Bob Rivard explains the moratorium on pun heads

I invited Bob Rivard, editor of the San Antonio Express-News, to respond to yesterday's tip about his ban on pun headlines. He welcomed the invitation and here is his response:

The moratorium is a temporary one, but it will remain in effect until editors here reach consensus on that issue and how to achieve across-the-board, general improvement in our headline writing. I can't recall any other time in my three years as managing editor or nine years as editor where I've had to issue such an edict, but it came only after months and months of more collegial leadership failed to produce substantive change. I don't think fear is a good management tool, but I don't think allowing headline writers to ignore senior editors is smart, either. Everyone here, including myself, wants to get to the day where we operate again completely on trust. If the Spurs rebound against the Mavericks - and it could happen - we will give the okay to some fun headlines if the writers are able to equal to their past brilliance. Actually, various headline writers have been emailing creative word play to myself and Brett Thacker, the managing editor. We have been fine with most of those submissions, and we've rejected a few others. A hackneyed pun headline made it on to one of the news pages this weekend; we responded with a reminder rather than something more punitive.

What's lost in the national conversation about the pun moratorium is this: We have been working with Poynter, our staff writing coach and others for some months to achieve overall improvement in headline writing here. Readers deserve as much. The Express-News is edited with a lot of energy and verve. Creative headlines are essential, but so is self-discipline. When we regain that balance we'll move ahead.

Thanks to Bob for that elaboration. Such an issue of copy desk management seems a good time to plug API's News Editors and Copy Desk Chiefs seminar. I hope to nail down the schedule and program in the next few days, but already I am pleased that we have a strong seminar taking shape. It will be July 30 to Aug. 4 here in Reston, Va. Your news editor, copy desk chief or an editor aspiring or being groomed to such a position can join us for a week of stimulating discussion and exercises with some of the best editors in our business. The tentative lineup of discussion leaders includes John McIntyre of the Baltimore Sun; Teresa Schmedding of the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago; Glenn Proctor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch; Kathy Schenck of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Alex Cruden of the Detroit Free Press; Mark Briggs of the News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash.; Tom Linthicum of the TDL Group; Stephen Rice of PerforMax Inc.; John Seigenthaler of the Freedom Forum and Drew Davis and Mary Peskin of API. We will address a wide range of important issues in copy desk, relating to change and innovation as well as to the time-honored duties of the desk. We will talk about staffing, editing and adapting to the 24/7 multi-platform newsroom. We will talk about skeptical editing, managing performance and innovating copy flow. We will talk about leadership challenges that are unique to your desk. We will talk about designing a front page to connect with readers.

Tuition is $1,875 but if you register by our early-bird deadline of June 2, you will save 10 percent and pay only $1,688. In addition, the hotel-meal package at the Sheraton Reston, just a block away from API, costs $995. You can register and get more information here.