Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Hillary Clinton just won a presidential nomination. These newspapers ran front-page photos of her husband.

Fusion’s Kelsey McKinney noticed something important about today’s newspapers that heralded the historic moment of a woman winning a presidential nomination. A lot of them used a picture not of Hillary — but her husband.

Of course it’s true that Hillary Clinton only addressed the DNC briefly through a video Tuesday night. And, having worked in a number of newsrooms, my guess is the editors at these papers wanted to grab a newsy photo from something that happened at the Democratic National Convention last night. That newsy photo ended up, in a lot of cases, to be of Bill Clinton.

The Sacramento Bee, Houston Chronicle, and the Buffalo News all featured front pages of Bill Clinton Wednesday morning.

But it didn’t have to be.

The New York Times, for example, used an emotional photo of Hillary supporters celebrating her nomination.

The Chicago Sun-Times featured a historical photo of the nominee.

And other papers decided to use a photo of Clinton from a few days ago. This is the front page of the Los Angeles Daily News.

While others did, in fact, showcase Hillary Clinton onscreen, like USA Today.

In some cases, as Wall Street Journal reporter Byron Tau pointed out on Twitter, papers, like his, put out a late edition with an image of Hillary Clinton addressing the DNC on a video screen, replacing their early edition with an image featuring Bill Clinton.

Nonetheless, Clinton did something remarkable last night — she became the first woman to win a major political party’s presidential nomination. Certainly that should be enough of an accomplishment to get her face on the front page of more of the country’s daily newspapers. Apparently, it isn’t.


Hillary Clinton video message on breaking glass ceilings

The Sacramento Bee, Houston Chronicle, and the Buffalo News all featured front pages of Bill Clinton Wednesday morning.

More in Politics

The Logoff
Trump’s DOJ wants to undo January 6 convictionsTrump’s DOJ wants to undo January 6 convictions
The Logoff

How the Trump administration is still trying to rewrite January 6 history.

By Cameron Peters
Politics
Donald Trump messed with the wrong popeDonald Trump messed with the wrong pope
Politics

Trump fought with Pope Francis before. He’s finding Pope Leo XIV to be a tougher foil.

By Christian Paz
Podcasts
A cautionary tale about tax cutsA cautionary tale about tax cuts
Podcast
Podcasts

California cut property taxes in the 1970s. It didn’t go so well.

By Miles Bryan and Noel King
Podcasts
Obama’s top Iran negotiator on Trump’s screwupsObama’s top Iran negotiator on Trump’s screwups
Podcast
Podcasts

Wendy Sherman helped Obama reach a deal with Iran. Here’s what she thinks Trump is doing wrong.

By Kelli Wessinger and Noel King
Politics
The Supreme Court could legalize moonshine, and ruin everything elseThe Supreme Court could legalize moonshine, and ruin everything else
Politics

McNutt v. DOJ could allow the justices to seize tremendous power over the US economy.

By Ian Millhiser
The Logoff
The new Hormuz blockade, briefly explainedThe new Hormuz blockade, briefly explained
The Logoff

Trump tries Iran’s playbook.

By Cameron Peters