This article in the NY Times talks about how the headline writers are having to adjust their headlining skills to work with very literally minded bots.

Gone will be the days of Sticks Nix Hick Pix or Ford to City: Drop Dead.  Of course, I have no idea what those mean. Headless Body in Topless Bar is pretty self-explanatory.

One thing I have appreciated over the years is a good editor. There are thousands of newsworthy events that happen every day around the world. A good editor will find 100 or so and present them to me; formerly in a newspaper or magazine, currently in those or online. I then can peruse the headlines and choose the 20-30 articles I have the time to read.

That’s a lot better than me trying to scan the thousands of newsworthy events myself. Presumably an editor also knows if the source is trusted and that the writer is on top of the subject. (That’s usually the case with a good editor.)

In the Blogosphere there are also a few bloggers that I look on as trusted editors. If they refer me to another article, I expect that it will worth reading and will usually be of interest.  Trust is still a rare commodity in the Blogosphere, at least for me. There are too many people with axes to grind for me to accept online coverage of events by people who aren’t on the scene, even when referred by someone I trust. They are basically opinion pieces by that time.  Still might be interesting reading, with the author using the language well, but it doesn’t mean it’s worth remembering.  (I hate reading stuff that ain’t written good.)

Everyone is right at least 10% of the time.
Everyone is wrong at least 10% of the time.
And a good editor will get the best percentages publicized.