Spiced-up headlines are detestable, and they're everywhere.
AMATEURISH, SUPERFLUOUS, SENSATIONALIZING CLICHÉS IN WEB HEADLINES:
BREAKING (or
BREAKING EXCLUSIVE or
LATE-BREAKING)
If news isn’t “breaking” it isn't called
news. That's the nature of news. May be okay if interrupting a broadcast but useless on the web, where it will be forever archived as “Breaking” long after it broke.
DATELINE _______.
Antique leftover from the days of teletype wire-service story submissions being read over radio. Still used in print but a format not needed in web media.
Not a headline preface, I just wanted to get it in here.
DEVELOPING
Seldom useful since an ongoing situation is usually recognizable to the reader. Forever archived as “Developing” long after it’s played out.
EXCLUSIVE
It means, “We said it first!”
Guess what? Nobody cares. Also, it can backfire if your much-repeated “exclusive” turns out to be false or in error.
EXPLOSIVE
If it’s an “explosive” piece of news, the headline wouldn’t need to be prefaced by “Explosive.”
HERE WE GO
Often said when a fight has just been provoked, but a well-written headline doesn’t need such a preface. It’s equivalent to “Grab some popcorn.”
HUGE
Reporter or editor tells you a story is huge. Maybe huge to
them but maybe not for
you.
INCOMING
Normally associated with bullet, mortar, artillery, rocket or missile fire; or mail; or messages; or a person or group soon to replace another. It’s as useless as “Breaking” or “This just in”
but looks even stupider in a headline.
IT BEGINS
A melodramatic way of saying, “Here we go” with a pthonic tone and aura of an impending Ragnarok.
IT’S ON
Another superlative preface similar to “Here we go” and “It begins.”
LIVE
Only useful when actually “live,” but will be archived as “Live” long after it isn’t.
JUST IN (or
THIS JUST IN)
May be okay for broadcast when an anchor is handed a sheet of paper but not okay for print or web, where it’s as irrelevant as “Breaking” and carries the same archive curse.
MUST READ
Presumably, the owners of a web news-service hope you’ll read
all stories but they use this preface for only
some stories. Don’t they see the marketing potential of adding “Must Read” to
all stories?
MUST SEE
Same as “Must read” except it applies to embedded videos. If the headline is well written, the reader can decide whether he “must see.”
NEW
Wow! Really? Something “New” in the news? Lame and the same as “Just In,” “Breaking” or “Incoming.”
___ REAX TO ____
Ugly new non-word to replace
“BLANK Reacts to BLANK” because why? Saving digital ink? Saving space? Or is it mangling language to look cool and edgy?
REPORT:
The opposite of “Exclusive.” It tells the reader, “This is someone else’s exclusive.” Nobody cares! Give us a clean headline without the non-organic ingredients.
SICK (or any other subjective adjective prefacing a headline)
Prefaces such as this are editorial opinion that needlessly taints the rest of an otherwise objective headline.
TRAGIC NEWS
“Tragic” is among the most overused words in contemporary journalism (second only to “Iconic”). The reader can decide what’s tragic without being told. For example:
“30 Globalists Dead After 30-Seat Bus Drives Off Cliff” —
NOT TRAGIC.
“30 Globalists Dead After 31-Seat Bus Drives Off Cliff” —
TRAGIC.
UPDATE
This is iffy. Do you start the headline with “Update” or “Breaking Update,” or “Incoming Update,” or end it with “Update Just In”?
A fresh headline for every update negates these questions.
WATCH
Another way of saying “There’s a vid in the article.” That’s something the reader will notice without an imperative in the headline.
WTH
This editorializes the reporter's incredulity at his story, much as does "WTF" and "YMBK," but using them without a question mark?
WTH?
YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS UP
If there’s anything we’ve learned about contemporary news media, it’s “YES, YOU CAN MAKE THIS UP” and often do.