With every field of work, there is some mystery about the way things are done to people who are unfamiliar with the practice. You understand to an extent why they are being done but without the proper knowledge or training, you're still unsure.
This confusion can lead you to demonize a certain process or way of doing things because you do not understand the reasons behind it.
In a society of short attention spans and constant information, it seems like a headline to an article should tell you everything you need to know about the article because everything is given to you immediately. It seems like because you don't know everything in the article simply by the headline, it's somehow cheating you or leaving out information.
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That's wrong and will not benefit you in the long run.
A proper headline is supposed to be in simple terms, avoiding names unless of a famous person, and of course, only hinting towards the subject of the article. While some may have noble causes in saying they should "mention their name" or even fixing the headline so it tells the entire article in one sentence, they're just promoting laziness and disregarding standard journalism rules.
There is some mystery to the headline because not everything can be given to you right away. You don't know the victim's name because you would have to read the article to know it. You don't know the full extent of the incident because it would defeat the purpose of reading the article. You don't know the social and political implications surrounding the event because in reading the article you'll figure out why it was so controversial.
People expect information to be given to them immediately, without the requirement of a 500-word article going into detail about it. They expect to know exactly what happened in less than five words and then wonder why things are blown out of proportion or they don't understand everything that goes on in our world. They expect to throw literacy out of the window so they can satisfy their two-second attention span and move onto the next thing.
A headline is supposed to draw you in, not give you everything right away. It's supposed to prick your interest and pull you through the entire article so you receive all the information. It's not supposed to disrespect a victim or mislead you simply because it does not have a synopsis of the entire article.
Stop saying "say their name" or fixing articles because you don't understand journalistic stylings. Stop feeling indignant because a headline does not serve its entire content on a silver platter to you immediately. Stop being lazy and read the article!
