Transcript Read all about it - What are we doing today?

Read all about it
Writing headlines
Painting pictures with words
Headlines must
 GRAB the reader’s attention
 Summarize
 Intrigue
Main Headline
The main headline, the DOMINANT
photo on the page/spread AND the lead
story work together to focus the reader’s
attention
 It’s all a part of packaging

Opinions

Should not be stated in a headline with
the exception of editorials
Readers scan the news
To see what’s of interest
 They may read your story—if the
headline attracts them

Headlines should not
Give information that is given in the story
 A simple declarative with a subject, verb,
and direct object

Jags take national
championship
Use of tense
Present tense to reflect past action
 Use active voice rather than being verbs
Coach resigns after assault
Not
Coach decided to resign

Punctuation
Abbreviations should be avoided
 Do not use the name of the school or its
initials in a headline
 Avoid a, an, and the
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Writing multi-line headlines
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Keep verb phrase on the same line
Keep adjectives and words they modify on the
same line
Keep adverbs and words they modify on the
same line
Keep prepositional phrases on the same line
Keep words that go together on the same line
Don’t end a line of headline with a hyphen
Use down-style
This means capitalizing only the first
word in the headline and all proper
nouns, etc.
 All cap headlines are hard to read

More punctuation
Use single quotation marks rather than
double
 Use a comma in place of ‘and’
 Colons should be used to replace the
word ‘said’.
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Headline Design
We read left to right
 So, your headline should be in larger
type at the top of the paper and be on
the left hand side if possible.
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Samples – Help me out…
Single line:
Sixth grade center to
open
Double line:
Sixth grade center to open
Solving overcrowding conditions
Hammer
Rise and shine
D-Hall begins at 4 a.m.
Underline
It’s always something
Students find innovative excuses for tardies
Overline
Students find way to open Fortress
It’s breaking and entering
Wicket
End of October brings a change of
seasons and faces and kids chanting
‘Trick or Treat, give me
something good to eat’
Tripod
And let New Orleans residents
Open the pearly gates:
Return to a safe haven
Open up the Austin AmericanStatesman
See if you can locate these headline styles
 Wicket
 Tripod
 Overline
 Underline
 Hammer
 Single line
 Double line