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Once again the posters title was overruled despite the fact that it was on top of page 1, the posters title was a quote taken directly from the article, and the
by ra 13y ago
Once again the posters title was overruled despite the fact that it was on top of page 1, the posters title was a quote taken directly from the article, and the post was generating good discussion.
- nilved 13y agoNone of those things matter at all. The second title is objectively more descriptive and that's what titles should be.
- seiji 13y agoOnly truth. Only fact. No art. No feeling. Sad world.
- nilved 13y agoWhy are you coming to a news website for intentionally unhelpful "artistic" headlines? I think you might have made a wrong turn.
- barrkel 13y agoWho put you in charge and gave you the idea that HN was a news website? The site is 99% opinion, 1% external links. It is in no way a news site, in the way that phrase is normally understood.
- nilved 13y ago> HN Do you know what this stands for?
- seiji 13y agoIs it an alligator running away from a ladder and a sideways Z?
- foobarbazqux 13y agoIf you tilt your head 90 degrees it actually says V IZ going from top to bottom. I have no idea what this means though. I also thought maybe it was something like "better than snakes and ladders", but that would be more like "> NH". Still confused.
- AnthonyMouse 13y ago> The second title is objectively more descriptive Is it? Probably most people who haven't yet read the story don't know who David Mirdanda is, since the story they haven't read yet is the thing they would most likely know him for. "Schedule 7" is meaningless without context. "The danger that all reporters now face" is meaningless without context -- they could just as well be talking about libel laws or piracy or some news about the Apple antitrust case. The new title is objectively less descriptive because it gives the reader no clue as to what the article is actually about before reading it. The original title tells you exactly what the article is about. "You've had your debate. There's no need to write anymore." That's what the article is about.
- nilved 13y agoNo, second person "you" is less telling than third person "David Miranda." "Your debate" is not descriptive in the least. I chose the word "objectively" deliberately.
- goblin89 13y agoThe first title doesn't correctly translate what the article is about. The quote might well be taken from a ranty essay, and without context hints at empty sensationalism. This doesn't make the second title ‘objectively’ more descriptive, though. A person who happens to miss Miranda's name in news and isn't familiar with Schedule 7 term, such as myself, wouldn't find it descriptive at all. Still, second title looks subjectively better to me. I'd say ‘all reporters’ is bad phrasing for HN (the article doesn't imply that every reporter, regardless of their country or what they write about, now faces danger), and HDD destruction may deserve mentioning (it seems central to the story), but overall this headline does better job at translating the spirit of the article and sets correct expectations for the reader.