Most of the time, the editor must write the headline to fit a certain space - not an easy task. Some readers believe that the reporter who writes the story also writes the headline. Reporters don't write headlines. Most of the time, reporters have no idea what headlines are above their stories until they see the newspaper. Reporters, however, can compound the problems of headline writers by failing to write clearly and concisely.
Most headlines reflect the central idea of the story, but sometimes they do miss the mark.