# More bad headline tactics
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-bad-headline-tactics/812797
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 20, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-bad-headline-tactics/812797 "2018-04-20T17:16:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-bad-headline-tactics/812797/1 "2018-04-20T17:16:55Z")
It is quite apparent that news organizations have fallen to new lows with their headlines. Journalism is gone in favor of 8th grade sensationalism. But I really like this juxtaposition of two unrelated stories:
[ ](https://i.imgur.com/removed.png)
Dennis
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-bad-headline-tactics/812797/2 "2018-04-20T17:44:42Z")
I fail to see the big deal. Two unrelated stories that happen to clash. Funny, but not scandalous. As for [the name change](http://www.newsweek.com/african-king-changes-countrys-name-because-hes-tired-people-getting-it-wrong-893953), hopefully this will lead to somebody tackling the Austria/Australia issue.
English Queens have [had much worse headline problems](http://off-at-a-tangent.blogspot.com/2018/02/typo-trouble.html).
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2018, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-bad-headline-tactics/812797/3 "2018-04-20T22:39:32Z")
What a terrible name for a country.
Now instead of a nation, it sounds like a website.
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### Author:  [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)
#### Post date: [April 21, 2018, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-bad-headline-tactics/812797/4 "2018-04-21T22:13:42Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> I fail to see the big deal.
You don’t think the Queen of England breaking tradition and renaming the country is a big deal?
Dennis
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [April 21, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-bad-headline-tactics/812797/5 "2018-04-21T22:18:29Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> I fail to see the big deal. Two unrelated stories that happen to clash. Funny, but not scandalous. As for [the name change](http://www.newsweek.com/african-king-changes-countrys-name-because-hes-tired-people-getting-it-wrong-893953), hopefully this will lead to somebody tackling the Austria/Australia issue.
>
> English Queens have [had much worse headline problems](http://off-at-a-tangent.blogspot.com/2018/02/typo-trouble.html).
I think that, the way it’s written, it looks like they are the same article, with one just giving more info on the other. It would be different if both were clearly separate articles.
I wouldn’t call it scandalous, but I do think it is bad formatting. I would have “Other headlines” in small type above the second one, and then more than one headline below it, each on equal footing.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [April 21, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-bad-headline-tactics/812797/6 "2018-04-21T22:22:09Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> What a terrible name for a country.
>
> Now instead of a nation, it sounds like a website.
I like that it’s a historical name, but I think that, since he’s worried about people getting it wrong, he should probably standardize the spelling. Eswatini would be better, and won’t get messed up nearly as much. Or, yes, mistaken for some electronic thing.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-bad-headline-tactics/812797/7 "2018-04-22T04:22:01Z")
The odds are about 9 billion to 1 that the juxtaposition was done by a computer.
As for the old days - the Columbia Journalism Review has been compiling inadvertently funny headlines since the 1960s. They’ve put out whole books of them, like Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim, and Other Flubs from the Nation’s Press. There never was a golden age.
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2018, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-bad-headline-tactics/812797/8 "2018-04-22T04:43:10Z")
Spare a thought for [this guy](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/enhanced/webdr06/2013/7/26/6/enhanced-buzz-17210-1374833954-0.jpg?downsize=715:*&output-format=auto&output-quality=auto).