Headline Tense

[jaF0]

OK, that can be more than one things. Headlines can be tense, or they can make us tense. But I'm using tense as in present tense, past tense, first person tense, whatever.

Why do they write headlines in present tense?

Some example ripped from recent news:

Top Moscow Exchange Manager Drowns in Latest Mystery Death​

He's doing it NOW? As we read? I'm pretty sure he drowned some time ago, days or at least hours past.

Russia's Tu-95MS Strategic Bombers Skirt US Ally's Airspace​

Skirted, past tense. They already did it.

U.S. Releases Update on Economy As China GDP Slows​

Again, released. Past tense.



Hey, it's the middle of the night in some parts of the world, I'm bored. Sue me.

 

[StillStunned]

It's to create a sense of immediacy.

You know, so you tense up. At least I think that's key to their intents.

 

[shelleycat1]

Headlines are to grab you, your attention. They want you to react, to tense up, to be aroused and attentive. Nobody ever ran away because the tiger looked at them. You run because the tiger is suddenly here. Run, ape!

 

[shelleycat1]

It's to create a sense of immediacy.

You know, so you tense up. At least I think that's key to their intents.

Beaten

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Agreeing with both @StillStunned and @shelleycat1. I used present tense for "Snuggy-Wuggy" (the entire story) for the same reason. I wanted to make the reader feel as if she was there in the story, feeling and doing the things that Chris feels and does.

-Rocco

 

[TheLobster]

Headline English is its own different dialect, with the way it uses commas, eschews connectives, and generally compresses everything to fit the limited space.

The usage of present tense here, however, is correct even outside of the headline convention. Simple present does not mean "right now"; it refers to the generalized present which is broader than the current instant. Newspapers obviously want you to believe they are reporting on the events as they unfold, so they subscribe to the concept of present that includes both the event and their publication time.

Coincidentally, if you do want to talk about the current moment in time, I've been told you have to use the -ing form. You know, the present continuous. For the single instant. Because English.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Saving space is (or was) a key driver - you could have bigger letters with a shorter headline (the epitome of this being the Sun's GOTCHA! upon the sinking of the Belgrano).

Hence all the words that exist in headlinese and nowhere else. A small child is always a 'tot', a disagreement is always a 'row', maybe a rift... 'For' and 'up' get stretched to mean almost anything (but not that much in the famous 'Up Yours, Delors!')

Though sometimes good wordplay justifies a longer headline: "I kicked burning terrorist so hard in balls I broke my foot" or low-ranked Caledonian Thistle's win over top team Celtic: "Super Caley go ballistic: Celtic are atrocious!"

In German they steal and mangle English words for brevity, so my favourite recent headline is one that brought a new word into the English language. (Merkel on Brexit): "Es ist ein Shitshow!"

 

[SimonDoom]

It's more immediate, and it saves space. Saving space is of primary importance in journalism, where column inches are in short supply.

I think Lobster is right about the continuous. Another thing about continuous is the "to be" verb is usually eliminated, so one would write:

"Harris Gaining Ground In Polls"

rather than

"Harris Is Gaining Ground In Polls"

 

[MrPixel]

"Es ist ein Shitshow!"

Love it!

 

[yowser]

And of course the search for brevity and concision sometimes backfires.

I think my favorite, ever, mangled headline was during the Falklands (Malvinas) war (which Borges described as 'two bald men fighting over a comb.') I think it was The Guardian.

'British Left Waffles on Falklands'

 

[jaF0]

Was there syrup?

Were Belgians involved?

 

[TheLobster]

British Left Waffles on Falklands

Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.

 

[ronde]

Saving space is (or was) a key driver - you could have bigger letters with a shorter headline (the epitome of this being the Sun's GOTCHA! upon the sinking of the Belgrano).

Hence all the words that exist in headlinese and nowhere else. A small child is always a 'tot', a disagreement is always a 'row', maybe a rift... 'For' and 'up' get stretched to mean almost anything (but not that much in the famous 'Up Yours, Delors!')

Though sometimes good wordplay justifies a longer headline: "I kicked burning terrorist so hard in balls I broke my foot" or low-ranked Caledonian Thistle's win over top team Celtic: "Super Caley go ballistic: Celtic are atrocious!"

In German they steal and mangle English words for brevity, so my favourite recent headline is one that brought a new word into the English language. (Merkel on Brexit): "Es ist ein Shitshow!"

Writing for an on-line report must be like writing a catchy title and story description here on Lit. I always struggle with both.