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by Gill Moodie (@GrubstreetSA) It’s the same splash today – the sensational Oscar Pistorius shooting – so it’s really interesting to see which South African newspapers came up trumps in the design and headline department in our daily round-up of front pages.

I’d say that Die Burger and Beeld come up tops in design.

Nice balance on Beeld’s front page and that pic of Reeva Steenkamp is not one I’ve seen before But I love the way Die Burger has played the hooded and bowed Oscar so prominently… inviting us in to wonder what is going on in this man’s mind. Wonderful and intriguing.

Everyone else is OK but nothing special although The Herald went absolutely the right route for their readers by focusing on Steenkamp, who comes from Port Elizabeth and whose parents live there. I fancy they could have done a bit more with the design, considering the local angle.

Then in terms of headlines, I really like Volksblad’s “Wat het gebeur?”, Beeld’s “Dood agter deur” and Die Burger’s “Vier skote later…”

All very simple and very bold… and they tell the story and they touch a nerve.

I can’t stand the twee-ness going on in the English papers: “Deadly Valentine” at both The Star and The Mercury is so predictable – as is the Daily Dispatch’s “Bloody Valentine”. The Times’ “Oscar’s darkest day” is not much better.

Darkest day? D’ya think? Honestly, mense! Have you totally run out of ideas?

- SA’s leading media commentator, Gill Moodie, offers intelligence on media – old and new. Reprinted from her site Grubstreet.

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