Good/Bad Headlines

Brian Katkin
6/26/07
Harvey

Good Headline

Three Hours at a Big Fat Kashmiri Wedding
Chaos, Calm and Copious Cuisine

By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, June 24, 2007; Page A14

This headline was found in the Washington Post on Sunday, June 24, 2007 in the newspaper's main news section. In my opinion, I thought this headline was catchy. It plays off the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The article details a wedding in India, during Kashmir's wedding season. Due to some of the similarities between the movie and the description of the wedding in this article, I think the headline is appropriate and uses popular culture to bring in readers. The mood of the article is light, therefore, I think it is OK to use a playful headline.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/23/AR2007062301277.html

Bad Headline

Some Details Are Presented By Prosecution

By Sandhya Somashekhar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 26, 2007; Page B02

This headline was found in the Washington Post on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 in the newspaper's Metro section. In my opinion, this headline is very vague and ambiguous. What does it mean that "some" details have been presented by the prosecution? I think because the editor downplayed the importance of the details that the prosecution presented, readers may glance over the story because they may think, "If the type of details were not even important enough to go in the headline, then why should I read the entire story?" A better headline might read "Misfilings About Donations, Dates Among Details Presented By Prosecution." This headline would better inform the reader what the article is really about.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062501681.html