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Abstract
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced his candidacy at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville on April 7, 2015, becoming the second major Republican candidate  to formally enter the race.  A review of front pages of the nation's largest newspapers on April 8 provides an indicator of the importance editors accorded to the story.  Findings are compared with front-page coverage of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)'s March 23 announcement.

Methodology
Front pages of over sixty of the top newspapers from March 24, 2015 were reviewed for coverage of Cruz's announcement.  The list of top papers came from BurrellesLuce "Top Media Outlets."  The source of the front pages was the Newseum's "Today's Front Pages."

The front pages were examined for four main elements.  a) Teasers, which are usually just a few words or sentence or two pointing the reader to the actual article on an inside page, are the minumum.  They can vary considerably, however; some of them stand out with a big font size and bold typeface and others are very inconspicuous.  b) Thumbnail photos are tightly cropped headshots that give no context and often are not even credited.  c) Articles range from a single column to multiple columns.  d) Feature photos show the announcement event.  Combining text and an image multiplies the impact.  Finally if the article or photo appears above the fold that is also considered to add impact.  Reporters, headlines, photographers and image descriptions were noted.

A quantitative analysis of each paper's coverage would have been very useful, but was not possible due to time constraints.  This could have been accomplished by measuring the images of each front page on the computer screen and working out the proportion of space devoted to announcement coverage to total front page space. 

Tabloid papers are not considered in this review; additionally a couple of other papers were missed.

Newspaper
 Teaser
 Thumb Photo
 Article
 Feature
Photo
 Above the fold
 Reporter
 Headline
USA Today

 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
The Wall Street Journal

 -
 -
 x
 -
 x Janet Hook
 "Paul Jabs At GOP To Make 2016 Case"
The New York Times

 -
 -
 x
 x
 x
 Jeremy W. Peters
 "Paul Is Taking Untested Route To Nomination"
Los Angeles Times
 -
 -
 x
 x
 -
 Seema Mehta
 "Too different for GOP?"
News Analysis
New York Post






San Jose Mercury News

 x
 -
 -
 x
 x
 -
 -
Daily News (NY)






Chicago Tribune

 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page -- all mayoral election
Newsday (NY)






The Washington Post
 -
 -
 x
 x
 x
 Katie Zezima and Robert Costa
 "Paul aims to disrupt field"








Chicago Sun-Times






The Dallas Morning News

 x
 -
 -
 x
 x
 -
 -
The Denver Post
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page -- Jeb Bush, in town, did get a teaser, photo
Daily News (CA)

 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
The Orange County Register (CA)
 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
Houston Chronicle
 -
 -
 x
 x
 -
 David Knowles/
Bloomberg News
 "Paul's first challenge in campaign: Defeat Cruz"
The Philadelphia Inquirer
 -
 x
 x
 -
 -
 Katie Zezima and Robert Costa/Washington Post
 "Paul's kickoff takes aim at the entrenched"
Star Tribune (MN)
 -
 -
 x
 x
 -
 Jeremy W. Peters/
New York Times
 "Rand Paul Takes Road Less Traveled"
Tampa Bay Times

 x
 -
 -
 x
 x
 -
 -
The Star-Ledger (NJ)

 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page --








Honolulu Star-Advertiser
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page --
The Boston Globe

 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 - (teaser almost lost below Walker photo, article)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
The Arizona Republic

 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page --
The Seattle Times






Las Vegas Review-Journal

 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page --
The Oregonian

 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page --
The San Diego Union-Tribune
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page --
The Plain Dealer (OH)

 x
 -
 -
 x
 -
 -
 -
San Francisco Chronicle

 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -  (barely; teaser is small)








Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

 -
 -
 x
 x
 -
 The Washington Post
 "Paul steams into 2016 race"
Pioneer Press (MN)
 -
 -
 x
 -
 -
 Katie Zezima and Robert Costa/Washington Post "Rand Paul in 2016? He makes presidential bid official"
Detroit Free Press

 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page --
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
The Sacramento Bee
 -
 -
 x
 x
 -
 Seema Mehta/
Los Angeles Times
 "Paul joins 2016 race with hybrid Republican image" Analysis
The Tampa Tribune

 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
Star-Telegram (TX)

 -
 x
 x
 -
 -
 Katie Zezima and Robert Costa/The Washington Post "Rand Paul announces presidential campaign"
Kansas City Star

 x
 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
El Nuevo Dia (PR)







St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -  (barely; teaser small)








The Salt Lake Tribune
 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
Investor's Bus. Daily
 ?




?
The Baltimore Sun
 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 x
 -
 -
 x
 -
 -
 -
Orlando Sentinel

 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page --
Sun-Sentinel (FL)
 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
The Record (NJ)
 x
 x
 -
 -

 x
 -
 -
The Indianapolis Star

 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 - (teaser USA Today)
Ark. Democrat-Gazette
 -
 -
 x
 x
 -
 Compiled by Democrat-Gazette Staff from Wire Reports
 "Paul embarks on campaign for White House"
The Buffalo News
 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -








The Columbus Dispatch (OH)
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page --
Austin American-Statesman
 -
 x
 x
 -
 x
 Philip Elliot and Adam Beam/Associated Press
 "Rand Paul launches quest for president"
Also small sidebar: "Rand Paul's Texas Connections"
San Antonio Express-News

 x
 -
 -
 x
 -
 - -
The Miami Herald
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page --
Charlotte Observer
 x
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
Omaha World-Herald
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -- did not make the front page --
The Courier-Journal (KY)
 -
 -
 x
 x

 x
 Joseph Gerth
 VERY BIG: IT'S OFFICIAL
"Sen. Paul kicks off presidential campaign, says his message is 'loud and clear''
    
Most prominent Pittsburgh Tribune-Review-although below the fold, is a 3-col. article with a big headline and 2-col. photo.

Prominent coverage
in the Louisville
Courier-Journal.

Results
The final sample includes 50 papers. 

- The announcement did not make the front page:
Cruz: 17 papers (34-percent)
Paul: 13 papers (26-percent)

- Teaser with no photo:
Cruz: 9 papers (18-percent)
Paul: 15 papers (30-percent)

- Front-page article on the announcement:
Cruz: 18 papers (36-percent)
Paul: 14 papers (28 percent)

- Front page article and acompanying feature photo:
Cruz: 14 of the 18 papers (28-percent)
Paul: 9 of the 14 papers (18 percent)

Discussion
Like Cruz, Paul was seen as a major candidate; recent polls show his support among Republicans in the 6- to 9-percent range.

Although Paul's announcement made the front page in more papers than Cruz, 37 compared to 33, the Paul front-page appearances include more simple teasers, some of which were not too noticeable.  Based on this limited sample, Cruz appeared to fare somewhat better in terms of front page coverage. 

First, the sample is a bit skewed, including five Texas papers, but only one Kentucky paper.  Texas papers gave Cruz, as the homestate Senator, ample coverage.  From Kentucky. the sample only includes the Louisville Courier-Journal, which did give very prominent coverage to Paul's announcement.  (A couple of other papers provided fairly generous front-page coverage of Paull's announcement: the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (a 3-col. article with a big headline and 2-col. photo. although below the fold) and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette).

Second, Cruz being the first candidate to enter could have given that story a boost. 

Third, while there was no dominant story coinciding with the Cruz announcement, in the April 8 morning papers the murder of a black man in a traffic stop in North Charleston, SC did make many front pages, which could have had the effect of relegating Paul coverage to the inside of the paper.

1. Monmouth University Poll. March 30-April 2, 2015. N=355 registered voters nationwide who are Republicans or lean Republican. Margin of error ± 5.2. Fox News Poll conducted by Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R). March 29-31, 2015. N=379 likely Republican primary voters nationwide. PollingReport.com.

    B. Photo Coverage
Newspaper
 Size
 Photo
 Description   W  MW  M  MCU  CU  ECU
The New York Times one-column
 William DeShazer for the New York Times
 CU of Rand Paul button, flag on supporter's lapel.
Los Angeles Times two-column
 Carolyn Kaster
Associated Press
 M of Paul waving; and several people waving small flags.
San Jose Mercury News
 smalll-a bit less than 1-col.; v. prominent top right corner
 no credit
 MCU of Paul speaking, right hand and index finger raised.
The Washington Post
 one-column, squarish
 Daniel Acker/
Bloomberg News
 M of Paul speaking, mouth open, right hand and index finger raised; on the podium in front and banner behind "Defeat the Washington...Unleash the Amer..."  Looking up as if photo is in the crowd.
The Dallas Morning News
 one-column
 no credit
 M, tight crop, Paul waving.
Houston Chronicle
 2 1/2-column
 Carolyn Kaster/
Associated Press 		M of Paul waving; also a few other people partial, cameras, and "Unleash the American Dream" sign.
Star Tribune
 two-column, below the fold
 Carolyn Kaster/
Associated Press 		M of Paul waving; and several people waving small flags (diff. than LAT shot).
Tampa Bay Times
 one-column, top left corner no credit
 MCU head and shoulders.
The Plain Dealer (OH)
 two-column in lower corner
 Carolyn Kaster/
Associated Press 		M of Paul speaking, mouth open, right hand and index finger raised; on the podium in front is slogan; behind are four large flags and some faces.  Head on; very likely taken from riser.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
 two-column photo right in the center
 Reuters
 MW of Paul thanking his wife Kelley after her intro of him.  The both have their arms outstretched.  Crowd of people behind them not too visible.
The Sacramento Bee
 one-column
 Carolyn Kaster/
The Associated Press		 M of Paul behind podium with slogan.  He is waving.  There is a blurry "Stand with Rand" sign in the foreground.  Four flags and people in the background.
Pittsubrgh Post-Gazette
 small; less than 1 col.
 no credit
 CU tight horizontal crop of Paul speaking stripes from one of the flags behind him.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
 three column
 AP/Carolyn Kaster
 M of Paul behind podium with slogan.  He is waving.  There is a blurry "Stand with Rand" sign in the foreground, and a guy in a striped shirt, arms raised, cheering, is very prominent.  Six flags and people in the background.  ...This is the full frame of the cropped image run by the Sac. Bee.
San-Antonio Express-News
 one-column plus a bit
 Carolyn Kaster/
Associated Press
 M shot of Paul speaking, arms outstretched; black background.  No context.
The Courier-Journal
 full five-columns
 Michael Clevenger/
The Courier Journal
 W shot of Paul at podium with slogan.  He is waving.  In the foreground are three blurry "Unleash the American Dream" signs.  In the background are six flags, and people are behind him and to the left.

Results
- Front-page feature photo / front-page thumbnail headshot:
Cruz: 18 papers / 2 papers
Paul: 15 papers / 5 papers
Five thumbnail headshots: The Philadelphia Inquirer, Star-Telegram (TX), Kansas City Star,
The Record (NJ), Austin American-Statesman.
- Credited photos from The Associated Press:
Cruz: 8 of 15
Paul: 7 of 11

Discussion
Cruz fared better than Paul in terms of feature photos run on front pages, quite possibly because his launch generated stronger, more memorable images that would have appealed to editors.  Cruz was speaking from a stage in the round surrounded by a very large audience, whereas Paul was positioned behind a standard podium with a sign on it speaking in a hotel ballroom.  Paul's announcement did not produce images to match the Cruz family shot with the two daughters in their red dresses holding American flags.
Indeed Paul's announcement did not produce any dominant images; it is kind of a mish-mash.  One photo that stood out a bit was the Reuters image of Paul thanking his wife Kelly after her introduction; her blue dress adds a dash of color; however that was only noted on one front page.

The dominance of AP photos was even more one-sided for Paul than for Cruz.  Possibly the proximity of Cruz's to Washington, DC may have encouraged more photogs to make the trek to that event.  

Conclusion
This front-page survey presents a very narrow, superficial analysis
It will be interesting to see if coverage of subsequent candidate announcements follows the patterns observed above.  Looking ahead one guesses that Rubio may do fairly well as the sample includes five Florida papers.