2005 Arizona Press Club Awards

HEADLINE WRITING
Each winning entry is followed by judges' comments

C42.  News headlines

53 entries

Judge: David Sullivan, assistant managing editor/ copy desks of The

Philadelphia Inquirer, is on the national board of the American Copy Editors Society. 

First place

Jean Novotny, The Arizona Republic: “Profit hike has Google feeling lucky,” “My 3 suns: Planet basks in trio's heat” and “By the time Glen Campbell gets back to Phoenix, it'll be cooler”

“These were just superb. You don't have to know the Google button to get the first head, but if you do it makes you happy. The Glen Campbell hed is a talker, but it reflects the story and keeps in the mood of the song while not feeling bound slavishly by it (introducing a needed “back"). The phrase "Planet basks in trio's heat" is evocative and the play in the kicker just makes it better. How to give a newspaper a sense of fun on actual news stories while still reporting the news.”

Second place

Joe McDermott, Arizona Daily Star: “Tombstone, the town too tough to live in,” "M' is for the many things she's against” and "Farm livin' is the life for me, more urban residents deciding”

“The Tombstone hed not only played on the well known phrase but accurately reflected the column. The second hed is a clever way to sum up a hard column to summarize, the only quibble being does the "she" mean the columnist or the iconographic mother. And thanks to TV Land, you can still make a pun off Green Acres and have young people know what you meant.”

Third place

Jean Novotny, The Arizona Republic: “Will Arizona go coastal? It's not likely,” “Do-not-call list for dead has dibs on your last $1” and “Legislative bench press”

“These were all clever headlines that left a clear impression. The last one is impressive — a clever phrase that is accurate on an editorial page overline.”

C43. Feature headlines

Judge: Marcus Chamberland, assistant copy chief of the Denver Post,  won a 2005 Award of Excellence from the American Copy Editors Society and has been honored for headline writing by the Hearst Corp., the Houston Press Club and the Denver Press Club.

First place

Sylvia Cody, The Arizona Republic: “Raising the rafters,” “Soothing the savaged breasts” and “Shopping down the bunny trail”

“I liked the way each of these heds took a common phrase and turned it on its side to mean something different that fit each story perfectly: ‘Raising the rafters’ for a story about higher-than-normal water on rafting routes;

‘Soothing the savaged breasts’ on a woman whose sense of humor helps her and others traverse the trauma of breast cancer; ‘Shopping down the bunny trail’

for a story on fancy and whimsical products available at Eastertime. Nice,

consistent work.”

Second place

Dave Ord, Arizona Daily Star: “From play by play to ... day to day,” “Record number of folks on spokes” and “Cashing in their chips”

“’From play by play to ... day to day’ was best in show. It succinctly

demonstrates the dual journey of two men whose lives revolved around baseball to the sudden obstacle presented by cancer. Obviously, everything changed for these men, and the hed captures it by combining two sports phrases in a clever way. ‘Folks on spokes’ was a nice turn of phrase to define cyclists, one I'd never seen before (and I worked next door to a bike shop for four years in the 1980s). ‘Cashing in their chips’ was a nice use of a poker phrase to describe the careers of some ex-UA golfers.”

Third place

Clay McNear, Phoenix New Times: “Tome capsule,” Quantum bleep” and “O Solo trio”

“Another entry whose wordplay went above and beyond the ordinary. Each of these very brief label heds captures its subject beautifully, with nary a wasted word.”

Honorable mention

Benjamin Leatherman, Phoenix New Times: “Tech Mex,” “Swat team” and

“Beach in heat”

“This is wordplay that fits the story, but whose echo doesn't quite. The turns of phrase are interesting, but while ‘Tech Mex’ described the feature, the subject had nothing to do with food — in other words, the play works one way only, as opposed to ‘Tome capsule’ above. Likewise ‘Beach in Heat’

— yes, a beach in Arizona is unique, but there's nothing to do with canines here. ‘Swat team’ was good but may have been a little too easy.”