EDITOR@WORK: misleading headlines

This story is from the wire, but the headline has a problem: No. 1 pick Wilkerson among handful of Jets D-linemen to meet up for position drills.

Muhammad Wilkerson was a first-round draft pick of the Washington Redskins, but this makes it sound like he was the No. 1 pick in the draft. The Carolina Panthers drafted Cam Newton No. 1 overall.

The newspaper could have avoided any confusion by saying First-round pick Wilkerson joins handful of Jets D-linemen for workouts.

The headline would be longer at the beginning, but it would be shorter overall. Also, Wilkerson joins is more active than Wilkerson among. And it's an accurate headline.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com BLUESKY: PROFILE

MORE EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

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• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

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WE LOVE BAD newspaper headlines; Jay Leno keeps proving that. So every once in awhile, I go looking for headlines that would curdle an editor's stomach.

I found some on this web site.

They're all good (or bad), but I especially like these:

Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers

Drunk gets nine months in violin case

I wonder why they want to run down jaywalkers. Seems like excessive punishment. Same with putting a drunk in a violin case for nine months.

Fiddle dee dee.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com BLUESKY: PROFILE