Breaking news! There’s something strange happening in your area! We will report on it to the best of our abilities, but don’t be alarmed if there are a few typos we later have to correct. The important thing is that we will be using a ridiculous headline that will grab your attention and hopefully allow us to go viral on Twitter in the future. We will keep you updated on the story, but for now, that’s all. We will now return to your regularly scheduled programming…

We all know there are strange things happening around the world all the time, and many of them make news headlines (We’ve all heard of the infamous Florida man, right?). So for all of your entertainment, pandas, we’ve taken a trip down the feed of this Twitter account that’s dedicated to sharing the most bizarre headlines and hilarious typo corrections that have ever made the news. Keep reading to also find an interview we were lucky enough to receive from Scotty Horsman, host of the What a Weird Week podcast.

Be sure to upvote the pics that you can’t believe are real, and feel free to share any odd headlines you’ve read in your local paper in the comments below. Then if you’re interested in checking out some of the wildest corrections newspapers have ever had to publish, we recommend reading this Board Panda article next!

*We would like to apologize for the typo. We actually meant Bored Panda!

More info: Twitter

#1

Image credits: Cr*pLocalNews

Watching or reading the news can be an upsetting experience. Sometimes it feels like the only things being reported are tragedies and atrocities. And don’t get me wrong, it is important for us to be aware of current events, the good, the bad and the ugly. But every now and then, it’s nice to take a moment to reflect on some of the most ridiculous and absurd headlines that have made the paper. And that’s what the [Odd] Local News Twitter account is all about. This page, which has over 56k followers, shares photos of the strangest and funniest headlines and bits of articles that the world has ever seen.

The account mainly focuses on the UK, but they don’t discriminate. Their bio notes that they share local news stories and headlines from “beyond” as well. But one thing that this Twitter account makes glaringly obvious is that headlines can have quite the impact on audiences. Without even reading most of these stories, their headlines alone have the power to influence how we feel about them. We can decide in a split second whether or not a headline sounds funny, grabs our attention, annoys us or upsets us. Thankfully, today we’ll be focusing on headlines that perplex us or get a laugh out of us!

#2

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#3

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To learn more about the role that headlines play in what sorts of news people tend to seek out, we consulted an article titled The Current State of News Headlines, written by Joshua Scacco and Ashley Muddiman, faculty research associates at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Media Engagement. Scacco and Muddiman examined how powerful headlines are in our digital age, where we tend to scroll through news websites and select which story to read based on what has the flashiest title, and what the implications of this are for newsrooms.

One point that Scacco and Muddiman raise is that the type of headlines that a news source uses will impact how their readers rate their credibility. “In the current media environment, traditional news sources have to compete with both digital news sources (e.g., Politico) and more entertainment-focused sources (e.g., Buzzfeed) for the attention of users,” they write in their report. “When traditional news sources move away from using the traditional news headline, does that influence what people think about the news source itself? For instance, NPR posted a story on September 20, 2015 with the following headline: The U.N. Wants You To Take A Selfie, Spin Around, Listen To A Llama. When readers see such headlines on NPR, do they think of the news outlet as a less serious and less credible news organization?”

#4

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#6

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It is understandable why even traditional news outlets would want to sensationalize their titles to get more clicks, but headlines can serve a variety of purposes. And they shouldn’t stray too far from any of their goals just to grab attention. Scacco and Muddiman note that some of the functions headlines can serve are “story summarization, interest generation, immediacy satisfaction, and attention direction”.

If the title has already summarized the story, readers will likely only click or continue to read if they’re interested by the details of what happened. If a source wants to generate interest in a story, they should avoid using “flat headlines” and get a bit more creative. Using puns, word play, alliteration or other literary devices can be a great way to build appeal in any topic. A flashy headline can also be paired with photos or multimedia elements to generate even more interest.

#7

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#9

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To learn more about strange news that gets reported on, we reached out to Scotty Horsman, host of the What a Weird Week podcast. First, we wanted to know what inspired Scotty to start a show centered around weird news. “Fame and fortune, of course,” he told Bored Panda jokingly. “But also, my podcast is basically a ripoff of the old and wonderfully weird ‘Ripley’s Believe or Not’ radio feature. Did I say ripoff? I meant an homage. Oops.” Whatever he wants to call it, it’s certainly entertaining! His show highlights the headlines that you can’t believe were published about events that you can’t believe actually happened, including mystery moon crashes, grilled cheese sandwich art and Mariah Carey being sued for song theivery. We live in a weird world, and every week is full of new strange news.

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#12

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We also asked Scotty why he thinks people are so captivated by strange news. “It’s terrific when you hear a story that seems absolutely bonkers and find yourself thinking, ‘I guess anything’s possible!'” he told Bored Panda. Anything certainly is possible, as this list is making abundantly clear…

#13

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#14

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#15

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We also asked Scotty how he decides what to feature on his podcast. Apparently, he has a few requirements for the news stories he shares with listeners: not too saucy, not too deep and interesting enough to tell his wife about at the supper table. And when it comes to where he finds these weird stories to share, he told Bored Panda that they come from many sources. “But if you only had Twitter and Reddit, you’d have enough content for decades,” he added.

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#17

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#18

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We were also curious about some of Scotty’s favorite topics to discuss on the show. “I love all the weird food stories,” he shared. “When a restaurant chain introduces a fried chicken wine, that’s making the show for sure! Imagine the team of marketers who sat around tweaking that idea.” (Scotty added that this may not have happened yet, but he expects it any day now.)

If you’re interested in checking out What a Weird Week and keeping updated on all the bizarre occurrences that happen every day, you can find Scotty’s podcast right here!

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#21

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Are these photos making you want to actually watch the news for once? Or are they making you want to facepalm and cancel your subscription to your local newspaper? We hope you’re enjoying these pictures from news outlets that you might not believe were actually published. Keep upvoting the pics that shock you the most or make you do a double take, and let us know in the comments if you’ve ever seen absurd headlines in your local news. Then if you want to check out another Bored Panda article featuring all of the hilarious corrections news outlets have had to publish, you can find that right here!