You diagnose a huge problem. Subheads, not headlines, often speak to the greater truth but they're subordinate and can easily be overlooked. I wonder how and why this happens so often and what power, if any, reporters can exercise over the headline editors who seem so gun shy.
Good question. When I was a reporter, I had some bad experiences where editors wrote misleading headlines for my stories. Once I started writing suggested headlines at the top of my stories, the more likely it was that the published headlines were accurate. Reporters have no real power in this dynamic, but they can influence what editors do (at least some editors, anyway).
You diagnose a huge problem. Subheads, not headlines, often speak to the greater truth but they're subordinate and can easily be overlooked. I wonder how and why this happens so often and what power, if any, reporters can exercise over the headline editors who seem so gun shy.
Good question. When I was a reporter, I had some bad experiences where editors wrote misleading headlines for my stories. Once I started writing suggested headlines at the top of my stories, the more likely it was that the published headlines were accurate. Reporters have no real power in this dynamic, but they can influence what editors do (at least some editors, anyway).