The dramatic accident photo on Page 8 of Tuesday's Toronto Sun, snapped by award-winning photo vet Dave Thomas, took us back to the years when it would automatically have been front page material.
Back to the years when the Sun's crack team of photographers hustled with a spirit of pride to get their spot news photos on the front page.
Back to the years when front page editors knew more papers were sold with an eye-catching accident, fire or police takedown than any photo of a politician.
Reader surveys supported the argument that passive front pages don't sell papers and handed exclusive spot news photos almost daily, editors like Les Pyette, Peter Brewster, Mike Burke-Gaffney, Ed Monteith et al worked their magic.
Today's inconsistent front page editors, in most instances and for whatever reason, have lost that front page tabloid magic and because of that, photographers have no doubt lost their competitive edge.
It appears the pols have too much say in the makeup of the Sun these days. Need we count the number of times front pages have been politically slanted or lampoonish in the past year?
We empathize with Sun photo vets who remember when fronts were theirs for the taking.
But they'll always have the glory years to remember.
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