There is a science to writing headlines. It has to be catchy enough to make the reader want more, but it can’t promise to much. It stands to reason there is a science to reading headlines. The discriminating reader will pass over a headline that promises too much, as an obvious come on. A headline that falsely promises what the story cannot deliver is little more than a lie.
This headline (below) tries too hard and fails to deliver on its promise. What is a top ex-cop? If he was a “Chief Inspector” wouldn’t it be more impressive to use his rank? As it is, the headline writer may have approached a group of drunken retired cops in their favorite watering hole. After being rejected by all but one, wouldn’t that make the one that cooperated the top of the writer’s list? Is this cop credible because he has new information, or is it because he is the only one that would comment?
Madeleine McCann may have been snatched by traffickers, top ex-cop says
A top ex-cop believes Madeleine McCann could have been taken by people traffickers at the demand of grieving parents to replace their own dead child.
Former Scotland Yard detective Colin Sutton says the “most likely and credible scenario” for Maddie’s disappearance is a targeted kidnap – once those closely linked to the tot have been ruled out.
Here are some examples of how a proper hedline is done:
