Newspapers used to have specialists in writing headlines...some of that was technical...the words were limited by the font size and the number of columns dedicated to the story (or something like that...can you tell my newspaper experience is limited? Was it picas?)...and the words had to both tell readers what the story was about and convince them to read it too.
Headline writers were important, because headlines sold newspapers. When President Gerald Ford refused to help the nearly bankrupt New York City, the Daily News Headline the next day was:
Headline writers were important, because headlines sold newspapers. When President Gerald Ford refused to help the nearly bankrupt New York City, the Daily News Headline the next day was:
The headline writer there didn't have to worry about size, and that front page sold a lot of papers!
As newspaper machine sales gradually disappear, perhaps the value of headlines will slink away too?
Online headlines just don't seem the same, though I must admit this one on http://www.al,com/ earlier today caught my attention:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. plans to share a beer with his mom on Mother's Day
Now we'll just have to find a headline writer to make it fit on this blog page.
[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.]
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