“Since when are we using British archaic words in big honkin Metro headlines?”
That email question from a St. Louis Post-Dispatch staffer greeted me this morning. More significantly, several readers called us to complain that they weren’t familiar with the word…
A vacation week’s worth of voice messages produced few comments from readers last week. One complained about the playfulness of these two headlines on last Thursday’s front page:
“Bellwether — or not” (A headline on a story that said McCain’s win in Missouri…
A reader scolded us for Friday morning’s top headline: “‘Spiral of fear’ drives stocks down again.”
The reader asked if the Post-Dispatch is trying to create a panic, noting that we’ve had a steady drumbeat of “fear” in Page One lead…
The biggest headline on today’s front page of the Post-Dispatch — on the Dow’s drop amid global economic fears — was almost “Another manic Monday.” We instead chose “A harrowing ride” as the main headline.
“Palin pledges to shake up D.C.” is the lead headline on the top story in today’s Post-Dispatch. “Making history” is the second headline and the third: “First woman on GOP ticket throws quick jabs at Obama.”
Slate.com’s synopsis of major national papers indicates…
“Black politics: Where to now?” read the top headline on today’s front page of the Post-Dispatch.
A couple readers wondered, rather strongly, where that headline was headed.
We received this email from a reader:
Subject: Black Politics Where to Now? WTF??
What’s next? A…
Headlines are what draw readers into stories. So we devote some time to writing them, and considering if the message conveyed is what we intended. A copy editor readers a story, then writes the headline. A chief copy editor then…
I’ve received a few — four at noon — calls from readers livid over our coverage and display of Pope Benedict XVI’s historic first visit to the United States.
“I am deeply ashamed,” read our top headline.
Smaller label words atop that headline said:…
