CLEVELAND — The Plain Sentinel confirmed Thursday that all headlines published across its site and app are now split-tested in real time for reader engagement, with the version generating higher click-through and comment volume going live regardless of which framing more accurately reflects the underlying story. "We’re not choosing outrage over accuracy," said digital editor Wendy Karcher, who oversees the paper’s twelve-person headline-optimization desk. "We’re choosing the headline readers respond to, and accuracy is absolutely still a factor — it’s the tiebreaker." Internal testing data reviewed by staff showed the headline "COUNCIL APPROVES MINOR ZONING ADJUSTMENT" earned a 1.2% click-through rate against "COUNCIL QUIETLY HANDS DOWNTOWN TO DEVELOPERS," which pulled 14.6% — a gap Karcher called "not statistically close." The underlying zoning story was identical in both versions. Reporters say they’ve adapted by writing two ledes per piece, one "structurally true" and one "load-bearing," so whichever headline wins, the body copy can plausibly support it. The Sentinel’s corrections policy has also been updated to note that any published correction may itself be A/B tested "to determine the version that best serves reader trust."