Less dramatic headline

Professor Warren C. Price, the ex-copy editor who taught journalism at the University of Oregon, would have had a hissy fit if any of his Copy Editing I students in the 1960’s had dared to write the headline, “Trump aides indicted in Russian probe,” (Oct. 31).

Politics aside, the headline wasn’t accurate. The Trump aides were, in fact, ex-Trump aides. And their indictments had nothing to do with the Russian inquiry. Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigators uncovered possible evidence of tax evasion and other charges while investigating Paul Manafort. They reportedly occurred years ago and apparently have nothing to do with Trump or his campaign. Since Manafort is the only name in the story your readers would recognize, I submit that a more accurate head would have been “Manafort indicted on tax evasion charges.”

Not nearly as titillating, is it? But it’s accurate, and of that I’m sure Price would approve.

Maxine E. Sullivan

Harrison