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Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 

‘You need a dirty mind’ archive

Number of comments in parentheses

Sept. 28, 2012: Flunking the breakfast test

To an overworked copy editor, this headline might be a perfectly good way to tell — in very few words — what this story is about. But to someone who didn’t read the story first? Not so much. That ran in Thursday’s Louisville (Ky.) Courier Journal. If it makes you feel any better, the online version didn’t have the same [...]

July 6, 2012: A highly-specific duty on the ol’ campaign trail (1)

Stop the electronic presses: There’s a truly interesting presidential campaign headline today, from the Tampa Bay Times of St. Petersburg, Fla. Wow. John Edwards, for one, would most certainly approve. I understand what Ann Romney means when she says her job is to “unzip” her husband (those are, in fact, her own words). But an editor also has to know what [...]

July 5, 2012: You need a dirty mind to be a wire editor

It’s nice to see that in this crazy, fast-paced world, genitalia still has value. That rather interesting headline moved overnight via the Associated Press. Thanks to David Putney of the Virginian-Pilot for posting it to Facebook. — Previous howlers for that sixth-grader in us all… May 31: Unknown newspaper – A headline too dirty even for Charles Apple? Not possible. [...]

May 31, 2012: You need a dirty mind to be a business editor (1)

Lee Steele of Hearst’s Bridgeport, Conn., hub found this today, reposted it on his Facebook timeline and called it… …A headline goof probably too dirty even for Charles Apple. Heh. Wrong. That’s pretty bad. Those of you considering phasing out your copy desks, take note: A newspaper or web site really needs to be able to catch something like this. [...]

May 18, 2012: You need a dirty mind to be a photo editor

An anonymous reader writes: Hey, Charles. I’m a long-time reader, first-time submitter. This is from a special graduation section in [Thursday's] Coon Rapids Enterprise, a weekly in tiny Coon Rapids, Iowa. It’s part of a full-page photo montage. I’m not sure what cheer this is, but it seems to have had quite an effect. Oh, yeah. That’s a humdinger. Um, [...]

May 11, 2012: Another “this HAS to be intentional” headline

But seriously: How on Earth could anyone write a headline like this unintentionally? Just amazing. This headline was posted Thursday afternoon and reportedly stood like that for a while until it was finally, mercifully, changed to something more benign. It was originally pointed out by James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal and then written about last night by Mediaite. [...]

May 4, 2012: Everything should be copy-edited. Even ‘art heds.’ ESPECIALLY ‘art heds.’

That was the lesson learned today, I’d presume, by my friends at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. A rather unfortunate thing happened with the cute reflection-in-the-water gimmick someone attempted on today’s features front. As you can see. Yes, it does look almost like it says “shit yourself.” Obviously unintentional. But still: You have to watch out for things like this. Jim Romenesko [...]

April 20, 2012: Today’s most interesting front-page illustration (1)

A noted visual journalist — one I shall not name — writes this morning: Maybe I have a dirty mind (which makes me a good copy editor, right?), but I do NOT think sandwich when I look at this. I mean, I get what they were trying to do, but … The page to which she refers is this one [...]

April 6, 2012: You need a dirty mind to be an editor…

OK, folks, I realize that “facial” might be a term that’s used mostly in pornography. But, still. Anyone who’s worked in media even a brief time has had enough pop culture exposure to recognize it as a word from which to stay away when writing a headline. Right? Unless you just want everyone snickering at you. That’s NBA.com, earlier today. [...]

April 5, 2012: You need a dirty mind to be an editor (1)

I mean, really. How could anyone approve this book title? Yet it was approved. And published. Back in 1995 — not last year, as Entertainment Weekly suggested recently. Thanks to James Molnar of the Toledo (Ohio) Free Press for the tip. — Previous howlers for that sixth-grader in us all… April 2: MSN Now – Is this headline for real? [...]

April 2, 2012: Is this MSN Now headline for real? (3)

Danielle Morris — a senior at Ohio University — writes tonight: I was just browsing MSN‘s Now website and found this peculiar headline… I can’t decide if it was meant to be dirty or if the person writing it didn’t have a dirty mind. Thought you’d find it funny! Yep. That’s funny. And also suspicious. Looks to me like a [...]

March 20, 2012: You need a dirty mind to… design the side of a campaign bus? (2)

This is either the world’s greatest political ad plastered on the side of this bus. Or the world’s stupidest. That’s the official campaign bus for Wildrose party leader Danielle Smith of Alberta, Canada. The photo went viral Monday in the worst way. Graham Thomson of the Edmonton Journal writes: If you’ve ever suspected Twitter was invented by 13-year-old boys with [...]

March 11, 2012: You need a dirty mind to be a copy editor (1)

There’s probably not a lot you can do to insulate the name of Washington state Congressman Norm Dicks from sixth-grader snickering. So perhaps it’s a good thing that he’s retiring. Because when I saw this today… …all I could see was this: Find the story here by the Olympian‘s Rob Hotakainen. The page image is from the Newseum. Of course. — [...]

Feb. 27, 2012: There’s just no way this headline wasn’t intentional (2)

This wickedly funny headline comes from Second Front, the political blog of the alternative online magazine known as Weld for Birmingham. I spent some time poking around that site last night and I couldn’t find any other headlines that struck me nearly as edgy as that one. So perhaps this was purely a coincidence. Or not. Most likely not. — [...]

Dec. 7, 2011: For your consideration… (1)

The HappyPlace blog calls this… The most accidentally pornographic pile of newspapers ever seen. Most definitely unintentional. How many of us stop to think about what a front-page photo would look like when papers are bundled or stacked? The Waitrose Weekend is an in-house organ (sorry) published by a grocery chain in Bracknell, Berkshire, an hour or so west of [...]

Dec. 3, 2011: You need a dirty mind to be an editor

Once upon a time, “finger” was a word that made a perfectly good verb in a news headline: To identify. But no longer. I’m talking to you, Washington Examiner. Yeah, I should have posted this yesterday. So sue me. Or, better yet — finger me. The page image is from the Newseum. Of course. Previous howlers for that sixth-grader in [...]

Nov. 15, 2011: Why the Bay-area Manila Mail needs a copy editor with a dirty mind (2)

Or, at least, an editor who’s spent a little time kicking around the internet. Check out this headline on the front of a recent edition of the Manila Mail, a weekly based in San Francisco and aimed at the Filipino market. That’s a double word score of sorts for anyone with a dirty mind. Both “MILF” and “FAP” are acronyms [...]

Nov. 13, 2011: You need a dirty mind to be an editor (2)

I’ve written a number of times here in the blog about how it’s vital that your copy desk is staffed with people with dirty minds. Without that kind of critical eye, you’re doomed to put things into your paper — or onto your web site — that makes the eighth-grader in all of us snicker. For MSNBC, today is one [...]

Sept. 19, 2011: Why CBS Local Media needs a copy editor (preferably one with a dirty mind) (1)

CBS Local Media — which supplies web content to local stations, including WCCO-TV Channel 4 in Minneapolis — needs a copy editor to keep it from writing unintentionally hilarious headlines. Like this one from last night: It certainly gets your attention, does it not? At some point between now and then, they fixed it. Thankfully. It’s not just important to [...]

Sept. 9, 2011: You need a dirty mind to be an editor, part four… (2)

This one came in last night while I was watching the Packers hold off the Saints. It’s yet another example of a headline that, to some people, looks just fine. But to someone with even a slightly dirty mind, it’s a scream. That was found yesterday at the Cincinnati Enquirer‘s web site. Thanks much to my anonymous tipster. I guess [...]

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