Middle East Erupts

When Israel’s Iron Dome defence system was bombarded with Iranian missiles one day in early October, the world held its breath.

Around 180 Tehran-ordered missiles and Israeli interceptor rockets, fired to bring down as much of Iran’s deadly payload as possible, lit up the night sky. Across the globe there were calls for calm as presidents and prime ministers gave voice to fears that this might be the moment the crisis in the Middle East spiralled out of control.

And in the news room of The Times, urgent telephone conversations were conducted with correspondents in the region, to ensure that they were safe.

They all were, and it fell to the globally respected Richard Spencer to relay what was happening to our readers, initially via The Times digital platforms but ultimately on the front page of the following day’s newspaper.

Richard’s copy rejected hyperbole and cliche, dealing only in the facts as we knew them and reporting all the relevant responses. His report was accompanied by a stunning full-width picture of the Iron Dome intercepting the missiles above the apartments of Tel Aviv, as well as a secondary image of a gunman and his accomplice attacking people indiscriminately on the streets of a southern suburb.

We chose to remove all front-page promotion of the newspaper’s contents that day to allow our presentation to deliver maximum effect. The one-deck banner headline was uncomplicated and attention-grabbing without any hint of hysteria, and the design of the page overall allowed its visual elements to work every bit as well as Spencer’s dispatch.

When brilliant reporters and photographers are reporting the business of war, best let them do it objectively and clearly. We believe our front page did that, and was no less dramatic for the effort.