Even the formats of headlines have changed

In the time of sobriety, traditional newspapers used to use their news headlines as if they were telegraphic messages.

They often dispensed with certain prepositions and articles that, in good grammar, would help to weave the correct thread of a sentence.

But the practice of communicating with few words and in a space already delimited forced editors or headlines to break their heads to adjust the advert for such purposes.

In general, an invariable rule was to synthesize the lead or introduction of the news in the title, which in turn had to encompass these fundamental elements of the inverted pyramid: what, who, when, where, why and how.

Now it’s different: in an era dominated by colloquial mode, news headlines and texts are simpler. They are interpretive. They do not have to respond to a tight or telegraphic structure.

The headlines have to flow in the same way we express ourselves colloquially, using words in common use, not those that do not lead to tongue twisters or incomprehensible ideas that leave the reader in limbo because they don’t understand the meanings.

Now there is more freedom, and it is advised, to develop a headline based on attractive elements that appear within the note, not properly in the lead or head of the information.

And since in the digital sphere it is essential to use basic words that serve as a guide or identification of a text for follow-up, and titling modes that arouse curiosity are accepted, thus in the printed media these trends are taking place, making way for more understandable headlines, friendly and digestible.

• Translated from Spanish by Randy Rodriguez.