My God, they shot him!

PHOENIX -- This isn't just another hed for the "down these mean streets" collection (and yes, as I've been telling the younguns this semester, should you want to get Your Editor something for Xpesmasse, a "gets shot" hed is always nice). This is genuine silly editing: taking an item that was fine in the first place and worsening it for late-breaking readers.

At top is the hed as I saw it this morning. Below is the vastly better version that was up last night -- better because someone had the good sense to realize that "gets a shot" is the standard argument for when to break the rule about leaving articles out of heds. And if someone thought the readership was better served by blindly following some rule from those heady days of the classroom, someone thought wrong. Grr.

Otherwise, having a wonderful time! We're at the ACES gathering to talk with editors about editing. Regular posting will resume shortly, and tnx to all who have been sending in good finds meanwhile.