How to Write a Headline -- Headline Counts

How to Write a Worthy Headline Lecture Notes

1. Determine what type of headline is appropriate for the story you are describing.
1. 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

2. 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

2. Write the headline so that it fits.
1. The headline fits it ends within two lowercase letters of the right edge of the module.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Multiple-line headlines need to be written so that each line fits within two characters.
5. 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)

3. Choose the appropriate font, style and point size for each headline.
1. The point size of each headline conveys the relative importance of the headlines on the page. 
2. The lead story on the page should be 48 point on page 1 and 42 point on all inside pages.
3. The lead headline on page 1 is written in ALL CAPS.  All other headlines are downstyle.
4. 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.
5. Secondary headlines should always be Adobe Garamond and should be 24-point normal on page 1 and 18-point italics on inside pages.

4. 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.
1. 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

Current Events Activity 2.2

To get to the Austin American-Statesman - click the link and then put in the user name and password.

http://nieonline.com/austin/studentconnect.cfm

The user name is MAC-J

The password is Knight1!

1. To answer this question, please read, "New Hidden Pines fire theory cited," at the top of page A1.

What are the two possible causes of the Hidden Pines fire in Bastrop? In addition to the announcement about the possible cause of the fire, what other new development in this story took place yesterday (starting at 10:30 a.m.)? What are the estimates of the damage the fire has done (in terms of homes destroyed, acres lost and damage estimates in dollars)? 

The reporter clearly went out to do interviews of local residents affected by the fire. How did those interviews impact the story for you as you read it? 

2. To answer this question, please read, "Wave of digital textbooks hits area school districts," which is in the middle of page A1 on the right.

What paradigm shift has occurred with math and social studies textbooks in Austin area school systems? According to the story's lead paragraph, what are the benefits of this shift for school systems and for students? What problem did the Robertson family experience with the policy and how did they resolve it?  What opinion on the subject did teacher Melissa Prepster of AISD's own Gorzycki Middle School add to the story? I hesitate to ask this next one but here goes: according to the story, what separates the Eanes district (and over the next two years the Leander school district) from other districts implementing technology on their campuses?

I'm most curious to know what you make of this story. Does it jibe with your experience at McCallum in your math and social studies classes? What benefits or problems have you experienced as a result of this shift? Do you think it would make a good localized news story for The Shield?

(Random side note: I love the picture that illustrates this story on the front page. It's exactly the type of picture I have been trying to teach my photoj students to take: great focal point and a shallow depth of field).

3. To answer this question, please read,  "For Canada, Trudeau election offers change," which is at the top of page A3.

We better keep track of what's happening in Canada if the U.S. presidential election doesn't go well.

What was the big news out of Canada yesterday? What changes will that bring to Canada? How is Canada's relationship with the U.S. and the world likely to change? 

4. To answer this question, please read, "Eastside’s band director in line for national honor," in the middle of page B1.

I am a sucker for a good teacher story, and I know how closely McCallum is connected with the Grammy Foundation, so here goes: What Eastside Memorial High School teacher is up for a national award? What is the award, how did he come to be considered for it, and how close is he to winning it? What will did he say he would do with the prize if he won? 

(Random side note: a certain distinguished journalism teacher did his student teaching back in 1990 on the Eastside campus when it was Johnston High.)

5. To answer this question, please read, "Smart in more ways than one," at the top of page C1.

I am excited about the new Texas men's basketball coach because I think he is a good teacher. Every time I read a story about him, I learn something about teaching (perhaps because we are both new teachers trying to establish ourselves in an existing program in central Austin). This story is not my favorite of that kind, but it will do. 

How is the new UT coach trying to change the mindset of his players heading into the upcoming season? What is he doing in order to make that change happen? 

We have a short day today so no big challenge question at the end of this quiz. I know you are disappointed. :)

How to Handle Attribution in Your Stories

This post covers the topic of attribution. In any article (really any piece of writing), attribution occurs when the writer indicates the source of information in the story. That information can be facts or it can be a direct or indirect statement. But the rule of thumb for reporters is to tell the reader the source of any information in your story as soon as you can in the story.

Please read these two resources on how to handle attribution in a news story.

Attribution: Who Said What
Rules for Using Quotation

Then use the information in the article to answer these questions.

1.       As a general rule, when should a reporter attribute the details, events or activities in her story? 

2.   Why can't the general rule by applied without exception?

3.   Given this general rule, why do you think that attribution occurs so frequently in news stories

      about crimes and accidents?

4.    Where in a sentence is attribution most often placed? Why?

5.       How many speakers may be quoted in a single paragraph?  Why?

6.   Why should reporter avoid transitional phrases that begin with the phrase "When asked..."?

7.       When should attribution appear at the beginning of a sentence or paragraph?

8.       When should attribution appear at the end of a sentence or paragraph?

9.       When should attribution appear in the middle of a paragraph?

10.       What verb should you use for attributions in a news story? Why?

11.       What tense should you use for verbs that provide attribution? Why?

12.    How should speakers be identified on first reference? 

13.    How should speakers be identified on second reference?

14.       What are the rules for comma and period placement at the end of the direct quotation?

15.   What is the difference between a direct and an indirect quote? How is the attribution for each handled differently?

16.  In an attribution tag, what most often comes first: the speaker or the attribution word?

17.  When is it appropriate to put the attribution word before the speaker?

18.    Given the reporter’s notes below, compose the following paragraph in proper journalistic style.

Speaker: Coach Ed Hullender

Direct statement: “I’m proud of each and every person on this team”

19.  Given the reporter’s notes below, compose the following paragraph in proper journalistic style.

Speaker: junior Laura Duke

Descriptive phrase: the only Wheeler High student to audition who is not currently on the dance team

Direct statement: “Dancing in the Super Bowl will be a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

20.  Given the reporter’s notes below, compose the following paragraph in proper journalistic style.

Speaker: Coach Steve Lattizori

Direct statement: “They’re not real wrestlers, and I think it actually hurts the sport.  I wish they would change their name from wrestling to acting.”

Indicate whether or not following quotations are attributed correctly or incorrectly. 

If they are incorrect, state why they are incorrect.

21.    Coach Lattizori [second reference] called WWF and WCW wrestlers “giant steroid guys acting.  I wish they would change their name from wrestling to acting.”

22.    “We sometimes have a hard time mentally, and it takes us until the end of the game to get fired up,” sophomore Jessica Moran said. [first reference]

23.    “We need to fight,” said senior Wesley Heath. [first reference]

24.    Mr. Lebow [second reference, new speaker, indirect quote] said relief workers have two kinds of identification: one has a hologram of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority seal, which is considered difficult to reproduce.

25.    “Dance team has taught me a lot about determination.  There have been days when I have felt too tired to go to practice, but I love it so much, nothing could keep me away,” Nixon said.  [second reference]

26.    “More than anything, I just look forward to being able to say that I performed in the opening act of the Super Bowl in the year 2000”,  McKinney said. [second reference]

Writing Leads and News Stories

I know I am going to have some absences today due to PSAT testing, so I thought I'd better share these to the class blog in case non-freshmen could use this information in order to write a better news story.

Basic Lead Writing

News Writing Structure

Lead Writing Exercises

News Writing for Readers

These presentations all discuss two essential aspects of news writing: leads and story structure. We are going to talk about these two issues in class today and then start writing drafts of our news stories.

How important are leads, you ask? Well, consider what veteran New Yorker writer John McPhee had to say on the subject.

"I've often heard writers say that if you have written your lead you have 90 percent of your story."

Thomas Boswell of the The Washington Post offered this assessment of leads.

"Once you find that idea or thread, all the other anecdotes, illustrations and quotes are pearls that hang on this thread," Boswell said. "The thread may seem very humble, the pearls may seem very flashy, but it's still the thread that makes the necklace."

So take some time to write a lead that works for your story and enables you to organize your material into a coherent story.

Since your interviews are due today, the next step is to write a draft of your story. I would like to see a draft of your summary lead at the beginning of class on Friday and a complete draft of the story at the beginning of class on Tuesday.

Current Events Experience 2.1

We will have our first current-events experience for the second six weeks in class today. I thought we better do it today since your interviews are due next class period (Wednesday of next week), and I will want to talk about how to put your story together during that class, so here goes.

To get to the Austin American-Statesman - click the link and then put in the user name and password - you might as well bookmark the link.

http://nieonline.com/austin/studentconnect.cfm

The user name is MAC-J

The password is Knight1!

1. To answer this question, please see "For City Council, ACL free and VIP" on page A1 (middle of the page on the left)

What little-known perk is "raising eyebrows" in Austin? Who received the perk, and how does the Austin Parks Foundation defend providing it to them? Why is parks board member Rick Cofer and Council Member Don Zimmerman "forgoing" (declining to use) the perk? What did Sabine Romero of the city's ethics and compliance division express to the council in an email? What did council members Ann Kitchen and Ora Houston do with their passes?

FINALLY -- What do you think about this perk? Do you think there's a problem with it or not? Why?

2. To answer this question, please read "States face hurdles to executions" at the top of page A2.

Why has the state of Oklahoma implemented a stay of all death-penalty executions? Explain how two or three other states are dealing with the same issue (you can choose from several including Texas/Virginia, Ohio/Nebraska, Montana, Louisiana or my personal favorite Tennessee). What is midazolam and how is it at the heart of this story?

3.  To answer this question, please read, "Netanyahu bars politicians from holy site," at the top of page A3.

What has Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu barred his ministers from doing? What has he ordered police to do? Why did he do this? How did the members of Parliament quoted in the article (both Israeli and Arab) respond to this executive order? Who is Muhanad Halabi and what is his relation to this issue?

4.  To answer this question, please read, "Belarusian journalist wins literature Nobel for real-life accounts," on the lower right corner of page A6.

Who won the Nobel Prize for Literature yesterday? Describe the works for which she is most famous? How is it "a rarity" that she has won the Nobel Prize (HINT: Don't say because she's a female author. That's not it.)? What is blended in her works? In her statement to the press, how did she look to the future?

5. To answer the next question, please read, "UT prof fears for safety, resigns," on page B1 (middle of the page on the right).

What career decision has Professor Emeritus Daniel S. Hamermesh made? How did the Statesman reporter find out about this decision (I am so proud of my old college paper)? In what way is Hamermesh's a first for UT? What other factors contributed to his decision?

FREE-RESPONSE:

Check out the three EXTRA sections that are included in the electronic edition (Baseball, NFL and Tech).  Pick any story in any of these three sections that catches your interest. Summarize the story in a sentence of two and express an opinion about the topic or how well the story covers it.

Now that you've checked out these extra sections, consider their value to the electronic edition of the paper. Do these sections seem like regular sections of the paper? How are they different? Why do you think The Statesman is including them as perks (the word of the day it seems) available only in the electronic edition? Do you think they make the edition significantly more appealing to readers? Do they make the electronic edition a more viable product for subscribers to consumer on a regular basis? Explain your opinion.