Headline Writing

The Headline

☺An assemblage of
words written in bigger,
bolder letters than the
usual page text at the
beginning of the news,
also known as the head,
but not a title.
 The Headline

The word “headline” is understood

by many people to mean the biggest
story of the day. In journalism
however, “headline” is the
title of a news story
big or small.
• There’s no doubt headlines are one
of things to get right,
unfortunately they can also be the
most problematic too.

• A good headline grabs the

reader’s attention, and
compels them to read on.
 The Headline

A well-written story will go

unread if the headline does
not grab the reader.
Headlines also serve as a
graphic element on the
page.
Well-written headlines grab
the reader's attention. They
convey clear, concise
thoughts while poorly
written headlines
mislead and
confuse a
reader.
 2 Major Types of Headline

♦ news headline – deals with hard facts

and summary
Ex.: Business leaders tackle global crisis

♦ feature headline – deals with novelty,

human interest element
Ex.: The sea is on red alert!
Headline Writer
Duties and Responsibilities:
1. Observes the basic rules of
headline writing

2. Sees to it that the headline tells

what the story is about
 Duties and Responsibilities:

3. Avoids editorializing, that is, putting

one's opinion in the headline.

4. Sees to it that the sizes and types of

fonts used in the headline are
appropriate.
 Functions of Headline

♦ Headline summarizes
the story. It highlights the
main elements of the story. It is
not label. It tells readers what
kind of story it is as well as what
the story is about.
♦It allows the hurried
reader to get a quick
glimpse of the news. Later in
the day,
when he has the time,
he will read the story
in its entirety.
♦ Headline helps organize
the news for readers. It shows
where one story ends and the
next one begins,
serving as a visual
cut-off rule.
♦ Headline prioritizes the
news for readers. Stories with big
headlines are generally more
important than stories with smaller
headlines. Stories which go across
one or two columns are less
important than those
which go across three,
four, five or six columns.
Requisites of a good /effective headli

1. The headline presents the news

in capsule, thus it is telegraphic.

2. It must contain the most

important, the most intriguing,
the most unusual fact of the
story. It is not the place for
details.
3. The headline is an
advertisement, and like all good
advertisements it should be
honest, holding out no promise
that the story does not fulfill. It
should be based on the facts as
set forth in
the story and
nothing else.
4. Like the story, the headline
should be simple .
The headline is a mosaic. Words
must be fitted into a certain fixed
space, in such a way that the
meaning will not be obscured. This
is the head writer's chief problem —
to meet the mechanical
requirements of the head and at the
same time make the thought so
plain.
 5.Headlines are usually
written in the present tense
unless they relate to a future
event. This is the historical
present, used instead of the past
tense for the sake of greater
vividness.
 What to avoid?
• Alliteration occasionally may be
used with good effect in a head, but
unintentional alliteration — as "
Commercial Club Considers Cleaning
Contracts " — should be avoided.
Slang, unless apt and timely, has no
greater justification in the head than in
the story
♦Avoid negative statements in the
headline.
Tell what happened rather than what
didn't happen, unless a negation is the
feature of the story.

Other things being equal, the active

voice is better than the passive.
“Pacman Defeats Hitman " is
preferable to " Hitman Is Defeated by
Pacman"
♦ Don’t use the articles- a, an, the

Wrong: A fire hits the squatters’

Correct: Fire hits squatters’ area

♦ Don’t use names unless the person is

well-known

Wrong: Simon electrocuted

Correct: Electrician electrocuted
 Technical Requirements
Headline Writing

♦ fit into space

♦ must know the font size
of letters
♦ must know the head unit
count
♦ must know the number
of decks (layers of headline)
♦ must know the number of columns
(one, two, three, four etc.)
 Don't forget:
The only way to learn

how to write heads,

after one knows

the general
Headline writing is like
learning to play a
musical instrument --
the more you practice,
the easier it gets and
the better you
become.