The headline is the product
1 of 20
of twenty headlines you opened
One morning's scroll. Illustrative. You scroll for three minutes. Twenty headlines go past. You open one of them, or none. You put the phone down knowing what happened today. That is how a lot of news gets read now.
- The headline: nearly everyoneThe first paragraph: someThe middle: fewerThe end: hardly anyone
A headline is not a label on a story. For most of the people who see it, it is the whole story. They never see the paragraphs under it. So whatever the headline leaves out, most people never learn.
- Saw the headline100%Read as far as paragraph four30%
Illustrative. A headline says 'Talks collapse'. Paragraph four says the talks may restart next week. Which of the two does most of the audience take away?
'Talks collapse'. Most people never reach paragraph four.
Right. For most readers the story ends at the headline. Paragraph four is true and honest, and it reaches the few who open the story. To everyone else, the talks simply collapsed.Both. They are in the same story.
Not yet. In the same story, yes. Not in front of the same eyes. The headline is seen by everyone who scrolls past. Paragraph four is seen only by the people who open the story and keep going.Paragraph four. It is the fuller version.
Not yet. Fuller, and read by fewer. How complete a version is has nothing to do with how many people meet it. Of news links shared on social media, what share are shared by people who never clicked them?
Pick one. Nothing is scored.
59 of 100
of shared links never clicked by the sharer
About 60%.Measured on tens of millions of shares. Most of the people passing a story on had read only its headline. So what travelled was the headline.- The headline1,000,000 readersThe first paragraph400,000 readersThe middle150,000 readersParagraph fourteen20,000 readers
Illustrative. Inside a story, readers drop away line by line. Say a million people see the headline. About 400,000 read the first paragraph. About 150,000 reach the middle. About 20,000 reach paragraph fourteen. The exact numbers are made up to show the shape. The shape is real: every line down, fewer people.
Most stories carry a line that softens the claim, like 'the study was small'. Move that line down the story and watch how many readers meet it.
Readers who see the softening line400,000 readersReaders who saw the headline1,000,000 readersIllustrative. Where the softening line sits: Paragraph 1
In paragraph 1, about 400,000 of a million readers meet it.
Readers who see the softening line250,000 readersReaders who saw the headline1,000,000 readersIllustrative. Where the softening line sits: Paragraph 3
In paragraph 3, about 250,000 of a million readers meet it.
Readers who see the softening line120,000 readersReaders who saw the headline1,000,000 readersIllustrative. Where the softening line sits: Paragraph 8
In paragraph 8, about 120,000 of a million readers meet it.
Readers who see the softening line20,000 readersReaders who saw the headline1,000,000 readersIllustrative. Where the softening line sits: Paragraph 14
In paragraph 14, about 20,000 of a million readers meet it.
Where does a line like that go, if it is meant to be seen?
Paragraph one is enough.
Not yet. Paragraph one reaches the people who click. The majority did not click, and for them the story has no paragraph one.In the headline, or most readers never get it.
Right. Even paragraph one reaches four in ten. Only the headline reaches the six in ten who never open the story. A line they never meet is a line they were never given.Anywhere. It is in the story.
Not yet. It is in the story. For most readers the story is the headline, so a line below the headline is a line they do not have.Move the control.
- Shares: a careful headline20 sharesShares: a dramatic headline100 shares
Illustrative. A headline can also claim more than the story under it can hold. 'Cure found', and the trial had twelve people. The big claim spreads further, because a big claim is what people pass on. The people who pass it on never see the twelve.
The numbers are made up. Set how strong the headline's claim is, and how strong the evidence under it is.
Shares20Readers who later find it overstated0Illustrative. How strong the headline's claim is: Careful · How strong the evidence is: Weak
A careful headline on weak evidence: 20 shares, and about 0 of those readers later find it was overstated.
Shares20Readers who later find it overstated0Illustrative. How strong the headline's claim is: Careful · How strong the evidence is: Mixed
A careful headline on mixed evidence: 20 shares, and about 0 of those readers later find it was overstated.
Shares20Readers who later find it overstated0Illustrative. How strong the headline's claim is: Careful · How strong the evidence is: Strong
A careful headline on strong evidence: 20 shares, and about 0 of those readers later find it was overstated.
Shares50Readers who later find it overstated25Illustrative. How strong the headline's claim is: Firm · How strong the evidence is: Weak
A firm headline on weak evidence: 50 shares, and about 25 of those readers later find it was overstated.
Shares50Readers who later find it overstated0Illustrative. How strong the headline's claim is: Firm · How strong the evidence is: Mixed
A firm headline on mixed evidence: 50 shares, and about 0 of those readers later find it was overstated.
Shares50Readers who later find it overstated0Illustrative. How strong the headline's claim is: Firm · How strong the evidence is: Strong
A firm headline on strong evidence: 50 shares, and about 0 of those readers later find it was overstated.
Shares100Readers who later find it overstated100Illustrative. How strong the headline's claim is: Dramatic · How strong the evidence is: Weak
A dramatic headline on weak evidence: 100 shares, and about 100 of those readers later find it was overstated.
Shares100Readers who later find it overstated50Illustrative. How strong the headline's claim is: Dramatic · How strong the evidence is: Mixed
A dramatic headline on mixed evidence: 100 shares, and about 50 of those readers later find it was overstated.
Shares100Readers who later find it overstated0Illustrative. How strong the headline's claim is: Dramatic · How strong the evidence is: Strong
A dramatic headline on strong evidence: 100 shares, and about 0 of those readers later find it was overstated.
Which headline spreads furthest and misleads most?
Dramatic on weak evidence.
Right. A hundred shares, and about a hundred readers who later find it was overstated. A dramatic headline on strong evidence spreads just as far and misleads nobody, because the story can hold the claim.Dramatic on strong evidence.
Not yet. It spreads as far and misleads nobody. Drama is not the problem. Drama the evidence cannot hold is the problem.Careful on strong evidence.
Not yet. Twenty shares and nobody misled. This is the most honest choice, and it gets the fewest shares. Careful headlines do not travel.Move both controls.
Three headlines, and under each the line from its own story. Tap the headline the story under it can hold.
Tap the part of the picture that answers it.
Read the small line under each one. Does it carry the big one?
'Cure found'a trial of twelve people'Minister resigns'she resigned this morning'Up to 34,000'the range starts at 8,000Each headline with the line its own story carries. 'Minister resigns'
Right. The story holds it. She resigned, and the headline says she resigned. Nothing under it takes anything back.'Cure found'
Not yet. Twelve people cannot carry the word 'cure'. The headline claims more than the story under it can hold, and six in ten readers never reach the twelve.'Up to 34,000'
Not yet. 'Up to' is the top of a range that starts at 8,000. The headline took the biggest number and left the rest where six in ten never go.- Saw the headline1,000,000 peopleSaw the correction20,000 people
Illustrative. A paper runs a dramatic headline, then a correction two days later at the bottom of page two. Compared with the headline, how many people does the correction reach?
A small fraction, so the wrong version stays the version most people hold.
Right. The correction is honest and in the place the rules put it. That place reaches about two in a hundred. The other ninety-eight keep the headline.The same. It is in the same paper.
Not yet. Same paper, page two, near the bottom, two days later. How many people see a thing depends on where it sits, and this sits where few look.More. Corrections get shared widely.
Not yet. A correction has no drama in it, and drama is what travels. Few people share 'we were less right than we said'.