Analysis highlights diminishing complexity in newspaper front pages since the 20th century, suggesting design trends driven by chain ownership.
Design has played a key role in newspaper front pages in the 20th and 21st centuries. But, as the role of the printed newspaper has all but evaporated, the importance placed on front-page design has seemingly diminished, too. Today’s front pages are marked by templates and sameness defined by chain ownership and lack of complexity. This study concludes the body of research launched by Sandra Utt and Steve Pasternak chronicling the design and content of America’s newspaper front pages.
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Haught et al. (2025) studied this question.
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