Headlines!By Hailee Smith

Intro to HeadlinesO A headline must:

O Relate to the storyO Fit the allotted spaceO Be grammatically correct

O The secondary heading under the main heading is called a deckO Succeeding decks are smaller in font size

O Newspaper headlines are called sentence headlines

O Magazine headlines are called feature headlinesO Most yearbook headlines are feature headlines

More About HeadlinesO Subheads are used to break up long stories

O Generally, stories longer than seven paragraphs should use subheads

O A hammer head is a main headline that precedes a smaller headline

O Kickers are used to catch the eye and for varietyO Kickers are short and precede the main headline

O When writing headlines, avoid libelous statements, poor grammar, misspelling, and sensationalism

Feature HeadlinesO Usually three or more wordsO Do not have a subject or verbO Often use a play on wordsO Example:

O Down in the VolleyO About a losing volleyball team

O A Weighty DilemmaO About weightlifting

O Dollars for ScholarsO About how much money it takes to be a senior

More on Feature Headlines

O They usually create more interest than sentence headlines

O It may be necessary to use a sentence headline in addition to the feature headline for clarification

O Example:

Those Empty StandsCheerleaders have little support from students

Sentence HeadlinesO Unlike in feature headlines, using a, an, and

the is not acceptable O Newspapers use sentence headlines for

news, sports, editorials, and some featuresO Rules of sentence headlines:

1. Make them attention grabbers2. Each head needs to fill the space

provided3. Avoid repetition4. Use single quotation marks5. Use a comma to replace “and”

Sentence Headlines6. Separate related thoughts with a semi-colon7. Do not editorialize unless it is for an editorial8. It should contain a subject and a verb9. Avoid starting with a verb10. Avoid using forms of the verb to be unless it

is in future tense11. Only use well-known abbreviations and don’t

use periods in them12. Do not begin a headline with an Arabic

numeral13. Use future tense for future stories and

present tense for past and present stories

Sentence Headlines

15. Avoid clichés16. Use information from your lead to

write the headline17. Use the full names of people unless

they’re very well known18. Use strong verbs to show action19. Use an active voice instead of

passive20. Avoid label headlines; make the

headline fit the year and story

Headline StylesO Flush Left

O Each line is set even with the left-hand marginO Hanging indentation

O Should be at least three linesO The first line fills the columnO Succeeding lines are indented one em

O Em: a type measure that is the width of the letter m in the size and font being used

O Centered headlineO Centered above the columnO Doesn’t need to fill the space

More Headline StylesO Inverted Pyramid

O Three or more linesO The first fills the columnO Succeeding lines decrease by the same number

of units on each sideO centered

O Cross-lineO A single line filling the space it has

O Drop-lineO Two or more linesO Each succeeding line is indented on the left by

one em

Guess which style the headlines are

Allen Stanford lawyers want out just before trial Greek bond swap

falling short, governments may fill gap

Hanging Indentation

Fannie May CEO to leave after successor chosen

Cross-line

Flush Left

Fed survey shows economy ended 2011 with strength

Drop Line

Republicans move to control

keystone approval

Inverted Pyramid

Republicans head to South Carolina, guns blazing Centered Headline

What’s Wrong?

O Point out any broken rules in these headlinesO Representatives well received by

Parkway’s student bodyO Faculty topples students by

overwhelming marginO False Fire Alarm Witnesses by North’s

Skaters