|
Post by RickW on Apr 25, 2009 12:52:29 GMT -5
The analysts believe that the news is good, that Ford is not going into the toilet, that they are recovering. They are doing better than what the market thought they were going to do. They are not going under, going bankrupt, not needing public money to survive. In short, they are doing better than expected. They have lost money and stock value - but it looks like they'll survive, as they said they would. That's positive, in an industry that is doing terribly, and after all the doom and gloom about how the death of the automotive industry is imminent, and that death will throw millions of Americans out of work.
|
|
Tamarack
Administrator
Ancient Citizen
Posts: 9,417
|
Post by Tamarack on Apr 25, 2009 12:56:25 GMT -5
Back to the basis of this thread -- Am I correct that headlines are not written by the original reporters, and headlines are restricted by column width, number or words, font size, etc.? Under these conditions, it's gotta be difficult to express the gist of a story in a few words in a small space. (and it doesn't leave much for editors to edit)
|
|
|
Post by Supertramp78 on Apr 25, 2009 13:03:21 GMT -5
ST: it said that it went up 13% as a result of publishing the loss (which is better than what was forecast). Which to me, is a knee-jerk reaction of the stock market. It still doesn't trump the fact that billions of dollars were lost. What's more important. 1.43 billion in losses, or a 13% increase in one day on the stock market? From the point of view of a stockholder, the 13% increase in stock. That is an increase in the value of something I own. If Ford loses money and the stock goes down then yeah, I would be upset. if they lose money that is less than the amount I thought they were going to lose, and seem to have their head screwed on right to pull this whole thing out, then I really REALLY don't care about the dollars lost in the first quarter. That's why the stock went UP. Let's look at it a different way. You get a phone call from the hospital. "Your son has been in a car crash. He's got a few injuries, but we think he's fine and will make a complete and total recovery." Which part of that do you , as a parent, think is the most important? The wreck or the expected full recovery? Is the call good news or bad? This is what the story was. Ford lost money but the news was good on the whole and the market saw it that way.
|
|
|
Post by Supertramp78 on Apr 25, 2009 13:09:43 GMT -5
Back to the basis of this thread -- Am I correct that headlines are not written by the original reporters, and headlines are restricted by column width, number or words, font size, etc.? Under these conditions, it's gotta be difficult to express the gist of a story in a few words in a small space. (and it doesn't leave much for editors to edit) Correct. Reporters do not write their headlines. It takes a special skill to write headlines and people that do it well are highly prized. There are also no shortages of arguments between reporters and the editors who write the headlines since the reporters often don't even see the headlines until after they print. Most headline writers that I knew were about the most intelligent and wickedly funny people I ever knew. These are the guys they get to work the crossword puzzles every day in order to make sure they are correct. Their ability to write puns on deadline is Godlike. When I was writng I took the time to talk to my editor so I knew what the headlines were going to be so things like this story wouldn't happen. Most reporters don't have that luxury since I wrote feature stories with editors who worked normal hours (and I got along with) and news stories have reporters who work one shift and editors that may work another. As I have said before, I was blessed with wonderful editors who welcomed whatever suggestions I could give. Only once was a story edited ina way that resulted in changing the intent of my story and after that I never let one of my stories go out before reading the final version first. That was a real luxury that 99% of news reports just don't have.
|
|