[TAKEMYMONEY]

> non-breaking spaces, word joiners, and other similar HTML entities

Non-breaking spaces in some fonts are actually a different size than normal spaces, and most copy doesn't contain entities. Better for all if we can adjust the display of the text without programmers changing content.

[strogonoff]

> adjust the display of the text without programmers changing content

It’s this awkward and awesome place where content and appearance meet. Whoever wrote the headline probably knows the exact meaning they wanted to convey, and ideally should have control over where the line would wrap just as they would expect to have a say in word emphasis or punctuation.

[jhugo]

> most copy doesn't contain entities

It doesn't need to contain entities. GP is not correct to refer to these characters as "HTML entities", which are just ways to conveniently express the characters in HTML. In fact these characters are Unicode characters just like all the other characters in the copy.