How we come up with our headlines
She the People.
Rarely has a Toronto Star headline proved so popular with so many readers than the one published on the front page Sunday Jan. 22, 2017, atop a photo of the historic Women’s March on Washington.
The reaction from the public was overwhelmingly positive, especially on social media. Thousands of Twitter users retweeted the headline and photo while others liked the page on Facebook; readers wrote in asking how they could get a copy.
The Star’s newly created trust committee has fielded several inquiries from readers wanting to know who writes the headlines. The story of the Women’s March offers an excellent chance to delve into how headlines develop over the course of the day and who writes them.
She the People was the print headline. Stories on the march appeared under different headlines on the Star’s website, mobile app and tablet app, Star Touch. Each platform has its own set of headline criteria, such as its intended audience, the space available, whether it’s fair and whether it needs to be searchable online.
Senior news editor Marie Sutherland, who writes most of the headlines for the print edition’s front page, says she considers two things when coming up with a headline: the tone of the story — is it light and funny, or serious and solemn — and, the photo it will be paired with, if there is one.
“I find it jarring to have a headline that doesn’t speak to or reflect the photo. It’s a package deal, and they should enhance each other,” Sutherland says.
In the case of She the People, Sutherland says the original plan that Saturday was to have both the Women’s March and a local education story on the front page.
But that changed as the afternoon unfolded and the sheer magnitude of the marches worldwide became clear.
Sutherland, in consultation with managing editor Irene Gentle, decided the story would dominate A1.
“We watched, transfixed, as woman after powerful woman came onto the stage, delivering goosebump-inducing speeches and performances,” Sutherland said this week. “In other words, this was a historic moment.”
Sutherland says she knew the headline had to capture the female aspect of the event, as well as its gravitas. She and a team of editors selected a photo of the crowds in Washington and brainstormed headline ideas, including: The Reckoning; Stand and Be Counted; The Mother Lode; and 2 Million Women, One Message.
“Each of these headlines was on the page for a while, but none of them quite gave me the emotional gutpunch I felt this day deserved,” Sutherland says.
Editors watched as activists and celebrities took to the stage in Washington. Then Gloria Steinem took the microphone and quoted the United States Constitution, which she reminded the crowd “does not begin with ‘I the president,’ it begins with, ‘We the people.’ ”
“And that’s when it came to me,” Sutherland says. “She the People.”
Gentle gave her final approval by email. The headline “spoke directly to this immensely powerful event I had been watching unfold all over North America and beyond,” Gentle said this week. This story is part of a Star series exploring how the newsroom operates. Email your questions to trust@thestar.ca.