Visual Editors
Visual Editors, NFP was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2004.
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Denise Covert
Maestro
Joined: 25 Jun 2005
Posts: 399
Location: Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal
Posted:
Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:50 am
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There's a great blog I love to read, that I found through Nicole, I think he's a teacher at Mizzou. It's called HeadsuptheBlog, and he's very anti question-mark heds, for a good reason:
| Quote: | Is N. Korea nuclear?
The Record (Stockton, Calif.)
Umm... tell you what. If you're going to ask me, how about you give me the 50 cents and I give you some dead pine trees with advertising on 'em? |
In other words, it doesn't soften the hed, it just softens your resolve. A question mark is not an attribution.
_________________
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
-- Kahlil Gibran |
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Patricia Gibson
Juke Box Hero
Joined: 07 Jan 2006
Posts: 41
Location: Chronicle-Tribune, Marion, Indiana
Posted:
Thu Oct 19, 2006 6:52 pm
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I understand the sentiments against question heds, to a point, but I think they can be an excellent way to promote dialogue with your audience.
Sure, if all you're doing is pontificating to your readers, telling them what the news is, then a question is detrimental.
But I was fascinated to see the response we got to a recent CP about a strange hail storm that swept through the city, covering the ground with a blanket of white, but only until it melted a couple minutes later. (They were the best pics of the day, so we went with it.) The headline: "Did you see it?"
Almost every response on our online story chats started out with a variation on "Yes, I did ... "
People already new it had stormed. They also knew there was no damage, no real effects. So I didn't want to tell them what they already knew (which, in our 24-hour news cycle world, we are in the position of doing all too often). The question treatment prompted a a give-and-take that I hadn't really expected.
Readers were engaged, involved. We were part of a community ... and, that day, I made that happen.
So, in my humble opinion, questions, and the reader response they can elicit, have a valid place in journalism today. (But that doesn't mean that there aren't wrong times to use them!) |
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Denise Covert
Maestro
Joined: 25 Jun 2005
Posts: 399
Location: Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal
Posted:
Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:51 am
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| nicole bogdas wrote:: |
Because if you ask the question readers expect it to be answered. And if you can't answer the question you're asking, why are you writing story? |
Exactly what I was about to say. (That's why they pay Nicole more than me.  )
Patricia's example ("Did you see it?") was a great headline, but I think it's a different situation. That headline was actually asking readers a question, involving them, and they answered enthusiastically.
I'm not as much against the "Now what?" hed, because (I assume) it was actually answered in the story. But "Is N. Korea nuclear?" means "We as a media organization know as much about it as you do, gentle reader, so your guess is as good as ours."
_________________
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
-- Kahlil Gibran |
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