I have no problem with “kin” or “gut” in headlines. Type-setting concerns aside, it’s the job of a headline to condense the point of a story in a manner designed to grab the reader’s attention. A reader who is just skimming headlines in the morning before going off to work notices short, punchy headlines rather than those which are more wordy.
“Tot” is annoying to me because I don’t know anyone who uses that word outside of “tater tots.” Then the mother comes to be known as “Tot Mom” “Kid” seems too slangy for serious news writing. “Teen” seems okay for some reason.
I protest your criticism of the word kin. In the first place it’s hardly slang. It might be considered a regionalism or an archaism, except that it’s quite well-known and likely to be understood; it’s not like writing velvet when you mean milkshake. It’s brief and commonly understood. The only reason not to use it is the preference many English-speakers have for words of Latin origin versus Germanic.
What the hell is kith anyway?
Kindred. Or people who live in your general area and make up your same social circle. Your neighbors, friends and acquaintances.
Also, it’s a perfectly good word. It is not slang by any means.
No, it’s not unprofessional. It can be very annoying if it’s overused, cutesy, or the meaning becomes unclear. I think I griped a lot about CNN’s constant references to Casey Anthony as “Tot Mom,” as if there was only one tot in the entire world and we should all know who her mother was.
STIX NIX HIX PIX!
Or, sometimes an informal headline can become legendary as an exemplar of style, defining a subgenre with conventions and taste of its own. Headlines are the very base of the inverted pyramid, meaning they have to pack nearly all of the story’s most relevant information into the least space, and do it in an eye-catching fashion. Twitter users aspire to the condition of headline writers (and, sometimes, vice-versa).