Standard headlines
Standard headlines are the kind of heads we're used to from a lifetime of exposure to print media. For example, You see a car accident. You tell a friend: "Car hits two pedestrians today." No you don't. You say, "Wow, I saw a car hit two pedestrians outside the mini-mall today!" Nevertheless, head-speak is different.
Features of a standard headline:
- Uses subject-verb-direct object format, or occasionally passive voice. Think action verb.
- Eliminates articles (a, an, the).
- Includes verbs in the present tense (or sometimes future tense).
Even if it happened in the past, we emphasize present tense, perhaps because in the media business we want to emphasize NOW, not old stuff that already happened. It sounds more fresh to write "Mayor supports zoning proposal" than "Mayor supported zoning proposal at meeting."
A standard head in active voice, then, could be something like "Twins win 2 in opener." "President supports tax cut bill." "Senator vows to fight sugar proposal."
You can use passive voice, perhaps because it fits the space better, but it's not as lively: "Tax cut bill supported."
Note that AP style doesn't apply to heads--numerals are okay, abbreviations, but avoid unfamiliar references.
Editors usually stick to serious heads for serious news stories. Lighter fare or feature stories might call for different treatment.
Label Headlines
A second general category of head is the label head, or title. We're familiar with these as book titles.
Features of a label headline:
• Has no verb;
• May have articles.
Let's turn some of the standard head examples above into label heads. "The Twins' opener."
"A presidential tax cut." "This year's Pulitzer awards." "A season of Christmas carols." Note: no verbs, like a book title.
Why use label heads in print media publications
Magazines sometimes use them because they sound more literary, less like the newspaper.
Newspapers, too, will sometimes use them, particularly on editorial pages. That's because the label head contains no verb, so does not suggest an approach. Just what you might want for opinion pieces. In a letter to the editor, for instance, to use a verb suggests an interpretation of
the letter-writer's viewpoint. And that can be misinterpreted. A label head is more neutral.
Example: "Governor's veto shows ignorance, arrogance" can be neutralized with a label: "The governor's veto."
Writing a headline
It's usually best to read the entire story first. That way you can get a good idea of the theme, and you're more likely to reflect it accurately in your head, however, some editors under deadline may simply read the first couple graphs, and base their head on that. It is usually easier to begin with a lively verb that accurately suggests the story's content, and build around it. Emphasize people doing things--a basic rule of all mass media content.
For instance, if a story is about, a city council meeting, think, what did the council DO? Well, perhaps they raised liquor license fees. Build on that: raises. Or perhaps a more sprightly verb. Bumps. Boosts. Jacks up. Gooses. Cranks. Pumps. (Well, some of those are more appropriate than others.) Now let's build: "Boosts." "City council boosts liquor fees."
- Next see how many lines the head is supposed to be, and separate it as best I can:
- Three-line head.
(City council
boosts
liquor fees)
- If the head is too short or too long, you'll need to rewrite. Words cannot be hyphenate in a headline, such as:
(City council
boosts
li-quor fees)
Generally, heads are written "sentence-style," that is, first letter capitalized, and the rest
"down" (lower case) except for proper names. Other tips:
- Abbreviations and numerals, okay;
- Be specific: "Governor proposal draws reaction" is not as beguiling as "Teachers denounce pay cuts."
- Use punctuation, except for the period at the end.
- Use single quote marks:
NatalieR answered the question on June 16, 2022 at 05:31