EDITOR@WORK: news headlines

HEADLINE FOUND ONLINE: Texas man chased down carjacker who dragged woman to death with baseball bat

When I first saw this headline, I didn't know what to do with it. It's one of the most convoluted headlines I've seen. Hey, it sounds like the carjacker dragged the woman to her death using a baseball bat.

The interesting thing is that I couldn't find the words baseball bat in the story, only in the headline.

A simple way to fix it is to make it a multiple headline.

Carjacker dragged woman to her death; Texas man chased him down with a baseball bat

It's two words longer, but it's clearer. I think.

The better option: Carjacker chased down after killing a woman with her car

That would pique your interest.

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

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

HEADLINE FOUND ONLINE: Donald Trump Sacks National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster; FNC Analyst John Bolton To Replace

I had no idea what FNC means, so I looked it up. Bolton was an analyst for Fox News Channel, which I don't watch.

I might have said this: Trump hires Fox News analyst John Bolton to replace H.R. McMaster as national security adviser. You don't get sacks in the headline, but you can find it in the article.

You could also change it to: Trump sacks H.R. McMaster, hires Fox News analyst John Bolton as national security adviser.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com BLUESKY: PROFILE