When news broke that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by U.S. forces, most papers were on deadline. Some front pages already had been finished, prompting a quick fix to get in the news. Below are sampling of GateHouse papers that show various levels of front-page coverage. I'll start with front pages that use a comparatively low volume for the Bin Laden news. So as we go through the pages, note how the presentation changes to add impact to the story. ok, let's get started.

The Bulletin out of Norwich, Conn., publishes two zoned editions. The South edition got the Bin Laden story up top in a small but all-capped headline. Promotion to coverage online is a great way to handle late-breaking news that would be next to impossible to get in print.

Next we have the Hillsdale (Mich.) Daily News. The Bin Laden story gets bigger play in the strip position. The front page doesn't deviate from its normal format, keeping the impact at an everyday volume.

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The Holland (Mich.) Sentinel had to rework its front page. The first of the pages below shows the "before" page.

Once news broke, the bottom story was moved off the front and the strip story moved down. Note that nothing changed in the "Holy motion" story. It simply was moved to the bottom of the page to make room for the Bin Laden story. I regularly encourage papers to stay away from the ladder effect - three horizontal package on top of one another - but this is perhaps what made the change look so easy.

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Out east, The Milford Daily News put the story in a 2-column lede position. The headline not a heckuva lot bigger than a usual day.

Up the road, The MetroWest Daily News stripped the story across the top for more effective impact. The headline, though, didn't need the extra words "says president" for the same reason as "Crash kills local man in Ashland" doesn't need "police say."

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The Bulletin's Northeast edition also stripped the story across the top and included a mug and an online promotion. Much more impact than the previous edition.

The Taunton Daily Gazette, too, stripped the story, used a big 1-column portrat and included an online promotion. The big, all-caps headline is short and to the point and has a lot of impact. Can you imagine how much more powerful that headline/story could have if the rail was moved down to accommodate a 6-column package?

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No rail on the front of The State Journal-Register allows for a more dominant presentation than the Taunton page above. Big portrait of Bin Laden, online promo and a mug of President Barack Obama. Note, too, the skybox items were nixed to make way for a bigger package. Good call!

The Daily Republican chose to reduce its rail for nice top-of-page presentation that includes mugs of Bin Laden and Obama, as well as a shot of Americans celebrating the news outside the gates of the White House in D.C. Dropping the rail here gave a tremendous amount of additional space for this big story.

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The Register Star didn't drop the rail at left for the news - it's the rail on the right that took a hit, and rightfully so for this big story. Also gone are the content promotions that line the bottom of the front. The size of the headline amplifies the two words.

The Herald News stripped the story and gave it a strong head and cranked up the volume. Tightly cropped photo and online promotion round out the package.

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Next up is the Daily Messenger. The left rail remains intact, but notice how the story occupies the entire news hole. The extra space, naturally, affords a greater depth of content out front. Larger photos are used. More mugs can be seen. Additional promotions are in place. Nice.

The Evening Tribune in Hornell, N.Y., really cranked up the front page. The background flag seems a bit much, but I do like the size of the main head and the number of components in the package. Getting local names and faces reacting to the news big deal. Wow. This is the first of our papers to include an image of the compound where the raid on Bin Laden took place.

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The Repository headline is so large, it needed two decks. Big and bold. The position of the photos makes for an odd space for the secondary headline. Online refer alerts readers to keep checking the paper's website for updates throughout the day.

The Daily Telegram based in Adrian, Mich., goes big with the Bin Laden news, stretching it across six column and taking up the majority of the news hole. The 4 1/2-column, 2-deck headline has a lot of impact next to Bin Laden's portrait. Big photo of American in D.C., as well as a more local photo of Arab Americans celebrating his death in Dearborn, Mich.

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The Patriot Ledger is set up to automatically send pdfs to frontpages@gatehousemedia.com, which is how this unfinished page got here. What's nice is that it shows how the page evolved to its latest rendition (scroll down)

The final page shows the headline changed to "Justice" and a more current photo of Bin Laden replaced the earlier one with the darker beard. You can also see how the three main topics were fine-tuned. Not completely sold on the black background, though.

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"GOT HIM!" certainly grabs attention, but the exclamation mark isn't needed at that point size. Bin Laden's eyes look straight at the reader, making it hard to look away. Healthy list content promotions add to the scope.

The Observer-Dispatch devotes the entire page to Bin Laden's demise, except for the single skybox item. The space for said item was reduced to maximize room for this big package. The layered headlines, which I think are a bit to close to the nameplate, add to the importance of the event. Maybe a label of some kind could have helped separate the elements a little more.

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And finally, we end with the Journal Star. The largest headline above the largest Bin Laden photo give this page huge impact. Gone are the normally deep and colorful skyboxes to give space back to the centerpiece. Stories down each side frame the picture nicely. Four content promotions lead readers inside.

All are great pages that show how emphasis increases with headline sizes, package size and placement, as well as content.

Which one is your favorite? Drop me a line and tell me why.