Food calendar: Oktoberfest season is in full swing
This is a good headline because it basically meets the basic criteria for headlines: it tells you what the article is going to be about (a food calendar of events in October that relate to Oktoberfest). It is short, simple, and descriptive. It may not attract the attention of many people, but it will attract those who are interested and/or celebrate Oktoberfest.
Cop's Tip For Not Getting Raped By A Cop: 'Don't Get Pulled Over'
This is also a good headline because it grips the audience into reading with its insane topic on what the article is going to be about. You almost can't believe it, so you have to go read the article (which also included an amazing video). It is a bit snarky, but that is another reason as to why I want to read it. There is a subject, there is a complete thought, and it describes exactly what the article is about. Although it repeats a key word: cop, I think it was actually effective because it shows the ridiculousness in what the cop actually said.
U.S. Forest Service wants to charge $1,500 to take photos on federal wild lands
This is another example of a good headline because it basically meets all requirements of a technically good headline, but also riles the audience up because of the article topic. It is straight forward, but still disconcerting, which makes an audience want to read an article.
Bad Headlines
This is a bad headline because although it grips an audience into reading the article (engaging audience to learn what this secret is), it does not say what it is going to be about. It is too ambiguous, and therefore may also detract audiences from reading. Also, it starts off with an unknown pronoun, which also causes some confusion for readers as they might ask who "she" is.
Revision: A Teen Goes To Get Her Driver's License And Learns That She Is Undocumented
This is also a bad headline because it literally has no subject or action. Although the headline may have been written to match the tone of the article (since the article didn't really tell a story either), it should still have posted what the subject was, and an action for the subject. I had no idea what the article was going to be about when I read the headline because it is literally just three different nouns.
Revision: How Star Trek alludes to our Constitution
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