Book Of Obama Front Pages Will Benefit Poynter

By: Joe Strupp Barack Obama's historic election, and the newspapers that covered it, are the basis of a new book that will include some 70 reprinted front pages that reported the Election Day triumph, and will raise money for the Poynter Institute.

"President Obama Election 2008: A Collection of Newspaper Front Pages Selected by The Poynter Institute" is set to go on sale later this month from Andrews McMeel Publishing for $14.99 in paperback and $24.99 in a limited-edition hardcover.

"Hours after Barack Obama's momentous declaration that 'Change has come to America,' scores of people rushed to newsstands hoping for a piece of history," an announcement of the book stated. "Front pages from all corners of the globe captured one of the most significant electoral events in the nation's history, and although readers already knew the news, they clamored to 'read all about it.'"

Several newspapers had to double and triple their press runs on Nov. 5 to meet the demand for papers. "To date, millions of copies have been sold and are still selling briskly through newspapers and on eBay," the announcement added.

The book, which includes an introduction by Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau, offers Page One images from: the Anchorage Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, The New York Times, Rocky Mountain News, St. Petersburg Times, Staten Island Advance, The Boston Globe, The (Raleigh) News & Observer, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and even The Jakarta Post, The Daily Nation of Nairobi, and the Yale Daily News.

"Andrews McMeel Publishing is uniquely suited to produce this important record of events with The Poynter Institute," Hugh T. Andrews, president of AMP, said in a statement. "AMP's affiliate companies, including Universal Press Syndicate (UPS) and uclick, are deeply immersed in the newspaper industry, and we are very pleased that this book will support this medium and the talent represented by it."