State of the Media, Part 1

Worst Headline of Today: Today's Chronicle big banner was a perfect illustration of what's wrong with today's daily papers. Big block text, trumpeting something along the lines of "Post-Watergate Leader Calmed Nation." You'd have to get right up to the page and squint to see "Gerald Ford, 1913 - 2006."

Um, Dear Editor.
I realize journalism class may be a long time in your past (or am I wrong in assuming you have been to journalism school?), but this is not news. This is opinion. At best, it is a subhead to a headline. "News" would be "Former President Gerald R. Ford Dies, Age 93." I would even note that this is the exact headline used by the A.P. story on your paper's website.

And out of curiosity, might I ask why you this considered your headline choice a good editorial decision? Is it, perhaps, an attempt to emulate those horrifically annoying TV news teasers, which hint at a story so you have to watch the show to find out the details? If so, you are doing a very good job of encouraging your readership to rely on the Internet for news, where thanks to the magic of Google, they don't need to wait to find out what they want to know.

Sincerely,

Someone who wonders what the hell happened to print publishing

Best Headline of Today: Gerald R. Ford reaches out from beyond the grave! And this time, it's not to grant a presidental pardon. Apparently, he had some things to say about the Iraq war in an interview he conducted with Bob Woodward, back in 2004-05.

I have to say, I'd always rather liked Ford. I can always hear the voice of my home state in his voice.