Linguistics in American News. Specifically

¶ … linguistics in American news. Specifically it will discuss the structure and function of headlines by examining their grammar and vocabulary. The paper will use headlines from Associated Press (AP) news content on a major Web site, compared with headlines from the news magazine Time. It will compare and contrast news headlines in two different formats and how they relate to the articles they headline. I will use two headlines from the AP online news source and two headlines from Time magazine in these comparisons. The two AP texts concern entertainment topics for an online audience, while the two Time works discuss the arts and entertainment for a print magazine audience. These texts are suitable for this exercise because they have been created for different readerships, and yet they both contain up-to-date news and information that is topical and important.

The first headline comes from Time magazine, and is the headline for a book review regarding a biography of a man named James Holman. The headline reads "Have Cane, Will Travel." Immediately, it draws the reader into the article, posing questions the reader wants answered. 'Why does the person carry a cane, and where do they travel?' might be two of the first questions that pop into the reader's mind. The lead paragraph literally 'leads' the reader on, introducing the book and the person it chronicles, but still not answering the questions the headline generates. It is not until the end of the second paragraph that the reader learns the 'rest of the story' - that Homan was blind, and traveled the world in the 19th century, when travel was much more difficult, especially for a blind man. This is an excellent example of how a news organization uses a headline to distinguish itself from other organizations and news, while reporting the same information. Any number of publications could have contained a book review of this biography, but Time's headline stands apart in that it concisely summarizes the content of the piece, while making the reader want to know more. In this, the headline does not rely on the lead of the story, but instead relies on the most important information in the story, which clearly illustrates how the headline serves as a concise summary of the story's contents and intent. The function of this headline is to draw the reader into the story by giving information that summarizes the review and yet makes the reader want to actually read the entire story. It serves its function very well.

Compare this with the AP headline for another entertainment story that reads, "Former 'Idol' Contestant Nixes Fuel Gig." Immediately, the headline also causes the reader to question the content of the news story, but the headline itself raises questions. It is poorly written in that it seems ambiguous and convoluted. It uses an action verb to add punch to the headline, but it carries a double meaning that many readers might not understand. The boy of the article indicates the 'American Idol' contestant actually turned down an offer to be the lead singer for a rock band called 'Fuel.' However, with record fuel prices all over the news, the headline seemed to refer to some kind of concert to aid people with rising gas prices, or so it seemed. Thus, the headline was not clear in its intent, and did not truly represent the content of the story. It seems as if the headline writer might have been worrying more about being clever rather than concise, and it shows in this headline. It does however illustrate the quite unique language of headlines, and how they use words such as "nixes" to create a type of "journalistic shorthand" (O'Donnell and Todd:1991:90) that is quite common in headlines. Many headlines use a language that is 'punchy' and compact, that helps lead the reader into the story. Comparing this with the Time headline, it is easy to see why Time is such a respected news magazine. The Time headline is interesting, well written, and leads the reader right into the story. The AP headline is ambiguous, and seems clever, but unworkable at the same time. It makes the reader wonder, but not about the right questions for the story. Thus, the headline is an example of what does not work in headline writing, rather than what does. It could have been written better, and should have been. The function of this headline is to summarize the information the short article contains. Unfortunately, it summarizes information in a way that can be misconstrued, and so it does not function as well as it could.

The second Time magazine headline reads "The Secret Plan of Jack Black," and it heads up an article about Black and his new comedy film about a half-Mexican monk and Mexican wrestling. This is probably the most straightforward of all the headlines discussed. It leads the reader into the story quite directly, so they know what to expect - a story about Jack Black and his 'secret plan.' However, it also poses questions for the reader, just like the other Time headline. The reader wants to know just what secret plan Jack Black is hatching, and so they read on. It is a straight summary of the lengthy article. However, the article never really spells out Black's 'secret plan,' the reader must infer it, and so, the headline disappoints in the end. The story is a good look into Jack Black the man, the actor, and his upcoming film, but it is difficult to distinguish just what Black's secret plan is, and why it is secret. Ultimately, the author notes Black wants to make moviemaking "fun" (Tyrangiel:2006:2), which may be the root of the secret plan, but it is difficult to discover, even after reading the article thoroughly three or four times. It just does not tie it totally with the article, and so, it does not function well as a headline. The reader may be more confused after reading the article, and might be disappointed in the results. The headline is well written, but it does not fully summarize the contents of the article, and so in the end it is flawed.

Finally, a straight AP news story uses many of the commonalities all the textbook authors discuss about headlines. The headline reads, "Iraq PM Promises to Press Curbs on Violence." It uses that special headline language (press curbs) and acts as a true summarization of the news story, from start to finish. It also introduces the "star" of the piece (the Iraqi Prime Minister) and places the news in a solid location in the world. The article discusses acts of violence by U.S. soldiers and Iraqis, and heavily quotes the Prime Minister throughout. This headline is not as catchy as some of the others, but it follows the principles of good headline writing, and serves as a solid lead into the article. It also draws the reader into the story by making them want to know just what the Prime Minister is going to do to help curb violence in his country. This headline is not overly dramatic, and yet it gets the point of the story across with action verbs and ideas. The function of this headline is to summarize the article and make the reader want to know more, and it serves its function well.