Them headlines are tricky

We've been talking about heds a lot lately, especially the bad ones. The following circled around the copy desk at the Republic a while ago. Here's a prime example of what not to write. In this instance, the hed was so bad it didn't just merit a correction, it needed a full-blown apology from the big kahuna editor.

Here's an apology from the Managing Editor of the Daily Tribune in Cartersville, Georgia:

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" I apologize for shoddy journalism

Joe Hiett
Managing Editor
Published March 27, 2007 10:58 PM CDT

It is inexcusable.

The headline on the lead article in Tuesday's issue of The Daily Tribune news is a poor example of journalism, and the fault is entirely mine.

I have been in this business for almost 35 years and written thousands of headlines, but that is almost certainly the one that embarrasses me the most. I could try to offer excuses but won't because I cannot.

I do appreciate the phone calls and e-mails we have received, those who were indignant and angry and those who think the incident laughable. I'm glad you expect better from us and thankful you want to hold us to a higher standard. We want to be held to a high standard.

We want our articles to be timely, accurate, fair and well-written. Two or three out of four in our estimation isn't good enough. We want to meet all four criteria whenever we possibly can. At times, we will sacrifice timeliness to try to ensure we are accurate, but certainly we want to be something a grammar teacher can use.

We are missing that mark too often, and I tell you we are striving to do better, much better.

We do have problems at times with information given to us that should be/must be rewritten to conform to good writing standards. It is our responsibility to retain the accuracy of that information and provide it to you in good quality writing.

Headlines, especially front page headlines, are obviously the first thing people read. We try to make them a "hook" to get people to read the stories, offering enough to be interesting but not telling the entire story.

That's one thing that made the headline in Tuesday's issue so bad. It was our lead headline so it was the one that "carried" that issue. It was a crime story so a higher percentage of you would be reading it. We know that from tests and surveys. It was the one seen in the news racks or when picked up by subscribers.

We do have Associated Press style manuals, we do have spell check on our computers (albeit not very advanced programs), but we do not have a grammar check in our programs. We do usually proof our articles by at least two people prior to print. From now on, we'll also try to have people looking at headlines for accuracy and form.

Our business puts its product in print and our thousands of subscribers and single-copy purchasers can hold it, look at it, analyze it and come back to it hours later, days later, even years later. That makes the print media unique. It also makes it even more mandatory that accuracy be maintained.

Keep holding us to account. By doing that, you will help make us better.

Joe Hiett is managing editor of The Daily Tribune News."