Bad edit at Belfast Telegraph shows holiday ad next to sunk ship

Belfast - Members of Belfast Telegraph staff undoubtedly had red faces when hundreds of copies of the newspaper hit the shops with a front page displaying an advert for a competition to win a dream holiday above a picture of the stricken ship, Costa Concordia.

Doubtless the front page of the Belfast Telegraph had already been mapped out using a template, with the newspaper name, the date, the price at the top etc. and, of course, that all important banner advert which, for Monday January 16, 2012, was destined to display details of a competition that was being held with the title “Win a Dream Holiday.” All that needed to be added was the day’s leading news once it had been selected. It seems editorial staff failed to notice that screaming red-lettered competition banner when the fateful decision was made to run a piece about the Costa Concordia, entitled “Hunt for survivors goes on as death toll rises on stricken liner” as the main front-page story. The result is a totally inappropriate juxtaposition of a tragic sinking of a cruise ship next to an advert encouraging people to “see P7” for details on how to win a dream holiday and choose from six fabulous breaks. It would be interesting to know if the number of entries for the competition were affected as a result of this unfortunate editorial blooper.