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 reads the headline and approves it for publication, or asks that it be rewritten — or in a pinch, rewrites it. Then the night news editor reads the headline on printouts of pages before the page is transmitted directly to the presses.

Last night, Sunday editor Ron Wade sat in as night editor. The email below is from his overnight note. It explains some headline changes that took place on our Page One story about the pope. His note:

Pope meets with abuse victims

During a day that included

a Mass for 45,000, Benedict

prays privately with group.

We stared at the page between editions and wondered (mostly I wondered) aloud whether the photo of the nun with the field glasses could be interpreted in any odd, salacious way by anyone. Other editors had no similar reaction, and pointed out that the cutline clearly mentions she’s using the glasses at the stadium mass. But the discussion — and the straight-news first-day angle of the headline — led us to kicking around the notion that maybe we should use a double-barrelled label overline on the story, and mention the particulars of meeting with abuse victims in the deck. So for the second edition, we changed the head to the one you’re likely to get at home:

Celebration and atonement

During a day that included

a Mass for 45,000, Benedict

prays privately with abuse victims.