At HuffPost Canada, we take great pride in our home page, and one part that gets special attention is that giant headline and photo right at the top.
The splash is the hallmark of our front page. It's big, it's bold, and it makes a statement. Sometimes it features the biggest news of the day, and sometimes it showcases a story we think people will be talking about.
Hopefully, the splash makes you laugh (sometimes), makes you think (often), and makes you better informed (always).
We do several splashes every day, but we managed to narrow it down to our favourites. Here are our top splash picks from 2018, in order of appearance:
Jan. 2:
In this splashed story, female MPs spoke to the Canadian Press in the wake of the #MeToo movement about the inappropriate behaviour they faced both on and off Parliament Hill.
Jan. 8:
We love a good pun (as you'll see throughout this list). Remember the Loblaws bread price-fixing scheme?
Feb. 7:
Sometimes, we'll change the headline during the day, leaving us with two awesome options. We had a hard time deciding between these two.
Feb. 8
Sometimes the dad parent jokes write themselves. In this story, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted an off-the-cuff remark he made an Edmonton town hall didn't go so well, in hindsight.
Mar. 6:
This year, we launched our politics video series Backbenchers, featuring Senior Politics Editor Ryan Maloney and News Editor Mohamed Omar. If you haven't seen it yet, you should.
Mar. 7:
When he presents you with research about how transitioning off fossil fuels could save billions of dollars in health-care costs and prevent thousands of air pollution deaths, it's hard to argue with Bill Nye the Science Guy, who called Fort McMurray, Alta. "an amazing place in the most troubling way."
Apr. 24
April was a dark month for Canada's biggest city. Hundreds gathered to honour the 10 people killed and 16 people wounded in a van rampage at the corner of Toronto's Yonge Street and Finch Avenue. The photos spoke for themselves in this one.
June 7:
The political tides shifted in Ontario in June, when the Progressive Conservatives ended over a decade of Liberal rule and Doug Ford became premier.
June 13:
This one was extra cheesy, but the chapter from the MP Maxime Bernier's book was about dairy supply management.
June 20:
This was the day Canada got a save-the-date for weed legalization. As you can probably imagine, marijuana really lends itself well to a lot of wordplay, which our headline-writers took advantage of all year.
July 17:
There's a fine line between standing up for Canadian values, while also managing to keep a relationship with the president of Canada's largest trading partner.
Aug. 23:
Debate over Sir John A.'s legacy raged this year, and the Scottish government decided it would delete articles about him from its website in light of concerns expressed by Indigenous people in Canada.
Aug. 24:
Sometimes you have to write the headline, and sometimes the headline already exists as the title of a movie.
Sept. 7:
Dairy supply management lent itself to a lot of udderly great puns this year.
Sept. 21:
As part of a series about federal funding announcements, this story looked at a big boost to Atlantic Canada.
Oct 1:
More dairy, more cheese, more trade. Canada's dairy farmers issued a terse statement shortly after the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) was announced.
Oct. 4:
He's got four Olympic medals, but Canadian kayaker Adam van Koeverden could enter the race of his life in 2019, when he'll attempt to win the federal Liberal nomination for Ontario riding of Milton. The seat is currently held by deputy Conservative leader and longtime MP Lisa Raitt.
Oct. 17:
A historic day for Canada called for a splash inspired by our national anthem.