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OK, lemme put it this way. If the 1Q Earnings Forecast was $20 million, what was the real 1Q earnings?


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can't know that w/o you know how many outstanding shares there are, as the "penny" is in $/share.


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the "penny" is in $/share

Exactamenticals.

Or as I said when I posed the question:

probably not misleading for the target audience


#127043 04/15/04 02:06 PM
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Starr Asks To Delay Report

Starr Asked To Delay Report


Well now you are getting into the realm of making the hed fit exactly into the space available and in the type size wanted.
The general rule is that largest heds go at the top of the page on the "lead stories," decreasing in size as you move down. Oh, on second thought I'm not going into all that.






#127044 04/15/04 05:55 PM
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The life of a subeditor is a dreary one. IMHO, of course!


#127045 04/19/04 04:19 AM
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Me: Starr Asks To Delay Report

Starr Asked To Delay Report

Surely the first one implies that it is still possible that Starr's request will be granted, while the second one implies that it is no longer possible (perhaps because the report has already been published).


Faldage: I don't see the implications you suggest, simply because the syntax of headlines doesn't indicate that Starr was doing the asking in the latter form. Maybe that's strictly an USn convention, but.

Ok, suppose something comes to light now about something that happened quite a while ago. If for example it was only just discovered today that Starr had asked to delay the report in the mid-90s, how would you construct a headline?

This comes up tolerably often in the UK where certain documents, for example cabinet minutes, are only released to the public after 30 years. So we only get to find out about some things 30 years later, when even in a headline the present simple tense is obviously inappropriate.

Bingley


Bingley
#127046 04/19/04 10:44 AM
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suppose something comes to light now about something that happened quite a while ago. If for example it was only just discovered today that Starr had asked to delay the report in the mid-90s, how would you construct a headline?

New Findings Re Starr Report


#127047 04/20/04 10:43 AM
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Well, OK - but it is so indefinite as to be virtually meaningless within its own conntext.
How about
Starr's request delayed Report
???


#127048 04/20/04 11:47 AM
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The point of a headline is to get you to read an article. It doesn't have to tell you much about what's in the article but what it does tell you shouldn't be misleading.

If something new came up today about a news item from the '90s, just the fact that there was something new should be enough for a headline.


#127049 04/20/04 03:53 PM
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True - but it dodges the issue raised above. At least mine does attempt to provide an answer to how to make a particular point wothout ambiguity (at least, that's what I fondly hope it does, until some smart-arse tells me different! Don't worry peoples - my shoulders are broad.)


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