Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s death on April 8 was reported by all newspapers and news channels across the world. Here are headlines from some news channels and newspapers:
• Margaret Thatcher dead at age 87 (CNN)
• Margaret Thatcher dies (NDTV)
• Margaret Thatcher, ‘Iron Lady’ Who Set Britain on New Course, Dies at 87 (The New York Times)
A reader called me from Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, to ask why news headlines are written in present tense. There are many reasons for reporting the past in present tense, especially while writing headlines. It creates a different effect. A news item with a headline in present tense creates a positive effect on the reader as it exhibits freshness and vividness. Such a news report or story makes the reader sense the immediacy and the present. Why is present tense preferred to past tense? The reason is simple. Past implies death and present implies freshness and life. The other reasons why present tense is preferred are: to give a dramatic effect, to create a sense of immediacy to headlines, to bring the reader close to the event and to create positive impact on the listener or reader. The human mind is tuned to hearing or reading fresh news on television, the radio or newspapers.
The headline is in present tense to attract the reader to read the news item, but the narration is in the past tense. Here is an extract from The New York Times: Her (Mrs Thatcher’s) spokesman, Tim Bell, said she died of a stroke at the Ritz Hotel. She had been in poor health for months and had suffered from dementia. Prime Minister David Cameron cut short a visit to Continental Europe to return to Britain after receiving the news, and Queen Elizabeth II authorized a ceremonial funeral with military honors — a notch below a state funeral — at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
Sports commentaries are also in present tense. Here is a piece of cricket commentary from a recent IPL match:
• Nehra to Rohit Sharma, SIX, that is a stunning short by Rohit Sharma to end the over, even though Nehra cramped him with a yorker length delivery on the leg stump, he clears his left foot, and goes through with his flick shot, gets good enough timing and deposits it over the deep square leg fence.
When we hear commentary on radio we can easily visualise what is happening at a particular moment. If the pieces above were in past tense, it would not be easy for the listener to visualise the sequence of events. Commentaries presented in the present help the listener sense the immediacy or feel the present.
When we narrate an incident or try to crack a joke we use present tense. Here is a joke to illustrate the point:
• While walking down the street one day, a Republican head of state is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St Peter at the entrance. “Welcome to Heaven,” says St Peter. “Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you.” To read the full joke, please log onto www.politicalhumor.about.com/library/jokes/bljokerepublicanhell.htm
— rayanal@yahoo.co.uk