Headlines! By Hailee Smith

Intro to Headlines A headline must: Relate to the story Fit the allotted space Be grammatically correct The secondary heading under the main heading is called a deck Succeeding decks are smaller in font size Newspaper headlines are called sentence headlines Magazine headlines are called feature headlines Most yearbook headlines are feature headlines

More About Headlines Subheads are used to break up long stories Generally, stories longer than seven paragraphs should use subheads A hammer head is a main headline that precedes a smaller headline Kickers are used to catch the eye and for variety Kickers are short and precede the main headline When writing headlines, avoid libelous statements, poor grammar, misspelling, and sensationalism

Feature Headlines Usually three or more words Do not have a subject or verb Often use a play on words Example: Down in the Volley About a losing volleyball team A Weighty Dilemma About weightlifting Dollars for Scholars About how much money it takes to be a senior

More on Feature Headlines They usually create more interest than sentence headlines It may be necessary to use a sentence headline in addition to the feature headline for clarification Example: Those Empty Stands Cheerleaders have little support from students

Sentence Headlines Unlike in feature headlines, using a, an, and the is not acceptable Newspapers use sentence headlines for news, sports, editorials, and some features Rules of sentence headlines: Make them attention grabbers Each head needs to fill the space provided Avoid repetition Use single quotation marks Use a comma to replace “and”

Sentence Headlines Separate related thoughts with a semi-colon Do not editorialize unless it is for an editorial It should contain a subject and a verb Avoid starting with a verb Avoid using forms of the verb to be unless it is in future tense Only use well-known abbreviations and don’t use periods in them Do not begin a headline with an Arabic numeral Use future tense for future stories and present tense for past and present stories

Sentence Headlines Avoid clichés Use information from your lead to write the headline Use the full names of people unless they’re very well known Use strong verbs to show action Use an active voice instead of passive Avoid label headlines; make the headline fit the year and story

Headline Styles Flush Left Hanging indentation Centered headline Each line is set even with the left-hand margin Hanging indentation Should be at least three lines The first line fills the column Succeeding lines are indented one em Em: a type measure that is the width of the letter m in the size and font being used Centered headline Centered above the column Doesn’t need to fill the space

More Headline Styles Inverted Pyramid Cross-line Drop-line Three or more lines The first fills the column Succeeding lines decrease by the same number of units on each side centered Cross-line A single line filling the space it has Drop-line Two or more lines 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 Hanging Indentation Greek bond swap falling short, governments may fill gap Flush Left Cross-line Fannie May CEO to leave after successor chosen Drop Line Fed survey shows economy ended 2011 with strength Inverted Pyramid Republicans move to control keystone approval Republicans head to South Carolina, guns blazing Centered Headline

What’s Wrong? Point out any broken rules in these headlines Representatives well received by Parkway’s student body Faculty topples students by overwhelming margin False Fire Alarm Witnesses by North’s Skaters