Headline Writing

It’s More Than Words!

Real, Crazy Headlines

• Give the most general, overall focus/summary of the story– Not as detailed as the 5W’s, but grab their attention

• Avoid headlines that can have more than one interpretation– No double entendres, like:

• “Miners refuse to work after death”• “New obesity study looks for larger test group”• “Children make nutritious snacks”

• Use strong, active verbs; “to be” is boring!– “Knights basketball excels in district” – “The Knights basketball team is leading the district”

• Use present tense verbs; use infinitives to indicate future tense– Smith to lead council – Smith leads council

Headline Do’s

• Express a complete thought (heads are simple sentences)– Smith leads – Smith leads council

• Substitute a comma for the word "and”– Elkins breeds scholars and champions – Elkins breeds scholars, champions

• Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns and adjectives– Elkins breeds Scholars, champions – Elkins breeds scholars, champions

Headline Do’s

Headline Don’t’s• DON’T mislead the reader about the

content of the article• DON’T put a period at the end of a

headline• DON’T use names, unless very well

recognized. Use grades or positions instead

• DON’T use abbreviations or slang• DON’T capitalize every word or every

important word.• DON’T use "a," "an" or "the”

Can You Fix These Headlines?

ORIGINALNew curriculum offers

opportunities and concerns

REVISEDNew curriculum offers opportunities, concerns

Can You Fix These Headlines?

ORIGINALSmith takes his role seriously

as drivers ed instructor

REVISEDDriver’s ed teacher takes

role seriously

Can You Fix These Headlines?

ORIGINAL15 seniors are chosen

REVISED15 seniors chosen

Can You Fix These Headlines?

ORIGINALNew pay raise is approved

REVISEDNew pay raise approved

Assignment: headlines

• Objective: When you finish this activity, you will be able to:– Assess the most important aspects of a story– Create a succinct, relevant headline

• Create a new Word document, and write a headline for each of the scenarios below. Try to keep them under 10 words and follow the headline writing do’s and don’t’s 

• Save your document on your H drive as [your last name] Headline Writing 2, and then submit to Mr. Nigrelli via Google Drive by the end of class on Friday, December 12th

Scenario 1Northbound traffic on Interstate 45 is likely to be disrupted for several hours after a big rig reportedly hauling ammunition overturned and caught fire in Montgomery County early Thursday morning. The crash happened on the northbound freeway at FM 830 near Conroe just after midnight, according to Houston TranStar.

 The truck toppled onto its side, caught fire and apparently lost portions of its load. It was reportedly carrying ammunition. The wreck forced officials to close all but one northbound lane near the crash site while emergency crews work to clear the area. The clean up could continue until at least about 8:30 a.m.

No other information was immediately available.

Scenario 2A Sugar Land boy whose brain cancer triggered the state's latest futile-care law controversy has died, six months after Texas Children's Hospital planned to remove his life support. Jordan Allen, 14, who was transferred to another facility five days before Texas Children's early July deadline, then in late August was discharged to the care of his parents, died at home Monday. He had been in a vegetative state since May. "He'd been doing well, but last week he took a bad turn and Monday he gave up," said Samuel Allen, the boy's father. "But the months caring for him at home were important to us - they gave us time to recognize God's plan and accept it." Allen said he still thinks the law is wrong and called on hospital ethics committees to listen more to loved ones if the patient isn't in pain. The law, passed in 1999, allows hospitals to discontinue treatment against the family's wishes if an ethics committee deems it "medically inappropriate" and the family has at least 10 days to look for an alternate facility to accept the patient.

Scenario 3

A Texas man who admitted to staging a series of bank robberies across the state wearing a Barack Obama mask was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison, authorities said. Gabriel Cabello, 40, of Houston, was arrested in February shortly after robbing a Compass bank in The Woodlands, ending a seven-bank robbery string that spanned from the Houston area to Austin during a six-month period, prosecutors said. A witness called 911 after spotting Cabello, described as heavy-set and 5 foot 7 inches tall, donning a mask before entering the bank in The Woodlands on Feb. 11, leading to his arrest shortly after the robbery. In his car, authorities found several weapons, including two guns used in the bank robberies.