Good and Bad Headlines

I looked through today's Post to see if I found any headlines that I didn't like. While I didn't find anything that posed a major factual problem, as many of the examples we typically see for "bad headlines" do, I saw one that I didn't find to be effective and easily readable.

The headline reads: Weary, Wary Lawmakers See Compromise as Way Forward.

First off, I had a problem with the forced alliteration in this headline. I think they're trying to be cute with it, but being that this is not a feature story, I don't think it's appropriate. Furthermore, I think their attempt at alliteration and their excessive use of adjectives takes away space that could be used to describe which lawmakers the story is about or what they are going forward from/to. Someone who reads this headline would not get an accurate grasp of what the article is going to be about, and in that respect, I think this headline is a failure.

A headline from the Post that I think was successful in using alliteration is "Preteens Trading Fairy Wands for Fishnets."

I think this article pulls off the alliteration because of the fact that it is a featurey article. It also accurately describes what the article is about--a movement of preteens costumes from innocent to racy.