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Scathing Online Schoolmarm

It bothers SOS when writers work hard on their articles or papers and blow off their headline.

Your headline is like a hostess welcoming you into her restaurant. (La Kid’s hostessing this summer at a local ‘thesdan eatery, so SOS has that on her mind.) Does she make you feel welcome? Do you positively want to go in ?

So here’s an Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer’s headline for his Pitino piece:

SEX IN A RESTAURANT, A JOB IN JEOPARDY

Dullsville. Spice it up.

SEX AT A TABLE, FUTURE UNSTABLE

SEX AT A DIVE, WILL HE SURVIVE?

SEX ON A PLATE, PITINOGATE

SEX AND GRUB, THERE’S THE RUB

SEX IN TRATTORIA, SIC TRANSIT GLORIA

Margaret Soltan, August 13, 2009 9:45AM
Posted in: Scathing Online Schoolmarm

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17 Responses to “Scathing Online Schoolmarm”

  1. Dave Stone Says:

    Several of the stories have mentioned that the encounter in question took place on the floor, though I’m not sure where that little detail came from. Anyway, you’d like to be able to work "Balls on the Floor" into your headline.

    And there are a number of basketball terms that sound reasonably dirty in the right context:
    Box and one
    Backdoor cut
    Pick and roll
    Give and go
    Motion offense
    Diving for loose balls
    Nailing crazy blondes while drunk

  2. Van L. Hayhow Says:

    Sorry, UD but at most newspapers (even weekly papers) there is a division of labor. Reporters write the stories but not the headlines. That is considered an editorial function at most papers. Part of the reason may also be that its the editors who decide where in the paper the story will be printed and that, in turn, determines how much space there will be for the headline. It is a constant source of frustration for reporters who complain constantly that when readers complain about the story it is often the headline they are complaining about, not the article. When the reporter says they didn’t write the headline, they are not believed.

  3. francofou Says:

    Table for two, Pitino adieu.

  4. James Says:

    Your advertising background is showing.

  5. Margaret Soltan Says:

    True, James, true.

  6. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Van: Yes, I discovered this sad fact when I attended Medill at NU years and years ago. But it’s also true that at many papers writers can at least see or get an idea of the proposed headline, and maybe have some influence over it.

  7. TAFKAU Says:

    Or we could think like the headline writers at the NY Post:

    "B-Ball Boss Banished for Bistro Boink?"

  8. Van L. Hayhow Says:

    Of course, there was what some fans of tabloids consider the best all-time headline in the N Y Post. The case involved a fellow who was murdered with his throat sliced completely. He was in a bar where women dance for the entertainment of the customers. "Headless body found in topless bar."

  9. veblen Says:

    Sypher Nailed, Pitino Blackmailed

  10. Claire Potter Says:

    I love you. What would the blogosphere be without the SOS?

  11. Margaret Soltan Says:

    I blush, Claire. Thank you.
    SOS

  12. Michael Says:

    "Bonehead Play by Drunk Pitino"?

  13. Michael Says:

    Oh, and what Claire said. We would indeed be lost.

  14. Bill Gleason Says:

    I liked the last one so much, I kicked around

    The last one is superioria?

    Wondered whether there was such a thing as "superioria"…

    Googled. Best I could come up with is Superior, IA

    Close enough!

    Bill

  15. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Michael, you are very kind.

    UD/SOS

  16. University Diaries » A teeny-weeny subcategory of University Diaries… Says:

    […] … involves Scathing Online Schoolmarm complaining about headlines. […]

  17. University Diaries » Well, UD wondered when the university escort scandal would start to take off. Says:

    […] coach, Rick Pitino, has had his own … uh… Here’s UD, back in 2009, posting on Pitino’s… […]

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