After an earthquake maybe a month ago, I saw this headline:
"EARTHQUAKE LEAVES EDMOND RESIDENTS SHAKEN"
I have noticed headlines containing obvious intentional puns for some time now. I think journalists need to be careful where they do this.
Perhaps the worst thing I have ever seen in a newspaper was on the front page of the Lawton Constitution in December of 1978. There was a headline something like "First Bodies Arrive From Guyana," referring to the Jonestown mass suicide that occurred in November of '78. The article was two columns wide. Just above the headline was a picture of a Fort Sill cook holding a carving knife and a large fork. He was looking down at several frozen turkeys and had a big silly grin on his face. There was a short cutline explaining that turkeys for Fort Sill had just arrived. It really looked like the picture was part of the Guyana story.
I have always wondered if that was a result of carelessness, or a deliberate very bad visual joke.
Am I alone in my concern about puns in print journalism? Of course it's a little like a bad commedian performing on the Titanic, since print journalism is on the endangered species list.
"EARTHQUAKE LEAVES EDMOND RESIDENTS SHAKEN"
I have noticed headlines containing obvious intentional puns for some time now. I think journalists need to be careful where they do this.
Perhaps the worst thing I have ever seen in a newspaper was on the front page of the Lawton Constitution in December of 1978. There was a headline something like "First Bodies Arrive From Guyana," referring to the Jonestown mass suicide that occurred in November of '78. The article was two columns wide. Just above the headline was a picture of a Fort Sill cook holding a carving knife and a large fork. He was looking down at several frozen turkeys and had a big silly grin on his face. There was a short cutline explaining that turkeys for Fort Sill had just arrived. It really looked like the picture was part of the Guyana story.
I have always wondered if that was a result of carelessness, or a deliberate very bad visual joke.
Am I alone in my concern about puns in print journalism? Of course it's a little like a bad commedian performing on the Titanic, since print journalism is on the endangered species list.
