Stupendous, just the kind of community connection you hope for in your local newsppaer. Applause, applause for Heidi and the ST crew!

Agreeing with Bonita. What a wonderful addition to the frontpage. Perhaps not all THAT useful - but still a nice touch.

Great, great call editorially although I'm sure the more talented designers reading this site (of which I am not counted among) would have suggested something a little more graphically intriguing. I would have suggested something cheesy and obvious, like an homage to airplane emergency placards or '60s era nuclear evacuation plans (Resusci-Annie would be taking it too far though...even cheese has its limits).

Either way, it makes no difference: this looks great in a newsrack.

I could have seen more graphs as well, but still a good editorial call, esp. since many were without electricity.

The reason I love this is that it doesn't have any bells and whistles, it isn't heavily designed. The message it sends is very raw, very immediate — almost desperate. It says, "We don't have time to be cute. Read this." I love it.

Mary, I completely agree. I'm a graphic artist and I don't see any need for graphic representation here. Seeing the large, red type in several foreign languages is beautiful by itself. A graphic treatment sould have been distracting.

That is awesome - I've ALWAYS thought that more papers should do things just like this. Push the boundary. HELP people. And not just English-speakers. But how did they decide which languages to choose from? Just the top other languages from the 2000 census?

May I disagree? This is the kind of thing newspapers love to do and then give themselves a big pat on the back. "Aren't we so wonderful?" they say. "Here we did this great community service."

BUT: Did this particular message really do any good? People who don't speak English probably don't look at the paper. It's doubtful they even look at it in the rack. Immigrants who don't speak English can be very isolated. They aren't looking at media that is written in what is, to them, a foreign language. Would they even have seen this? I wonder.

What would have been better, I think, is if the Seattle Times had printed this message in letter-sized fliers that could be distributed in the paper AND handed out in immigrant communities. Now THAT would have been a real community service and probably much more effective.

Big_Grump, flyers would have been a good addition, but you have to get geared up for that — as far as production and distribution, I don't think newspapers are necessarily set up to do that kind of thing at the drop of a hat.

As to whether foreign-language-speakers would notice it, I would think this has a great chance to get noticed — all you have to do is walk past it in a newsstand or see it on a rack, and the red cyrillic headline would jump out at you. That's why it had to be at the top of the front page. If it were inside, or below the fold, then it really would be useless.

Hi everyone,

Thanks very much for your kind words, and your interest. I can tell you that Assistant Metro Editor Ian Ith worked with a local agency, Public Health - Seattle & King County - on the languages and translations. These were the languages the county was using to try and communicate with residents because they were the most commonly spoken and represented the highest-risk people. This was very much a collaboration with the county, which worked with us to get the word out and make sure the message was heard - in fliers they had made, in the paper and online. Did our work make a difference? Here's what Dorothy Teeter, interim director of the agency, had to say the day it ran:

"On behalf of Public Health Seattle & King County, and on behalf of the residents of King County, I want to personally express my deep appreciation for the top of the Seattle Times front page dedication to warnings about carbon monoxide poisoning. You can be assured that your support during this time has helped prevent tragedy. I know that your staff are proud of your commitment and leadership, and we feel very fortunate to have you as a public health partner. During this season of light, you have helped with a gift of health."

As for the design, we were 100 percent driven by a desire to make the languages visible, all of them above the fold. Our focus was on making sure that people who might just happen by a rack or a box recognize their language and read the message. Any additional decoration would have distracted from the mission. I can say, because as is often the case I was merely an observer in this project, that I am delighted with how it turned out. It achieves the goal and communicates quickly. And despite some others' understandable skepticism, I am convinced that it did some good. Assistant Art Director Denise Clifton did a masterful job of pulling it together, making it cohesive and clear. It is elegant.

Incidentally, a PDF of the translations is available in letter-sized form on our web site, and the county is driving people there to print it out and share it.