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Headline writers vote `Arnold' for governor
Associated Press ^ | Oct. 11, 2003, 8:59PM | By LAURA WIDES

Posted on 10/12/2003 5:19:28 PM PDT by weegee

LOS ANGELES -- Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger has been elected governor, California newspaper editors are scratching their heads over the daily challenge of squeezing his 14-letter last name into a headline.

Copy editors, given large headlines to work with during the recall election, are likely to have smaller spaces for daily stories on state government.

"There were copy editors across the state who were dreading the prospect of Schwarzenegger becoming governor, not because of politics but because of the fit," said John Armstrong, editor of the Contra Costa Times.

Editors at the newspaper briefly discussed using Schwarzenegger's three initials, like JFK and LBJ, Armstrong said.

"But we looked up his middle name, Alois, and AAS, not so good," he said. "Editors like me across the state would have a sleepless night worrying about the possible typo."

Some may opt for the bland term "governor." Others may take his name out of the headline, as the San Jose Mercury News did Wednesday when it proclaimed: "BLOWOUT!"

Below the single word, in smaller letters, was a secondary headline: "It's Governor Schwarzenegger; Angry Voters Dump Davis."

Editors who've watched dozens of Schwarzenegger's films and followed his wife's family for half a century might take the liberty of calling him Arnold -- or even Iron Arnie, as he is referred to by the Kleine Zeitung newspaper in his native Austria.

"Today we used the word `Arnold,' " said Morton Saltzman, deputy managing editor of The Sacramento Bee. "I suspect we might be going to that in headlines, because he's used it. He's called himself Gov. Arnold."

But Saltzman said some editors are concerned that might sound too friendly, and "governor" may win in the end.

Dave Tepps, deputy managing editor of the Mercury News, said the paper is opposed to the first-name reference because it's not appropriate for a serious story.

"I'm still not sure what we're going to do," Tepps said. "There's going to be more discussion in the newsroom."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: 2003recall; california; davisrecall; governorarnold; governorelect; graydavis; mediabias; recall; recallelection; schwarzenegger
That and they'd have to take the risk that they'd misspell "Schwarzenegger".
1 posted on 10/12/2003 5:19:29 PM PDT by weegee
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2 posted on 10/12/2003 5:21:10 PM PDT by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
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To: weegee
What about Governator?
3 posted on 10/12/2003 5:21:37 PM PDT by Texas Eagle
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To: weegee
How about just "Gov"?
4 posted on 10/12/2003 5:28:19 PM PDT by knuthom
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To: weegee
"Arnold"? Unless the story is about talking swine, its pretty obvious who the subject is.
5 posted on 10/12/2003 5:30:13 PM PDT by strela ("It's about governance. It's not about sermons." Brooks Firestone)
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To: weegee
Chicago headline writers have the same problem with Gov. Rod Blagojevich. They've shortened it to "Blago"
6 posted on 10/12/2003 5:58:37 PM PDT by TedsGarage
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To: TedsGarage
The Japanese refer to him as " Schwar chan " !
7 posted on 10/12/2003 6:12:32 PM PDT by sushiman
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To: weegee
With the inclusion of an exclamation point after his name, without a space of course, he can become the one and only

ARNOLD!

8 posted on 10/12/2003 6:20:53 PM PDT by JerseyHighlander (Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant!)
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To: weegee
There were copy editors across the state who were dreading the prospect of Schwarzenegger becoming governor, not because of politics but because of the fit," ...

It's nice to find out that the sliming of the governor-elect was due to the length of his name.

9 posted on 10/12/2003 6:49:22 PM PDT by curmudgeonII
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To: curmudgeonII
Very observant. BTTT
10 posted on 10/12/2003 6:50:13 PM PDT by weegee
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To: JerseyHighlander
I think that the more phonetically correct "(R)nold" should be used in headlines... Just to remind Democrats that they just got their nuts kicked so far up their asses that they will be choking on pubic hair for the next two months...


dvwjr
11 posted on 10/12/2003 8:17:38 PM PDT by dvwjr
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To: weegee
For some reason, I thought THIS was hilarious:

"But we looked up his middle name, Alois, and AAS, not so good," he said. "Editors like me across the state would have a sleepless night worrying about the possible typo."

And I'm still giggling about it!

12 posted on 10/12/2003 8:30:49 PM PDT by alwaysconservative (Proofread twice, post once. That's easy. Okay. Proofread once, post twice, right?)
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To: weegee

13 posted on 10/13/2003 4:10:26 AM PDT by GraniteStateConservative ("We happy because when we switch on the TV you never see Saddam Hussein. That's a big happy.")
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To: weegee
...and they'd have to take the risk that they'd misspell "Schwarzenegger".

LOL. I think that's the real reason.

14 posted on 10/13/2003 4:11:50 AM PDT by mewzilla
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To: mewzilla
It certainly has to be better than them supporting Gov. Bustamante (10 letters) over Gov. Schwarzenegger (14 letters)
15 posted on 10/13/2003 10:58:28 AM PDT by weegee
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