Praising Star headline with faint damns

by David Safier

It's a pretty good headline:

Obama: Health-care law already helping

No real complaints about the Star headline for the AP story about the first positive effects of health care reform on families and businesses.

But I was curious to see how other papers headlined the story. I found, other papers used the word "millions" in the headline. The Star cut it out.

Obama says health care law already helps millions

This is the longest and most glowing headline I found.

Obama says new health care law already is helping millions of Americans and businesses

The Star used the basic AP headline and cut it down a bit. ("OK, damn it, we'll use the original head," I imagine the Star Headline Czar saying, biting his/her fist. "We'll say the health care law helps. But helps millions? Never! Cut the millions! Cut the millions!")

Still, the headline is true to the story, if edited a bit so it doesn't make Obama or health care reform look too good. And to be fair, others used the same head as the Star.

I'll take today's health care headline as a sign of progress.