Who writes the headlines for the Journal Star? Whoever it is could use a little Prozac. Lately, the negative spin on some stories has been disappointing.
For example, in today’s paper is the headline, “O’Brien Field fails to attract growth.” However, after reading the article, one could just as easily have headlined it, “TIF could spur redevelopment around ballpark.” Both headlines are equally valid, but one is negative, the other positive. Why does the headline writer choose a negative tone?
Here’s another example: “Committee for city growth shrinking in size.” That was the headline about the Heart of Peoria Commission’s (HOPC) meeting where they discussed the Mayor’s proposal to have the HOPC become a private advocacy group. This headline is poor on so many levels, but let’s start with the fact that the HOPC is not a “committee for city growth.” It’s a commission to facilitate implementation of the Heart of Peoria Plan, primarily. Secondly, the article wasn’t about the size of the commission (it was mentioned in passing that we have some vacancies, but so do many other commissions), but rather the future of the commission, so the headline is misleading. It appears the headline-writer didn’t even bother to read or understand the whole article, but instead just picked out the first negative comment and made that the label.
All I can say to the anonymous headline writer is, “Gray skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face… wipe off that frown and cheer up, put on a happy face!”
In all fairness, the copy desk has limited space, thanks to modern-day page design. It’s harder to write a good newspaper head than people think.
I don’t think it’s so much being pessimistic as it is reporting something concrete vs. what people hope will happen. When O’Brien was built there was great anticipation by some that it would spur more development in the area. That hasn’t happened, and that’s news. Writing a headline that reflects reality is not be pessimistic, it is being realistic.
The title of the story coupled with the content of the proposed TIF is suspect.
Feature a potential positive TIF (for once) with a lead about a past economic failure.
I’ll restrict my comments to the O’Brien Field hed. I used to write headlines for the JS. Frankly, the hed used is better than the one you suggested. It reflects the lede of the story better. And “could” is a weak headline word. Anything “could” happen. TIF is a crappy word, too. Makes people doze off.
That said, copy editors tend to be a negative lot. Night work, no recognition unless they screw up, expected to catch everyone else’s mistakes and make none themselves.
There hasn’t been any growth. The Julian hotel has sat vacant. Nothing’s happened. Apparently, giving developers money through a TIF is the only way anything happens in this town.
The PJ Star loves to hear that we are upset about them being negative. Your comments are a sounding board for them to know that they are on track in being both abusive and absurd.
I used to complain to them all the time. I suspect they have a file on me somewhere. I cancelled my subscription two years ago, rather than support the negativism.