Headlining

Despite the actual contents of a news story, even the same exact AP wire story, news editors can dramatically change one's impression of a story by the way they write the headline.

To get an idea of just how different various editors' headlines can be, compare them online. Here's one way...

1. Go to www.google.com
2. Enter a word or two related to a specific news story
3. Click "news"
4. Click on a link to a number of related articles, usually under the first search result. It might look something like, "498 related articles."
5. You'll see a list of links to news articles about the same story, sometimes to the same exact AP, UPI or Reuters wire story. An editor at each publication had the option of running a headline provided by the wire service or writing their own.

Here's another way to compare headlines:

1. Go to www.newseum.org
2. Click on "Today's Front Pages" (on the right side)

There, you'll see graphic representations of the actual front pages of various papers across the country. If you do this on a day when a major national or international event dominates the news, you can not only read different editors' headlines about the same story, you can see how the story was "played" on their front pages.