Headlines 'Peak' Or 'Pique' My Interest

I use headlines to decide if I want to read the lead, then use the lead to decide if I will read the article.  So to me headlines get my attention quicker than leads or articles do.  If the headline is just not interesting or doesn’t pique my interest, I move on to the next. 

Some interesting things I learned from the readings, is that there are different styles of writing headlines, Upstyle and Downstyle.  In Upstyle you capitalize the first letter of every word.  In Downstyle you capitalize the first letter of the first word only.  I just thought it personal preference to capitalize all words or just the first word.  When I write emails, I always capitalize every word in the subject line.  I learned that the publication or website usually determine what style to use.

I also learned that infinitives (“to” form of verbs) are used to show future action.  I never really noticed this, but now it makes complete sense.  I mostly notice this in sports headlines.  I do see it in other types of headlines, but it’s just more noticeable to me in sports headlines.

Editing Mistake

From: Gizmodo.com

Article: SpaceShipTwo’s Surviving Pilot Ejected Into -70 Degree Air At 50,000 Feet

Mistake 1: The capitalized every word in the headline but “at.”

Mistake 2: They used the word “estimated” and the phrase “at least” to describe the same thing.  The two have similar meanings, so they only needed one of the two.