Emily S. answered • 04/26/19
Retired College English Teacher for writing and literature
This is an interesting question. In fact, headlines are a special form of writing studied by journalists. They are not full sentences, but phrases. They come in various forms:
Thief caught at 7-11 [past tense, omits "was" part of passive voice]
Hotel Plans to be Discussed [a shortened future of "going to be discussed" -- also passive voice]
Police Find Lost Dog [a present narrative tense, like telling a story, meant to show an immediate event]
Why Has Congress Failed? [here present perfect to show action from before now up to the present-- not often used]
New Station Coming to Downtown [again a short form of future "will be coming"- again passive voice]
So in fact, any tense could be used. I think present perfect is the least used in this situation.
