If you feel a news story does not measure up to expected journalistic standards, bring it to the Journalism Dry Cleaner. Through our collective wisdom, we will strip it of all offensive dirt.

REAL TIME VISITORS

LIVE STATS

BLOG GUESTS

Thursday 28 September 2017

DEAD END HEADLINES

Newspapers aspire to be above impeccable, when it comes to how they deploy information in their chosen language. And yet there are many instances that the same papers abandon conventional language rules. Those who craft headlines especially, often get away with blatant disregard of grammatical requirements. And this can lead to a dead end.
 

The headline writer is hard pressed to make the optimal use of newspaper space.

Brevity then carries a premium value.

And so it's no surprise to see headlines lacking grammatical elements like articles, which are deemed to have the undesirable effect of making the top lines lose their punch.

However, the underlying need of the headlines to communicate in a meaningful manner, remains ever important.

That's why the headline for the above newspaper article looks absurd.

Goes to show one should never underestimate the power of the diminutive form of the verb 'to be'.

Is that clear?



No comments: