THE HEADLINE
-refers to the title of the news.
-described as the short telegraphic major
messages of the news.
STYLES OF HEADLINE WRITING:
Traditional Style
Studes Erect Book Kiosk
Newer Style: The Ds (Down Style)
Studes erect book kiosk
FUNCTIONS OF HEADLINE
1. Gives the gist of the news
2. Presents the rapid survey reading
3. Indicates the relative importance of the news
4. Gives a pleasing appearance to the news
GUIDELINES IN HEADLINE WRITING
1. Read the story first
2. Clues to the headline are usually in the lead
3. Use the shortest word possible
Cop-police
Mishap-accident
4. Always have a subject and a verb. Do not start
with a verb (giving command to the readers)
Wrong: Give more funds
Right: Palace gives more funds to DepEd
5. Use historical present tense. It prioritizes
immediacy and timeliness of the news and
preserves the freshness of the whole article.
6. Deleting helping verb if the verb is in the passive
voice
Wrong: Drug pushers are nabbed
Right: Drug pushers nabbed
7. Use infinitives for future events
Wrong: Unida will attend GSP confab
Correct: Unida to attend GSP confab
8. Do NOT put period at the end of a headline
9. Delete articles (a, an, the)
Wrong: A fire hits DepEd office
Right: Fire hits DepEd office
10. Use single quote in headline
11. Use a comma instead of the conjunction “and”
Castillo, Esperanza attend nat’l seminar
12. Use the exclamation point sparingly
13. Having assertions and the sources are given, use
a one-em dash will serve the purpose instead of
quotation marks
Mar a liar- Duterte/ Duterte: Mar a liar/ Mar a
liar, says Duterte
14. Avoid splitting words that naturally go together.
Wrong: BNSHS observes Linggo ng Wika with
tilts
Right: BNSHS conducts Linggo ng Wika tilts
15. Do not leave a preposition at the end of the line.
Wrong: Mentor calls for reform of schools
Right: Mentor calls for reform in Cagayan
Schools
16. Use widely known abbreviations
17. Be positive.
Wrong: Meeting not to push through
Right: Board meeting cancelled
18. Don’t use X-mas for Christmas
19. Use kickers to attract attention or add more
information into our headlines.
MECHANICS OF HEADLINE WRITING
3-30 Arial Black – Inverted Pyramid
Body text: Arial Narrow
First number- the headline will run across how many
columns of the page
Second number- font size
Arial Black- font type
Inverted pyramid- headline pattern
Two lines- a two-line headline
HEADLINE PATTERNS
1. Crossline/Bar line
- A single line of headline running over the
columns
BOT oks new grading system
2. Dropline
- Composed of two/three lines of headline,
usually the same length and are arranged
diagonally
Capitol donates
Armchairs to BSC
3. Flush Left
- Two or more headlines aligned at the left
edge of the column
Bulusan trains teachers
on research proposal making
4. Hanging Indention
- Three or more lines, the first set flushed to
both margins and the succeeding lines are
indented several spaces from the left margin
Military ready to step in
if farmers protest
turn violent