Inquirer banner: PUNONGBAYAN KILLED
Philippine Star banner: EX-PHIVOLCS CHIEF KILLED IN NUEVA ECIJA CHOPPER CRASH
I don't think I have to tell you who won in today's battle for eyeballs, but I will tell you anyway. The Inquirer, of course. The paper has the knack for shock, and for choosing just the right words to deliver today's biggest blows. Punongbayan. Killed. And under that banner: 8 also die in aerial mission to save lives.
I've worked at the Inquirer before and I tell you these guys are sharp. Not only are they editorially on the ball, their editors know how to aim straight at the Pinoy's heart.
I mean, does this read like a conventional lead paragraph to you? "It turned out to be his last mission to save lives. Philippine National Red Cross Governor Raymundo Punongbayan and eight other persons were on their way back in a helicopter... when their time ran out."
That compared to Philippine Star's "A military helicopter carrying a group of government scientists (where's punongbayan?) crashed in a mountainous area in Nueva Ecija, yesterday morning, killing all nine people on board (still no Punongbayan), one of them former Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) chief Raymundo Punongbayan. (finally Punongbayan!).
In this age of instant messaging, the papers had better learn to write headlines that we can read as fast as we can text. Remember: we now write for an entire generations of readers who have NO TIME FOR VOWELS!
i hope i can get a copy of the two paper's edition about my dad's death. how can i get one?
Posted by: stauro | April 01, 2008 at 04:31 PM