Enticing Titles

It has become common for news companies to publish very similar articles about the same subjects. A week ago, a story was released about stone spear tips that are “surprisingly old.” It suggests that the early human ancestors may have been smarter than we give them credit for.

- New York Times

The titles of three different news sources are all similar yet different. For once, they actually tried to get readers hooked by discussing different aspects of the discovery. The New York Times discusses how the stone spear made work easier for hunters. The National Geographic approaches the subject by emphasizing the age of the stone spear tips by comparing this new discovery to finding an iPod in Ancient Rome, which shows how crazy this is since iPods have only been around for a decade and could never be found there. Finally the Huffington Post attacks the subject by saying that weapons were created earlier than scientists had believed.

- National Geographic

The angles for these stories varies a little although, in the end, they are all about the same subject and have content that is even more similar. The Huffington Post and The New York Times have articles that are almost identical, even in length. The National Geographic article is longer and goes more in-depth, touching on the subjects of efficient hunting, increased brain size, proof that they were indeed spear tips, and more. The other two articles do not even try to share that much knowledge. This could be because the authors of the other two articles are not as concerned with archaeological discoveries, they report on all that goes on in the world, not on just nature, animals, and science, whereas National Geographic is completely dedicated to it.

 

- Huffington Post