New York Times: Freakonomics: Food Magazine Typo Poisons Sweden

Posted on 3 September, 2008 by Martin Stabe

"Tens of thousands of copies of a Swedish food magazine have been recalled this week after an error in an apple cake recipe sent four of its readers to the hospital with nutmeg poisoning."

Guardian: PDA: @ Magazines2008: Search, and why Ronseal headlines matter

Posted on 7 May, 2008 by Martin Stabe

The irony, of course, is that a "Ronseal headline" isn't one.

MediaShift: 9 Tips to Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Posted on 1 May, 2008 by Martin Stabe

Some useful advice on how to make news websites more search-friendly.

New Media Bytes: Are you making these 7 teaser-writing mistakes?

Posted on 24 March, 2008 by Martin Stabe

Good practice guidelines for writing headlines and teasers for web stories.

News Tracker: Brit, Yank Journos in Hed Row

Posted on 14 February, 2008 by Martin Stabe

Brian Cubbison of the Syrcuse Post-Standard takes up my challenge for an American journalist to respond to the Iain Martin's criticism of American headline style. Must read, funny stuff.

Greenslade: Headline Commas, Who Needs Them?

Posted on 13 February, 2008 by Martin Stabe

Why do some British journalists think their way is the only way? Waiting for an American hack's followup about Fleet Street's gratuitous puns and inaccuracies for effect ...

Telegraph: Mosquito ‘infringes rights of teen gangs’

Posted on 13 February, 2008 by Martin Stabe

Err... isn't the point that it arguably infringes the rights of teens who are *not* in gangs?

CNET News.com: Newspapers search for Web headline magic

Posted on 6 February, 2008 by Martin Stabe

Not news, but worth repeating: "pithy, witty and provocative headlines--the pride of many an editor--are often useless and even counterproductive in getting the Web page ranked high in search engines."

Editor & Publisher: FT.Com’s Most-Read Story Of The Year Traces Parallels Between Fall Of Roman Empire and Modern U.S.

Posted on 21 December, 2007 by Martin Stabe

Move over Britney Spears, you don't top the most-read lists everywhere. The top story for 2007 on FT.com was an interview in which the US comptroller general drew parallels between the contemporary United States and the Roman empire.

Completetosh.com: Marking up the NUJ’s new media verdict

Posted on 6 December, 2007 by Martin Stabe

Neil McIntosh: The report of the NUJ multimedia commission "shows a level of understanding completely absent from much of what the union has had to say about the web to date, and is a signficant step forward."

Richard Burton: The rights and wrongs of David Montgomery

Posted on 12 November, 2007 by Martin Stabe

"What surprises me most though is that the Monty I knew spent as brief a time he as could actually writing anything. His ambition was to get into the editors chair as fast as possible - and he chose the fastest route. Subbing."

Messy Media: Montgomery: who needs sub-editors?

Posted on 2 November, 2007 by Martin Stabe

"[S]ubs will have to change ... If Arianna Huffington was right when she described news media as having attention deficit disorder while the blogosphere was obsessive-compulsive, then we need some more obsessives around the place to keep the place tidy."

Boing Boing: Web-headlines benefit from passive voice

Posted on 23 October, 2007 by Martin Stabe

"[Usability guru Jakob Nielsen]'s thesis is that the passive voice — which is usually frowned upon by people who love good prose -— enables headline writers to "front-load" their heds with the key concepts from the story."

Guardian: Do we realise what we’re doing?