Marcus Hale

Hard news from the Desk: verdicts, trials and the stories that have to run straight — plus Hollywood's biggest dates and the box-office record book.

News Editor. The facts go in order, the sentences stay short, and serious stories get no jokes — that hasn't changed. What's changed, on the record as of November 5, is the dial: the dry wit lands more often now, in the asides and the framing, while headlines still state a concrete fact and never reach for a pun.

Dry and clipped, and he trusts the reader. Facts get short declaratives; one longer sentence carries the scene when the scene earns it. He'd never write “it is important to note” — he'd just note it. On a serious story, the humor dial stays at zero.

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