Take a confusing example like “ Dead Baby Names Racket,” which could be read a few ways, one much odder than the other (though who are we to question what dead babies like to name in their spare time?). Hurry and read, before the action ends!Īrt form or not, short and sweet titles are often hard to figure out. M’ARTHUR,” (Chicago Tribune, 1951) fires on both of these cylinders, making the verb more prominent by removing the guy doing the firing altogether ( a no name, no doubt), and making the action happen right NOW, as you’re reading it. Headlines use an expressive, “connotation-rich” vocabulary to get our attention.īy the end of the 19th century, editors had started playing around with the language of headlines, switching over to using the present tense in headlines, even for events past, and promoting verbs, making action seem more immediate and palpable. Assassination of President Lincoln.” (New York Herald, 1865). In “Headlines: The Unappreciated Art,” Lynn Ludlow shows how the headline, considered an American invention, has moved from relatively benign or literal news captions (“ The CONTINUATION of our weekly Newes, from the 24 of February to the 2 of March“, from one of the first London newspapers in 1625) to large lettered, urgent, staccato headlines such as “ IMPORTANT. Why do we even pay so much attention to headlines, when millions are made up and forgotten every day? Some are more memorable than others (particularly when clever wordplay is involved), yet good or bad, there is a common language of headlines. Visual placement aside, there’s a long history to how humble copy editors have developed the weird linguistic tricks that intrigue, shock, and amuse an otherwise cynical audience. What you’ll learn may surprise you (or not).įrom tabloids to broadsheets, there’s definitely a dubious art to composing effective headlines, whether the story is a jubilant (“ VE-Day – It’s All Over,” “ Men Walk on the Moon“), rather grim (“ Beatle John Lennon Slain,” “ Hitler Dead“) or unusual ( “ Radio Fake Scares Nation“). From titillating tabloid titles to clickbait chicanery, headlines these days have often been derided as the empty calories of information, sensationalist trickery, “the art of exaggerating without actually lying” as Otto Friedrich put it. In an online age where attention spans are worn thin by information overload, these are remarkable feats for a bunch of words, yet headlines get little respect around here. By the time you read a headline, you may already have become incensed by provocative questions, been amused by puns and wordplay or have had your faith restored in humanity by viral clickbait. Before you even get to all the news that’s fit to print, the headline is already way ahead of you, with succinct and surprising spoilers-that can only really be understood if you click.

“Why Doesn’t America Read Anymore?” (NPR)Ĭonsider the headline: a bunch of words carefully crafted to grab your attention when you least expect it… and then entice you to spread it far and wide, sometimes in spectacular viral fashion. “Nature Sends Her Egrets” (San Jose Mercury) “Super Caley Go Ballistic Celtic Are Atrocious” (The Sun) “Headless Body Found in Topless Bar” (New York Post)

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