My first three posts of things I'm losing sleep over were fairly complicated and filled with gray issues:
1. Math, numbers, digits
2. Privacy and fairness in crime, tragedy stories, reader comments
3. Plagiarism and fabrication
Up next is something a bit more black and white that drives me completely nuts.
4: Pun headlines
I hate them. I despise them. I abhor them. Clear enough?
They amuse us, but rarely readers.
They don't add clarity; they often just confuse readers.
They don't add SEO value, and often hurt it.
And, in the most egregious cases, they have nothing to do with the story and cheapen it.
I lose sleep over how many headline writers persist in publishing self-indulgent pun headlines. And applauding themselves for doing it. Unless you work for The Onion, just stop.
Writers work hard on their stories. Sources trust us to tell their stories. Our readers count on us. They all deserve better.
Coming tomorrow: We're too dang boring
