Sunday, June 18, 2006; B06
Coverage of Zarqawi's death is a good example of how newspapers struggle to make fresh a story readers know about from radio, TV and the Internet for a day before they see it in The Post. After much discussion, editors decided to use a story that didn't take the usual "first-day" approach. The story by Baghdad Bureau Chief Ellen Knickmeyer was topped by a two-column headline: "After Zarqawi, No Clear Path in Weary Iraq."
Readers seemed to miss the accompanying Page 1 story by Jon Finer, which told how U.S. forces found and killed Zarqawi. The second sentence in Knickmeyer's story and the third sentence in Finer's affirmed the event's importance. "A long-sought victory for President Bush, the U.S.-led military forces and their Iraqi allies, Zarqawi's death was the most significant public triumph since the capture of former president Saddam Hussein in late 2003," said Finer's report.
Some Post staffers also preferred a traditional approach with a bigger display. Vince Rinehart, copy desk chief of the editorial pages, said, "I like to hold history in my hands, and it was irritating to see it treated as old news."