Freedman out!

[Armchair Wanderer]

Almost half the shots taken are from outside the box?? Crikey!

[Mar]

Freedman not chasing up the Dawson deal.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9105633/

This seems confusing. We sign a player on loan last season, he turns out to improve our season immensely and then the gaffer doesn't press the question to WBA if we can have him again.

Would seem to me that Dougie should at least be asking the question again to show Dawson at least that he's interested.

Apparently Dawson wants to make it in the WBA side.

[CAPSLOCK]

Oh FFS

[bobo the clown]

Freedman not chasing up the Dawson deal.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9105633/

This seems confusing. We sign a player on loan last season, he turns out to improve our season immensely and then the gaffer doesn't press the question to WBA if we can have him again.

Would seem to me that Dougie should at least be asking the question again to show Dawson at least that he's interested.

Apparently Dawson wants to make it in the WBA side.

Dougie and confusing all in one paragraph, how odd.

[BWFC_Insane]

Doesn't that interview say "we'd love Craig back and if he was available we'd take him but we don't think he is, and he isn't after a move so we'll just monitor it".

How that extrapolates to "we're not bothering" I really don't know!

[ChrisC]

That is just a feeler from Dougie. Now we wait for Dawson or WBA to come out with "he has a part to play" or "Craig needs playing time"

[thebish]

Freedman not chasing up the Dawson deal.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9105633/

This seems confusing. We sign a player on loan last season, he turns out to improve our season immensely and then the gaffer doesn't press the question to WBA if we can have him again.

Would seem to me that Dougie should at least be asking the question again to show Dawson at least that he's interested.

Apparently Dawson wants to make it in the WBA side.

Dougie and confusing all in one paragraph, how odd.

how on earth is any of that confusing??

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Some f*cking clagnut at SSN has copied the BN's headline as well as its quotes

Dear me

[bobo the clown]

Freedman not chasing up the Dawson deal.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9105633/

This seems confusing. We sign a player on loan last season, he turns out to improve our season immensely and then the gaffer doesn't press the question to WBA if we can have him again.

Would seem to me that Dougie should at least be asking the question again to show Dawson at least that he's interested.

Apparently Dawson wants to make it in the WBA side.

Dougie and confusing all in one paragraph, how odd.

how on earth is any of that confusing??

If I'm confused then ... QED.

Or is that confusing ?

[jonnycooper]

Dawson did very well for us'but understably Dougie wants his own players to polish up.You can't polish a turd so certain players he inherited will have to go and whatever we can afford brought in.I agree with him in not liking polishing up turds for other clubs! !

[Enoch]

I'm not a shopper, never have been and I'm f*cked if I'm getting involved in any of that argy bargy of the sales business. I am however just about to make my biannual trip to M&S, see if there are any trousers left in my size after the crush has subsided.

Hope that's clear.

.

And as for them journos being lazy, I'm ..................

[Athers]

Some f*cking clagnut at SSN has copied the BN's headline as well as its quotes

Dear me

Journo question DSB, why is it still the case that journalists seemingly don't have input into their headlines? Even in broadsheets I so often see on Twitter etc. "Not me pal, I just wrote the article and some 20-something on the nightshift made up a snazzy headline which didn't reflect what I wrote."

Why can't the author be allowed to suggest their own title with the understanding it has to be just a wee bit provocative?

[Enoch]

Not wishing to tread on Mr barnet's toes, but if you employ a journalist because he's good at his job, researching and writing articles, it doesn't follow that he will have a clue how to drive circulation.

Two very different areas of expertise I would imagine.

[CAPSLOCK]

Not wishing to tread on Mr barnet's toes, but if you employ a journalist because he's good at his job, researching and writing articles, it doesn't follow that he will have a clue how to drive circulation.

Two very different areas of expertise I would imagine.

Aye, we can only assume DSB is good at headlines

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Some f*cking clagnut at SSN has copied the BN's headline as well as its quotes

Dear me

Journo question DSB, why is it still the case that journalists seemingly don't have input into their headlines? Even in broadsheets I so often see on Twitter etc. "Not me pal, I just wrote the article and some 20-something on the nightshift made up a snazzy headline which didn't reflect what I wrote."

Why can't the author be allowed to suggest their own title with the understanding it has to be just a wee bit provocative?

Depends on the set-up. Particularly on news"papers" (who are mostly now spending more money online than in print, and some are even making that money back), the writer will send in copy which someone else then prepares for publication.

You could argue that this was (and is) a good thing as it goes through more gatekeepers who should be able to see errors, but it depends on the quality of the gatekeeper. In ye olde days this was a copy-taker (very efficient secretary types) and a sub-editor (highly-trained grammar pedants with vast general knowledge), but now it's normally a poorly-paid tyro journo who wants to be Henry Winter but is actually one of many thousands spat out by an education system which for decades has deprioritised correctness for creativity and then attempted to give everyone in the country a degree. I don't blame the graduates, some of whom are fine wordsmiths, but diminishing finances from online being largely free often means that news organisations are relying upon the notably undertrained to present their news to the world.

As for headlines: because it's no longer really a page-layout business (Turnip-head, etc), particularly in news/onlinefeatures, writers should normally suggest a headline and standfirst - the bit below the headline that explains it and leads in. (In fact, for FFT feature pitches, I ask writers for the headline and standfirst before I ask for the full copy, to see whether it interests me: if you can't make me listen in 15 seconds, I doubt I'll spend five minutes on you.) But editors and uploaders should always reserve the write to make these stronger, whether with a better point, a wittier pun or, increasingly, an eye-catching combination of search-friendly click-triggering terms ("Arsenal and Spurs target open to move", etc).

Remember that headlines are now not page furniture, but often all you'll see of a story (say in a reader list or on NewsNow). In cynical get-clicks land, you can make headlines more controversial than the story - hence the hacks' complaint you mention. Strangely I don't think the BN did that, as "Freedman still interested in Dawson" might have got more reads - although maybe it's a double-bluff, or they're cleverer than me and are relying on the "WHAT THE FRIG ARE YOU DOING DOUGIE?" clickers-in-a-twist.

But you do still get post-rationalisation of headlines - notably tabloids making a headline pun then "explaining" it in about the fourth paragraph, like the time The Sun referred to The Beatles as "The Hey Jude hit-makers". Oh, those Beatles...

Not wishing to tread on Mr barnet's toes, but if you employ a journalist because he's good at his job, researching and writing articles, it doesn't follow that he will have a clue how to drive circulation. Two very different areas of expertise I would imagine.

A good editor will combine both, and not resort to clickbait. It only cheapens yer brand, although the Mail appear to have done very well with it.

Aye, we can only assume DSB is good at headlines

I see what you did there

[Il Pirate]

But editors and uploaders should always reserve the write to make these stronger,

and I see what you did there

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

But editors and uploaders should always reserve the write to make these stronger,

and I see what you did there

Yep - ballsed it up!

[Athers]

Comprehensive reply thanks DSB, interesting read.

Reading that Mediawatch feature on f365 often makes me laugh with the headlines and laboured intros sections (in between the AVB/Sherwood debate) - I don't know how that column is thought of in the industry though!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Haven't read it in years (see also The Fiver) but nobody minds such watchmen - Pseuds Corner and the like - they keep people on their toes.

In truth it's hard to avoid the laboured match-report intro without being either dull or clichéd. There have been very very many match reports, and there's only so many ways to say Team A won because Player X done good. That said, the longer the labour goes on, the more the reader groans.

[Il Pirate]

But editors and uploaders should always reserve the write to make these stronger,

and I see what you did there

Yep - ballsed it up!

Every man should be allowed at least one mistake.