Good and Bad Headlines

Bad Headline: Ravens refute ESPN report that alleges team officials knew more about Ray Rice situation than they let on

I think this is a bad headline. First of all, it is 18 words which makes it really long and a lot to comprehend. The headline, minus a few articles, is basically a complete sentence and sounds more like a lead than a headline. It also is kind of misleading. It tells you the main point of the article, which makes you think you already know everything about it. But, half of the article is about them refuting other allegations that have been made about the situation, which is why it is sort of misleading.

It could be re-written as:

Letter from Ravens refutes allegations in ESPN report

                                                                                                                      

Bad Headline: Clinton wonk party outshines U.N. meeting

I think this is a bad headline. While it is the right length, the word choice of wonk is unclear. Some people might know what means while other's may not. It also doesn't give a clear picture of what the article is about. Does it mean it outshines the meeting in terms of what it accomplished? Or because of who was there and where the party was?

It could be re-written as:

Stars at Clinton party outshine world leaders of U.N. meeting

                                                                                                                    

Bad Headline: Emma Watson is a proud, card-carrying feminist

I think this is a bad headline. While it is short and gives the main idea of the article, I think the word choice of card-carrying is misleading. Some people might be confused with that means in the context of the story. It also left out important details like that she declared it in a speech for the United Nations new campaign HeForShe. So, I think that it could be better addressed.

It could be re-written as:

Emma Watson declares herself proud feminist in U.N. speech

                                                                                                                      

Good Headline: Missing U-Va. student’s father: ‘This is every parent’s worst nightmare’

I think this is a good headline. It starts out with a quote from her father which gives context the situation. By using this quote as the headline, it makes the reader want to know more about the nightmare. This allows the writer the chance to use hour glass style we talked about in class to give a timeline of what has happened in the case so far.

                                                                                                                     

Good Headline: CDC: Ebola could infect1.4 million people by January

I think this is a good headline. It's clear and concise. It gets right to the point that the Ebola disease is getting worse, but gives context to the situation by using a statistic. There is no ambiguous word choice and it is in a conversational tone that people can understand.