1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

116 Journalism Online
Headlines
The delayed drop is a particularly brave opening gambit for
the online writer, given that online readers face many onscreen
distractions and scan at a speed nearer Sonic the
Hedgehog than a Sunday stroll.
Harold Evans (2000) is in no doubt about the importance of
headline writing: ‘Writing good headlines is 50% of text editors’
skills. Every bit of time chiselling out the right words in the right
sequence is time well spent’.
Evans’ chisel becomes a very blunt instrument in the hands of
many online writers and editors. Headlines are used with little
apparent thought for either their purpose or appearance. This is a
particularly perverse practice within the online medium, given the
reading habits of users highlighted by the Poynter Institute Eye
Track study mentioned earlier. As Evans (2000) explains, the
headline serves two main purposes: first, to attract as many
readers as possible into the text of the story. Second, for those
who do not read further, headlines can still have an effect, ‘for
many who do not read the story none the less retain an
impression from scanning the headline.’ (author’s italics).
The headline carries an additional responsibility within online
journalism. It provides important guidance and context for those
readers who access individual sections of stories on their own,
separated from the rest of the coverage (for example if linked to
a section direct from another site or a search engine). The BBC
are aware of this:
‘Our headlines – particularly those on the Global, UK and
World indexes – are increasingly being extracted and being
sent elsewhere to the BBC ticker and the BBC Homepage,
mobile phones, etc. They also appear in Related Stories. So
while more cryptic headlines can appear fine accompanied by
the summary, they can be nonsense standing alone. It is
therefore essential that they bear some direct relationship to
the story. They can be clever and enticing but please make
them intelligible out of context of the story’ (The Online
Journalist, 2000).