More Bad Headlines
This one’s from the Economist:
One of the things I never understood when I was a journalist (and still don’t) is the copy editor’s penchant for puns. Typically the last in the chain to see an article, and typically responsible for crafting the story headline, copy editors — for whatever reason — feel its their duty to take perfectly straightforward headlines suggested by writers and section editors and turn them into bad jokes. Why? What’s the point? Are they just bored?
I once asked the copy chief at one magazine why they do it. “It’s a long tradition,” he said.
In other words: They do it because they’ve always done it. And they’re bored.
