Headlines can make all the difference.

I have always wanted to write headlines and see what crazy things I could come up with. But that enthusiasm took a little bit of a hit when I had to do the assignments and realized that people expect more than a catchy title. They want to know what is going on in the article because if the title doesn’t interest them than why should they even read it. I even find myself analyzing the headline and how it compares to the article, I would have to say that some place struggle just as much as I did. People can be great journalist but struggle at writing a headline. They are two totally different arts but it doesn’t mean that a journalist shouldn’t try their hardest to suggest a good headline or two for their editors. I know when I wrote for The Signpost, most of the headlines were written by the reporters when they submitted their story. I can only think of one or two that were changed. But I bet those headlines wouldn’t have made it through the editing process at a bigger newspaper.

In everything, whether it be repairing cars or writing a headline, we need to understand the lingo used for that craft. I didn’t know the lingo at all and I am sure that really hindered my headlines. If you had told me that a banner was different from a slammer, I wouldn’t have had any idea what made them different.

Mistake of the week:

Bleacher Report ran a story on American soccer player, Jozy Altidore, but had a spelling error in his name.