T1 Headline Analysis · Editorial Playbooks

Rules of thumb

"What to know" is a Featured targeting tool, not a views driver—Featured rate is 1.6×, but organic views for non-Featured "What to know" articles trend lower (p_adj=0.16, not significant at α=0.05, n=17).
Featured articles drive 2.1× views vs. non-Featured—treat the designation as a channel, not a side effect. It is worth targeting intentionally.
Don't apply "What to know" broadly—the view penalty for non-Featured articles makes it a poor default formula outside an explicit Featured campaign.

Featured rate by formula—Apple News

Formula	n	Featured rate	Lift	p_adj (BH-FDR)	Within-Featured median %ile
★ What to know	31	45%	1.65×	p_adj=0.07	80% (1.27× Featured avg)
★ Question	199	44%	1.61×	p_adj<0.001 ***	44% (0.70× Featured avg)
Here's / Here are	28	39%	1.43×	p_adj=0.27	54% (0.86× Featured avg)
Quoted lede	172	34%	1.25×	p_adj=0.07	86% (1.36× Featured avg)
Possessive named entity	131	25%	0.92×	p_adj=0.63	59% (0.94× Featured avg)
↓ Number lead	231	17%	0.63×	p_adj=0.002 **	75% (1.19× Featured avg)

Rules of thumb

Lead with "EXCLUSIVE:" on genuine scoops—— CTR lift. The word must be earned; overuse erodes the signal.
Named person + possessive: "Smith's connection to…" outperforms "Smith connected to…" (1.18× lift).
Write longer notifications: ≤80 chars delivers 26% fewer clicks. Give readers context before asking them to tap.
Avoid question format: hurts CTR (0.93×), consistent with the Apple News finding.
Serial/escalating stories with a named anchor are the highest-CTR content type—structure updates as installments with possessive framing.

Features by CTR lift—Push Notifications

Jan–Feb 2026 · N=1923 notifications · BH-FDR corrected · 4 features significant after correction

Feature	n (present)	Median CTR (present)	Median CTR (absent)	Lift (95% CI)	Effect size r	p_adj (BH-FDR)
★ 'Exclusive' tag	74	3.81%	2.02%	1.89× [1.58×–2.13×]	-0.46	p_adj<0.001 ***
★ Named person + possessive	432	3.48%	1.89%	1.84× [1.69×–2.01×]	-0.36	p_adj<0.001 ***
★ Full name present	1,216	2.61%	1.71%	1.53× [1.38×–1.68×]	-0.32	p_adj<0.001 ***
↓ Short (≤80 chars)	1,215	1.90%	2.56%	0.74× [0.66×–0.80×]	0.18	p_adj<0.001 ***
↓ Question format	110	1.40%	2.15%	0.65× [0.57×–0.74×]	0.37	p_adj<0.001 ***

Based on Jan–Feb 2026 only. Treat as directional guidance pending additional months of data.

Topic-by-topic pairing guide

Write the Apple News headline first, then rewrite for SmartNews. These are two different editorial decisions.

Topic / Content type	Apple News headline	SmartNews headline	Notes
Crime / Breaking	"Here's what we know about [event]" or "Here's what happened" 16% featuring rate (n=89)	Direct declarative: "[Subject] [action]" Avoid "Here's"—hurts SN rank when used broadly	Attribution language ("says", "told") lifts notification CTR 1.18× for crime stories
Business / Economy	"Here's what [X] means for [community]" 14% featuring rate (n=72)	Situation/event framing: "[Event] hits [place]" Avoid individual-person framing; situation stories feature better	Business + "Here's" is the strongest editorially writable non-weather formula
Sports	Any formula—0–11.5% featuring regardless Topic opts you out of Apple News featuring	Number lead or direct declarative Number leads are the only SN formula trending upward	SmartNews is the better channel for sports. Apple News: feature potential only for national/marquee stories
Nature / Wildlife / Science	Discovery framing: "Scientists found…" / "Never-before-seen…" General/Discovery ceiling: 53K views on snake/new species story	Same framing works—mystery + scientific validation Avoid question format (−0.08 pct_rank, p=3.4e-6)	Highest-ceiling content type for General/Discovery vertical. "Rare", "never seen", "scientists found" are proven hooks
Entertainment / Celebrity	Possessive named entity: "[Celebrity]'s [situation]" Notification: possessive lifts CTR for celebrity content	Direct declarative; avoid question format Questions hurt SN performance (p=3.4e-6)	Serial/escalating stories with named anchor are highest-CTR notification type
Wellness / Mind-Body / Everyday Living	Number lead or direct declarative—no vertical-specific formula signal yet n<30 per vertical (preliminary only); guidelines inferred from platform-wide rules	Number lead or direct declarative; avoid "What to know" WTK is the worst SN formula platform-wide (0.37 pct_rank, p=3.0e-6, n=213)	0% featuring across all trendhunter verticals (n=22 matched, Jan–Feb 2026)—featuring is not a lever. Optimize for organic Apple News views. Best observed format: product/list structure ("10 things…", "How to…")

Apple News featuring rates from pooled 2025+ANP 2026 (n>15,000). SmartNews formula ranks from 2025 article-level data (n=38,251). Trendhunter performance from Tracker→ANP join (Jan–Feb 2026). All formula effects are observational—treat as directional guidance for CSA persona configuration.

CSA Persona Configuration · Ready-to-Use Instructions

Copy these instructions directly into CSA persona configuration. Each rule is drawn from a confirmed or directional finding. Confidence tier shown in brackets.

Apple News Persona

[HIGH] Featured targeting formula: Use "What to know" or "Here's" format when the editorial goal is Featured placement. These are associated with 1.6× and higher featuring rates respectively.
[HIGH] Organic reach formula: Avoid "What to know" for non-Featured articles—organic view performance trends lower. Use possessive named entity or number lead for organic reach.
[HIGH] Question format: Apple editors over-select questions for featuring, but the algorithm penalizes them organically. Use questions only for intentional Featured targeting, not for general organic distribution.
[HIGH] Character length: Target 90–120 characters. Below 70 chars and above 130 chars both underperform the median.
[HIGH] Crime/Business formula: "Here's" format associated with 16% featuring rate for crime (n=89) and 14% for business (n=72). Use it when targeting Featured in these topics.
[HIGH] Sports: Formula choice does not affect featuring odds for sports content (0% across all formulas, n=22–52). Optimize for organic only; do not target Featured for sports.
[HIGH] Section tagging: Every article must have a non-Main section tag. Untagged articles land in the bottom 20% at a significantly elevated rate—2.4× the baseline rate.
[MOD] Number lead trend: Number leads are the only formula trending upward over time (Q1 2025 → Q1 2026). Lean into them; deprioritize question format which is trending down.
[MOD] Trendhunter content: Mind-Body, Everyday Living, and Experience content currently earns 0% featuring. Focus persona configuration on organic Apple News reach, not featuring optimization.

SmartNews Persona

[HIGH] Avoid question format: Question headlines drop to 0.42 pct_rank—0.08 below baseline (p=3.4e-6, n=918). This is the strongest single avoidance rule in the SmartNews data.
[HIGH] Avoid "What to know": Drops to 0.37 pct_rank—the worst-performing formula (p=3.0e-6, n=213). Never use for SmartNews.
[DIR] "Here's" is the safest cross-platform formula: Directionally above SmartNews baseline (p=0.038, does not survive Bonferroni at k=5). Use when writing one headline for both platforms.
[HIGH] Number leads trending upward: Only formula with positive trajectory across 2025–2026. Prioritize for SmartNews when topic allows.
[HIGH] Character length: Target 70–90 characters for SmartNews. 80–99 char optimal bin confirmed; 100-char ceiling has no statistical basis.
[HIGH] Direct declarative baseline: Unformatted subject-verb-object headlines are the SmartNews default—never penalized. Use as the fallback when no formula signal applies.
[MOD] Nature/wildlife/science: Discovery framing ("Scientists found", "Never-before-seen") drives highest-ceiling performance in General/Discovery content. Do not apply question or WTK format to these stories for SmartNews.

HIGH = p<0.05 confirmed finding. MOD = multiple-comparisons corrected or n-limited directional. DIR = directional (p<0.10). All findings are observational—use as configuration starting points; validate against post-publication performance data.

By Publication—Apple News

Formula lift vs. untagged baseline (non-Featured articles only, ≥5 examples). Populated fully when Tarrow's complete 2026 export is loaded via --data-2026-full.

Publication	N articles	Featured rate	Top formula	Formula lift	Top topic (views)
Us Weekly	882	0%	Possessive named entity	0.95×	Weather
Sacramento Bee	196	45%	What to know	1.25×	Business
The Kansas City Star	195	51%	—	—	Sports
The Charlotte Observer	183	83%	—	—	Nature/Wildlife
Miami Herald	177	76%	—	—	Nature/Wildlife
Kansas City Star	122	52%	—	—	Weather
Soap Opera Digest	100	0%	—	—	Crime
Woman’s World	100	1%	Possessive named entity	1.25×	Sports
Fort Worth Star-Telegram	99	73%	—	—	Weather
Biloxi Sun Herald	98	14%	Number lead	1.03×	Local/Civic
Fresno Bee	98	60%	Number lead	1.12×	Weather
Hilton Head Island Packet	98	22%	Number lead	1.08×	Local/Civic
Tacoma News Tribune	98	32%	Number lead	1.04×	Lifestyle
Centre Daily Times	97	3%	Number lead	0.50×	Weather
Wichita Eagle	97	22%	Here's / Here are	0.94×	Business
Bellingham Herald	96	12%	Quoted lede	1.11×	Weather
Bradenton Herald	96	20%	Number lead	0.92×	Crime
Merced Sun-Star	96	6%	Number lead	1.62×	Weather
Myrtle Beach Sun News	96	20%	Quoted lede	1.20×	Business
Belleville News-Democrat	95	6%	Number lead	1.38×	Weather
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer	95	3%	Number lead	1.80×	Lifestyle
Rock Hill Herald	95	3%	Quoted lede	1.12×	Nature/Wildlife
Modesto Bee	94	7%	Number lead	0.94×	Business
San Luis Obispo Tribune	94	23%	Number lead	1.31×	Weather
The Olympian	92	42%	Number lead	0.72×	Sports
The State	91	22%	Quoted lede	1.08×	Local/Civic
Raleigh News & Observer	90	79%	—	—	Nature/Wildlife
The Sacramento Bee	89	63%	Question	0.76×	Weather
Tri-City Herald	87	8%	Number lead	1.00×	Weather
Idaho Statesman	85	59%	Quoted lede	0.99×	Nature/Wildlife
Lexington Herald-Leader	81	48%	—	—	Weather
Durham Herald-Sun	79	27%	—	—	Weather
McClatchy DC Bureau	39	0%	Question	0.86×	Local/Civic
Macon Telegraph	35	0%	—	—	Local/Civic
Charlotte Observer	18	89%	—	—	Weather

Politics excluded. Lift is directional only—sample sizes per publication are small; confirm before changing editorial policy.