Sunday, May 6, 2007

Ambiguity and an echo

I don't know what the new search-engine-optimization gurus have to say about echos ("search resumes" in the hed, "searchers resumed" in the lede), but there's no doubt that the main hed can be read as a command to look at resumes ("search" as verb, "resumes" as noun). It only takes a second or so to make the mental adjustment and get the correct meaning, but that second is precious time and the conflict has made the reader WRONG! Not anything you want to do. "Searches resume" would be better if you were correcting on the fly.

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Circulation reverses in Philly


When the Inquirer's new owners -- private investors -- took over, it was said the circulation would improve when pigs flew. Circulation HAS improved and the paper celebrated with a four-page special section and even projected light images of flying pigs on the front of the Inky's building.