Allow me to pose a question: Do headlines that ask something a good idea?Poynter thinks so. Sara Quinn, who is on the faculty there, says asking a question is a way to make a headline more engaging. My supervisors during my News & Observer days had other ideas. The directive there was to avoid question headlines — we should tell, not ask.
I asked award-winning headline writer Jim Thomsen what he thought of question headlines. He is a copy editor at The Kitsap Sun in Washington state and a board member at the American Copy Editors Society. (Thomsen also blogs.) Here is his response via Facebook:
As we look for new ways to invite readers to buy our newspapers and read our Web sites, I think we need to embrace new ways to bring them into the conversations that newspapers should be inspiring.Thomsen makes a compelling case. What do you think?
And what better way to start a conversation than to ask a question? It got me to realizing that most stories I read prompt more questions than they answer.
And that, I think is the nature of news: Every newspaper, every day, predominantly publishes stories about people considering something, investigating something, studying something, about to make a decision on something.
Rarely are stories so factually black-and-white as to anticipate and answer every question a reader would reasonably have.
Why not write headlines that reflect that?
It's OK in extreme moderation as long as it's fitting.
TV stations overuse it in their chyrons. Check out this Daily Show clip about their use of it. http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=117466&title=the-question-mark