A quick posting on CyberJournalist.net from Cliff Vaughn makes a point that a number of would-be Internet-based authors occasionally forget: properly-written headlines play a critical role in driving traffic and retaining interest in RSS feeds (and, by extension, weblog or online news posts). Vaughn, culture editor for EthicsDaily.com, warns that failure to craft a good headline can sink an otherwise newsworthy piece.

Isn’t there a significant difference between being on a page where, if the headline doesn’t tell you what you need, you can see the posting and really decide VERSUS just getting the headline in your feed, which may not really tell you much of anything.

Of course, this is an issue that “old media” has faced since, oh, say, twelve minutes after Gutenberg finished tightening the screws on the first printing press, as noted by Joe Murphy in the comments section:

Headlines are always incredibly important, sheesh. Maybe the print people will triumph after all.

No doubt. At any rate, it gives me an excuse to link up two handy sites for would-be copy editors; the homepage for the American Copy Editors Society, and The Slot, Bill Walsh’s excellent resource for those in the profession (or with an interest in it).

(via editorsweblog.org)

* updated to fix a typo

* updated again, to link this unfortunate story in today’s newspaper, which I swear I didn’t know about before writing this entry:
Post Copy Editor Killed in Kayaking Accident

A Post copy editor on the sports desk died while kayaking on a West Virginia river. Condolences to his family and the newsroom staff.