- Determine
what type of headline is appropriate for the story you are describing.
- Straight
(news) headline – for stories that convey significant news value or for
stories whose serious subject makes word play or puns inappropriate
i.
Primary headline – write headline from the
primary angle found in the lead paragraph (straight news) or the nut graph (news feature).
ii.
Secondary headline – write secondary headline by
identifying a secondary angle or significant new information elsewhere in the
story (you should not repeat words or content from the primary headline).
THE PERFECT EXAMPLES
Solo
primary headlines with no secondary –
PLAYOFF
DROUGHT
ENDS
AT 51 YEARS
Mariettans
hold service
for
hostage slain in Iraq
Primary
headline with secondary headline –
MAYORAL
RACE HINGES ON CHARACTER
Other issues lost, including schools, aging
sewers
Resolute
administration brings end to SOC retreat
Magnet program’s population boom
prompts
end of two-decade tradition
- Pun
primary/summary
i.
Primary headline – identify a popularly known
phrase from one context that has a less obvious double meaning in the context
for the story. The perfect headline in
this style does three things:
1.
The original phrase is well-known and is popular
(fresh).
2.
You alter the original phrase slightly so that
it is still recognizable but also clearly suggests the second meaning.
3.
The phrase also conveys the angle of the story
and the tone or feel of the dominant photo that accompanies the story.
THE PERFECT EXAMPLE –
Primary headline
-- Silence of the Rams
Secondary
headline – Falcons rush for 327 yards,
Advance to
NFC title game
Dominant photo –
Michael Vick
leaping over a prone Rams defender
- Write
the headline so that it fits.
- The
headline fits it ends within two lowercase letters of the right edge of
the module.
- In
order to test the length, use a character like ‘a’ or some standard-width
character. Hit the character
twice. If the first or the second
keystroke breaks to the next line, then the headline is long enough.
- If
your headline is just barely too long, then you can make the headline fit
by force justifying the entire headline.
You should only do this if the headline is less than one character
over the length of the headline.
- Multiple-line
headlines need to be written so that each line fits within two
characters.
- The
headline should not break words/phrases that should stay on one line.
i.
Hyphenation of words is not allowed.
ii.
The following phrases should remain on one line.
1.
adjective-noun (i.e. first round)
2.
adverb-verb (i.e. secretly investigated)
3.
prepositional phrase (i.e. by students/despite
high turnout)
4.
infinitive phrase (i.e. to cover Iraqi war)
- Choose
the appropriate font, style and point size for each headline.
- The
point size of each headline conveys the relative importance of the
headlines on the page.
- The
lead story on the page should be 48 point on page 1 and 42 point on all
inside pages.
- The
lead headline on page 1 is written in ALL CAPS. All other headlines are downstyle.
- The
other primary headlines should descend in point size to include the
following point sizes: 42, 36, 30 and 24. No primary headlines should be the
same size.
- Secondary
headlines should always be Adobe Garamond and should be 24-point normal
on page 1 and 18-point italics on inside pages.
- Write
the headline so that it does not use any word-padding that conveys nothing
except that you needed to add characters to your headline.
- Examples
of word padding
i.
The word
‘and’ (use a comma or semicolon instead)
WRONG:
Franklin discusses education and parking plans
WRONG:
Franklin discusses education; parking plans
RIGHT:
Franklin discusses education, parking plan
WRONG:
Hill and
Demena to retire; both to maintain Grady ties
STILL WRONG:
Hill, Demena
to retire, both to maintain Grady ties
RIGHT:
Hill, Demena
to retire; both to maintain Grady ties
ii.
The word ‘says’ (use a colon)
WRONG:
Tucker says horrible crisis revealed best and worst
of Atlanta
RIGHT:
Tucker: Horrible crisis revealed
best, worst of Atlanta
iii.
State of being verbs (is, are). Just omit them.
WRONG: PTSA says Piedmont deck is
not a threat
RIGHT: PTSA: Piedmont deck not a
threat
iv.
Double quotes (use single quotes)
WRONG:
“She
got cold feet”
Found safe, bride admits kidnap hoax
RIGHT: ‘She got cold feet’
Found safe, bride admits kidnap hoax
v.
Passive voice (use active)
WRONG: Boys basketball team is
beaten by lesser foe
RIGHT: Boys basketball team falls
to lesser foe
RIGHT: Lesser foe upends favored
Grady
vi.
Articles (a, an, the). Omit them.
WRONG: The new symphony hall is
opening in 2008
WRONG: A computer virus requires
network re-imaging
RIGHT: New symphony hall to open
in 2008
RIGHT: Computer virus requires
network re-imaging
vii.
The word ‘will’ to indicate future tense (use infinitive)
WRONG: New symphony hall will open
in 2008
RIGHT: New symphony hall to open
in 2008
