Debunking a headline myth

The Buzzfeed site has posted a list of “25 Stupid Newspaper Headlines,” including this one that is supposedly from The News & Observer: “17 REMAIN DEAD IN MORGUE SHOOTING SPREE.”

I believe this is an altered image and that the headline in question never appeared in the Raleigh newspaper. Here’s why:

• The story text is blurry, perhaps intentionally.

• The story text has problems with indents and justifications that are inconsistent with the actual N&O.

• The typeface for the headline is not one that’s been used by the N&O for all-caps headlines.

• As the centerpiece lead, this story would almost certainly have a photograph or other imagery rather than a simple headline and text. This is a gray page that wouldn’t be published in real life.

• A Newsbank search finds only three N&O headlines with the word “morgue” in them from 2000-2006, and none matches this one.

• I worked at the N&O from 1992-1997 and 2001-2005. I don’t recall this front page or this headline, and I think that I would have.

The upshot? Don’t believe everything you see in such lists. Besides, with plenty of real headlines to choose from, there’s no need to use fake ones to get a chuckle.

So where did the fake N&O page come from? A Facebook friend points to the Brunching Shuttlecocks, a defunct comedy website, as the source of this image. If you happen to know more, please add a comment on this post.

UPDATE: This PDF of the front page of the N&O from Sept. 7, 2001, appears to be the one that was altered. Note the differences in the actual centerpiece.

FURTHER UPDATE

In December 2012, Lore Sjoberg contacted me via Twitter, saying that he had written this headline. Sjoberg, a humor writer for Wired magazine, then agreed to answer a few questions via email about the altered N&O page:

Q. Where was the mock headline originally published, and in what context?

A. The image was originally created by me and published on The Brunching Shuttlecocks, the humor site I edited and co-created, in 2001. It was  part of a series I called “Untitled,” which were just random image jokes:
http://brunching.com/untitled-datearchive.html

Q. How did you pick the Raleigh paper to use for this joke?

A. I was living in Durham at the time, and the paper was around the house. Sorry, The News & Observer!

Q. Has it surprised you that the headline has been passed around as real and for as long as it has?

A. Yes and no. I’m not surprised it’s been passed around, but I am surprised it became as popular, so to speak, as it did. I didn’t realize  it until today when I clicked on a link to the Freakonomics site that I realized it had any currency. I do have to say I’m a little starstruck that George Takei posted it, even if he did so under a false understanding.

Thanks to the Park Library for assistance with this post. 

Mitt Romney, headline writer

The upcoming Michigan primary has put Mitt Romney in an awkward position. Conventional wisdom says that the GOP candidate for president should do well in his home state, but he trails Rick Santorum in the polls there.

Part of the reason for Romney’s struggles in Michigan could be traced to this column that he wrote for The New York Times in November 2008. The topic was the auto industry’s struggles. In the op-ed piece, Romney argued against a federal bailout for Chrysler, GM and Ford, proposing a “managed bankruptcy” instead.

The headline on the column read: “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” The accompanying illustration showed a recycling bin containing the logos of the automakers. Romney, of course, didn’t write the headline or create the artwork. Journalists at the Times did.

Mitt Romney, GOP candidate for president

The column’s headline evokes another memorable one from the tabloid press of the 1970s: “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” Each headline implies a lack of sympathy, if not outright callousness.

In addition, “Detroit” is journalistic and political shorthand for the U.S. auto industry, but the casual reader could interpret the New York Times headline to mean that Romney is referring to the entire city.

So now, more than three years later and with the auto industry on the rebound, Romney is being questioned about his opposition to the bailout. And it’s the headline, not the column’s content, that shapes the discussion.

Romney probably wishes that the copy editor who wrote that headline had chosen different words. Indeed, earlier this week, Romney told the editorial board of the Detroit Free Press that he would have recast the headline this way: “How To Save Detroit.”

It’s interesting to see a presidential candidate talk about headline writing and even suggest rewrites. If Romney’s run for the White House doesn’t work out, perhaps he could seek work as a slot editor at a newspaper.

Matt Groening, journalism and “Life In Hell”

Today is the 58th birthday of Matt Groening, who is probably best known as the creator of “The Simpsons.” Indeed, Groening was recently honored for his TV work with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Although I enjoy “The Simpsons,” I often think first of Groening’s work as a newspaper cartoonist when his name is in the news. His “Life In Hell” comic strip in the 1980s was edgy and snarky at a time when those things were far less common in the media.

As noted in this 1987 profile, Groening began his career as journalist, working as a music critic and editor at the Reader, an alternative weekly in Los Angeles. It was then that he began the “Life In Hell” strip, which on occasion took on journalistic topics and even found humor in the passive voice.

Those comments on the media have continued in Groening’s influence on “The Simpsons.” From the fatuous anchor Kent Brockman to the absurd headlines of the Springfield Shopper, the show has served as a check on journalistic conventions and excesses.

So happy birthday, Matt Groening. Thanks for the laughs. Let’s hope that they continue for years to come — and even afterward.

I’m breaking my silence about speaking out

I’m breaking my silence and speaking out: It’s time for headline writers to rein in the use of those phrases. We can do better.

In these examples from The Huffington Post, why not say what Obama said about waterboarding? A more compelling headline would be “Obama calls waterboarding torture.” And it’s better for SEO.

And what obligation does Gloria Cain have to discuss the allegations of sexual harassment against her husband? None. The “breaks silence” headline indicates that she does and is feeling pressure to do so.

Google News shows us that headlines are filled with these phrases. Wendi Murdoch, for example, is breaking her silence over a pie-throwing incident earlier this year. And Conrad Murray, the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson’s death, is speaking out. And so on.

Sometimes the phrases are being used interchangeably. Depending on the news source, Sharon Bialek either “broke her silence” or “spoke out” when she alleged that Herman Cain acted inappropriately when she asked him for help getting a job.

I’m not advocating a ban on these phrases. But I would suggest using them with caution. They have become shopworn and often obscure the news rather than illuminating it.

Q&A with Lindsay Naylor, editor at Law360

Lindsay Naylor is an editor at Law360, a website that focuses on legal news affecting the corporate world. A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Naylor previously worked as a copy editor and page designer at the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota. In this interview, conducted by email, Naylor talks about her job duties and her transition from print to online media.

Q. Describe your job. What is your typical workday like?

A. I’m one of eight editors on the copy desk. We edit the stories that go up on the company’s website and, most important, into the newsletters that are sent out each morning to the subscribing law firms.

I start work at 1 p.m. Sometimes there are a few emails asking the reporter and me to clarify something in the story we worked on. If the reporter hasn’t addressed it yet, I’ll go in and do it.

After that, I just start grabbing any story that is available in our editing queue. I read through the story first and then spend the bulk of my time on the headline, lede and tags. If I have a question, I’ll send a chat message to the reporter and work with him or her on it.

Sometime in the early evening, I take a dinner break. At 7, my boss counts out how many stories we each have left. By the end of the day, we each do about 15 to 18. Around 8, I look over the four newsletters I’ve been assigned to make sure there are no errors in the headlines and ledes and that the stories are in the correct newsletter. If I get done early, I’ll ask if I can help anyone else with their newsletters, and then I leave by 9.

Q. You’ve moved from a newspaper to a website. What has that transition been like?

A. It’s been mostly good. My job is less stressful now. There are deadlines, but nothing like at a newspaper. No one wants to make mistakes, but it’s nice to know that you can go back in and make changes.

My headline writing has improved a lot because it’s so important on the Web. Also, having to think about what to tag a story as and whether it’s obvious to readers why the story is tagged is a totally new way of thinking for me. Finally, it’s nice to have more job security. Morale is a lot better here because no one is worried about being laid off, we have better benefits, and they feed us lunch on Fridays.

On the other hand, it was exciting to be at a newspaper, especially during big news days. The atmosphere was louder and more interesting, and it was a tight-knit group. Because it was a small paper, I got to make a lot more decisions and had more of a leadership role. I liked the challenge of multitasking and having a lot of different things to do, and it was fun to design pages, which I don’t do now.

Q. You were an intern with the Dow Jones News Fund in 2008. How has that experience affected your career?

A. I stayed at my Dow Jones internship paper in North Dakota for three years. It put me in a place I wouldn’t have likely chosen to go to, but it was somewhere that taught me a lot. I also worked with the Dow Jones interns who came after me, which I enjoyed and gave me the opportunity to teach the things I’d learned.

When I’ve applied for jobs, a lot of employers have said they were impressed to see the Dow Jones internship on my resume. I’ve also kept in touch with some of the interns whom I attended training with. That’s actually how I decided to apply for my current position. One of my Dow Jones friends worked here not too long ago, so I knew some things about the job and was able to ask her questions about it.

Q. What advice do you have to journalism students who want to work at websites like yours?

A. Know AP style. I had to take an editing test before I could even get an interview, so without a good test score, you may not get very far. It was the same for other websites I’ve applied at.

As I mentioned before, headlines are important for the Web, so those skills need to be really solid. Newspapers are good ways to get the experience, even if you don’t want to be at one forever.

I wasn’t required to know anything about the law when I started, but they did ask about my experience editing for the business section, and several co-workers have been business reporters. So, if want to edit a certain type of content, it helps to show that you have an interest in it or have worked with it before.

Hurricane Irene: One photo, two audiences

When Hurricane Irene struck the coast of North Carolina this weekend, journalists were there. It’s dangerous work to cover a storm.

That’s what occurred to me when I saw this photo in a slideshow by The News & Observer shortly after Irene twisted its way across the northeast corner of the state. It’s a picture that captured the attention of many editors.

It appeared prominently on the front pages of several North Carolina newspapers, including the N&O and The Charlotte Observer:

Editors at the New York City tabloids also took note of the image as they put together front pages anticipating Irene’s arrival there:

It’s interesting to see how these publications cropped the photo and how the images interact with the headlines. One image, two audiences, different tones to the story packages.

Thanks to @RL_Bynum for noticing this and pointing it out on Twitter.

My favorite “Simpsons” headlines

My 10-year-old son and I have been on a “Simpsons” kick lately. He’s nothing like Bart Simpson, and I’m not much like Homer. But we both enjoy the show’s humor and sensibility.

I was a big “Simpsons” fan in the 1990s, but I haven’t watched it regularly for the past 10 years. So I had forgotten how headlines play a role in many of the episodes.

Here are my favorites and the “publications” that ran them:

• BUMBLEBEE MAN CAUGHT IN STING (Springfield Shopper)

• SECOND HEADLINE LESS IMPORTANT, STUDIES SHOW (Springfield Shopper)

• SQUIRREL RESEMBLING ABRAHAM LINCOLN FOUND (Springfield Shopper)

• GABBO FABBO! KRUSTY RUSTY (Springfield Variety)

• ZIRCONIA ZTOLEN!!! (Springfield Shopper)

• BIGFOOT’S WIFE PLEADS: “CALL HIM HOMER!” (National Informer)

• HO. J. SIMPSON TRIAL STARTS TODAY (Springfield Shopper)

• AMERICA’S FAVORITE PENCIL: #2 Is #1 (US of A Today)

• WACKO JACKO TO BLIMPO SIMPO: SELL ME YOUR BONES (The Mirror)

• FEDS TO SIMPS: PAY UP! (Springfield Shopper)

• LISA TO BURNS: “DROP DEAD!” (The Red Dress Press)

• BART TO MARTIN: “EAT MY SHORTS” (Daily Fourth Gradian)

• SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER PURCHASED BY EVIL NICE CULT (Springfield Shopper)

See these and more “Simpsons” headlines in this YouTube video.

What’s OSU to you: Beavers, Buckeyes or Cowboys?

I recently spent a day in Ohio at The Columbus Dispatch at the invitation of editors at the newspaper there. My visit was part of a week of training for the newsroom staff.

One of the topics we discussed was writing headlines for the newspaper’s website. The Dispatch has recently made it easier for copy editors to write separate headlines for the print and online editions.

To prepare for my visit, I looked at several issues of the newspapers and its website. I noticed that the Dispatch routinely uses “OSU” as a short form for Ohio State University in print and online.

I hadn’t thought to abbreviate the school in that way, though I can see how it would be helpful to do so in a one-column headline or similarly tight space in print. But what about Oklahoma State University or Oregon State University? Wouldn’t they be OSUs also?

It would make perfect sense to use those abbreviations in Stillwater or Corvallis, not just in Columbus. Readers in each place see that OSU as their OSU. As one person put it when I asked about this on Twitter:

OSU = Oregon State University … But then I live near Seattle and have friends in Oregon.

But what about online headlines, where audience is not defined by geography? Would sports fans outside of Ohio search for news about Ohio State football or basketball using “OSU”? Or would they try “Ohio State” or “Buckeyes”?

Google gives us mixed messages. On the Google homepage, typing in “OSU” offers us the Ohio State University website as the top item. (It probably helps that the university has “osu.edu” as its domain.)

But in Google News, the top “OSU” hit is a story about Oregon State baseball.  (The Beavers swept Hartford over the weekend.) Next are links to Ohio State basketball and Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball.

So what to do? I asked SEO/social media expert Erika Napoletano of Redhead Writing to point me in the right direction. She suggested that I use the keyword tool in Google AdWords. There, I found that “Ohio State” is searched on Google about twice as much as “OSU.” Perhaps that is our answer.

I’ve added further exploration of this part of Google to my to “to do” list for the summer. In the meantime, my overall advice on writing headlines for online media remains the same. Write for people first, then Google. Here’s a handout (PDF) that I use in class and other settings.

Of course, for some people, OSU may mean something completely different. As one Twitter friend wrote:

Ohio State University or some religious order I can’t think of right now. I remember seeing it after a nun’s name.

That would be the Order of Ursuline Sisters. Or, as that OSU’s sports teams might be called, the Fightin’ Nuns.

Student guest post: News can lose clarity on Twitter

Students in J457, Advanced Editing, are writing guest posts for this blog this semester. This is the fifth of those posts. Amanda Davis is a senior editing and graphic design major at UNC-Chapel Hill. She hopes to edit for a newspaper or magazine after graduation. If she’s not jamming out to Spanish pop, she’s by the window trying to create a Van Gogh masterpiece of her own.

Writing headlines for social media, such as Twitter, is often a precarious matter. One must be concise, because of character limits on each Tweet, yet grab the readers’ attention so that they will be willing to click on it for further information.

More importantly, the headline needs to be understood without additional context, such as pictures. Too often than not, headlines are written that give across the wrong idea, use sensationalist tactics or don’t give enough information to understand to what they refer.

BBC Global News on Twitter is notorious for just that. On Feb. 16, 2010, BBC tweeted, “First day on the job,” followed by a link to its website. How are readers supposed to know if they are interested in knowing more about this if they don’t even know to whom BBC is referring?

News media post headlines on Twitter to get more activity on their main websites. This story would have received many more hits if BBC had used the headline it had on its homepage, “Jay Carney: The new face of the White House.” Jay Carney is the new White House press secretary, so it makes sense that he would be considered the “new face” of the White House. It’s a clever headline that is concise yet still provides enough detail so that the reader understands the point of the story.

Bad Headlines, a Twitter user, Retweets bad headlines that newspapers have published on Twitter. One of those headlines was “Crew laughed before fatal crash,” which was tweeted on Oct. 5, 2009. This was a story about three members of a flight crew that died when their helicopter crashed. The cockpit recording revealed that moments before the helicopter crashed, crew members were laughing and having a good time.

I don’t understand how this headline is sensitive to the deaths of these three men or how it gives any newsworthy information. The article goes on to talk about the lack of safety and possible qualification issues of those on board. These issues would have been more relevant to discuss in the headline. A more effective headline would read, “Fatal helicopter crash questions crew qualifications.”

If newspapers are going to use social media as a way to broaden their reader base and increase hits on their websites, they need to pay attention to how they word their posts. Just as the print headline might not work for their headline on their newspaper’s online version, the headline on their website might not work for Twitter where pictures, videos and slideshows don’t accompany the posts.

Headlines for social media should draw readers without being sensationalistic and understandable without further context. Although news of a crew laughing before a fatal crash probably received many hits to a website, it wasn’t fair to the subjects of the article and their grieving families. It was mere propaganda meant to benefit the BBC without regard to the actual news of the story.

Student guest post: When headlines go too far

Students in J457, Advanced Editing, are writing guest posts for this blog this semester. This is the fourth of those posts. Courtney Coats is a senior journalism and English double major at UNC-Chapel Hill. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in book publishing. Her favorite things include children and puppies, and she enjoys losing herself in a book.

It isn’t a secret that the newspaper industry is declining. In October 2010, The New York Times reported that, according to the Audit Bureau, weekday circulation of 535 newspapers over a six-month period was down about 5 percent compared with the same 6 months in 2009. As a result, many newspapers — especially smaller ones for local readers — have to compete with other papers just to survive.

Most copy editors recognize that good headlines are a great way to catch readers’ attention. Unfortunately, the art of writing a headline is not as simple as it would seem; to summarize the main point of the story in a clear and concise manner, often in just a few words, is difficult enough. However, headlines that simply summarize are often not enough to gain new readership or maintain old readership, and many copy editors will go above and beyond to try to liven up their headlines with interesting wording or clever puns.

But there are times when the attempt to gain readers through these over-the-top headlines is not only ineffective but also offensive. On Jan. 9, 2011, newspapers around the country had lead stories on the shooting in Tucson, Ariz. Many of the headlines were about the same, or featured the same information: “Ariz. Rep. shot, 6 die in rampage.” While many headlines sounded similar, they relayed the important information to readers in clear, succinct way.

In contrast, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s lead headline read, “In Arizona, a morning of bullets and death.” While this headline does differentiate the paper from the others it is competing against, it does not necessarily do so in a good way.

It does not focus on the most important information in the story: There is no mention of the representative being shot, nor is there any reference to the six people who were killed.

Furthermore, the headline is insensitive and does not reflect the tone of the story. It reads more like a movie tagline or song lyrics than an admirable headline. For people affected by this tragedy, a less harsh account of the shooting would perhaps be more effective as well as more respectful.

It is true that copy editors must be able to go beyond just the facts to write headlines that grab readers’ attention and accurately portray the point of the story. However, there are certain times when simple, straightforward headlines may be a better option — a tragedy, such as the shooting in Arizona, is the perfect example of such an occasion.

Before writing a headline, a copy editor should not only think of the tone and point of the story, but also of those who will be reading the story and the way in which they will be affected by the information and how it is presented to them. When dealing with difficult news situations, copy editors should be careful not to alienate or offend readers even as they are trying to attract them.