, the front page also gives the newspaper its identity. There is a lot of artwork that surrounds the choice of stories to appear on the front page. While bearing in mind that journalism is a business (like any other enterprise), journalists should consider their mediatory role in society. This should remind them to consider ethics in selecting the stories.

As discussed in an earlier post in this blog, in their quest to make staggering sales, journalists should balance their stories, should use pictures that do not cause alarm and resentment from the public. They should include topical issues on the front page and should guard against concentrating on trivial matters at the expense of critical developmental issues. Stories that go deeper into people’s love affairs are better off not being there than to dominate a serious paper. In order to be precise in lead stories, editors should understand world dynamics and the desires of the societies they are operating in.