Mastering the Art of Writing Headlines: A Vital Skill for Effective Communication
Understanding the significance of writing headlines is crucial as they serve as the display windows of a newspaper, attracting readers, summarizing stories, and conveying the mood and significance of news. Headline construction is an art, requiring precision and creativity to engage and inform the audience efficiently. Different typographical patterns like crossline/full line, centred, and inverted pyramid are used to enhance headline aesthetics and effectiveness.
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INTRODUCTION: SINGNIFICANCE OF WRITING HEADLINES *HEADLINES ARE DISPLAY WINDOWS OF THE NEWSPAPER *MAJOR SOURCE OF INFORMATION *CONSTRUCTION OF HEADLINES MOST CHALLENGING OF THE COPY DESK JOBS THE HEADLINE WRITER MUST BE A CONSUMMATE ARTIST
FUNCTIONS OF HEADLINES ATTRACT READERS ATTENTION SUMMARISE THE STORY DEPICT THE MOOD OF THE STORY INDEX THE NEWS TO SAVE THE RADER S TIME IN FINDING THE PARTS OF NEWS THAT INTEREST ONE THE MOST TO TELL THE NEWS TO THE READER OF HEADLINE ALONE
FUNCTIONS OF HEADLINES continued TO CONVEY TO THE READER THE RELATIVE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NEWS BY GRADING THE NEWS. THIS IS DONE IN TERMS OF TYPE DISPLAY AND THE RELATIVE SIZE OF HEADLINE USED TO CONVEY THE RELATIVE SERIOUSNESS OF THE NEWS TO LEND DISTINCT PERSONALITY TO THE NEWS PAPER TO BUILD UP SALES
FUNCTIONS OF HEADLINES continued TO PRESENT ACCURATE AND COMPLETE INFORMATION QUICKLY TO REFLECT THE FLAVOUR OF THE STORY
TYPOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS OF HEADLINES CROSSLINE/FULL LINE PATTERN: In this pattern, we can have one line or two lines. We make the line or the lines touch the column rules on both the sides. The lines are both flush left and flush left. Example: |-------| one-line pattern
TYPOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS OF HEADLINES (continued) CENTRED HEADLINE PATTERN: There can be a line or two lines, uniformly indented(aligned, moved in) on either side.there is an equal amount of white space on both sides. These lines are centred. Example:| ------ |
TYPOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS OF HEADLINES (continued) INVERTED PYRAMID PATTERN: There can be lines up to five. All lines are uniformly indented on either side. In this pattern first line is longest. The length of the lines go on decreasing, and all the lines are centered. Example: ------- ----- ---
TYPOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS OF HEADLINES (continued) PYRAMID PATTERN: It is just the reverse of inverted pyramid pattern. The lines are centered. They have equal amount of white space on either side. The first line is shortest and the length of the lines goes on increasing. Example: ---- ------ --------
TYPOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS OF HEADLINES (continued) FLUSH LINE/LINES PATTERN: FLUSH LEFT: It is the easiest typographical pattern. The length of the line or lines is of no consequence. We make the line or lines touch the column rule on the left hand side. Example:|----- | FLUSH RIGHT: It is not in vogue and not popular with the newspapers. In this pattern lines touch the column rule on the right hand side. e.g. | -----|
TYPOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS OF HEADLINES (continued) WAISTLINE PATTERN: This can have minimum of three lines and maximum five lines. In the three-line pattern, the first and third line are equal in length, the line in the middle is shorter than the other two lines. All lines are centred or uniformly indented. e.g: --------- ------ ---------
TYPOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS OF HEADLINES (continued) STEPLINES/DROPLINES PATTERN: There can be two-line or three-line pattern. This pattern is not popular.Both the lines are equal in length. One is flush left and the other is flush right.The first and the third line are equal in length. One is flush left and the other is flush right. The line in the middle is centred.e.g --------x x--------
TYPOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS OF HEADLINES (continued) HANGING INDENT OR HANGING INDENTATION: This can have as many as six lines. The first line is both flush left and flush right. In other words, it touches the column rules on both the sides. The next four lines are flush right, but they are uniformly indented on the left hand side. The last line is flush left. One can even make it touch the column rule on the right side.
TYPOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS OF HEADLINES (continued) BANNER/STREAMER/RIBBON:Occasionallydo we come across a banner on the front page top. This type of headline goes over all the columns even if it goes over six-seven columns (out of eight columns), it is still called a banner. The size of type used for banner is bigger and bolder.
TYPOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS OF HEADLINES (continued) MULTI DECK HEADLINE: There was a time when multi-deck(level, floor) headlines were popular with the newspapers. Each of the decks used concerned some aspect of the story beneath. Later we veered round to the view that a single headline, which is catchy, conveys to the reader the gist of the story, reflects the flavourof the story beneath and is representative of the story should be preferred to a multi-deck headline. This pattern is not in vogue these days. It also seems a waste of precious space and don t suit the hasty readers.
Tasks and links on Headlines LINKS to search on internet Examples of Good Headlines web.ku.edu/~edit/headgood.html Plain Language Humor: Funny Headlines Iraqi Head Seeks Arms; Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says; Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers; Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Ax ... Writing headlines. Headline examples. Headlines must fit the space an editor has left for a story. For instance, if you have a three-column (3-col) story, the headline must ... www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~rcollins/313editing/.../lecturetwelve.htm * Ross Collins (North Dakota State University) Lecture on writing headlines * Visit Youtube video named PERSUASIVE HEADLINES * VIA INTERNET : Jay Abraham 100 greatest headlines ever written
PART TWO- KINDS OF HEADLINES There are quite a few different types of headlines. Most widely used ones are: KICKER/EYEBROW/TAG HEADLINE: It is usually half or less point size than the headline and is placed above the main part of the headline. STET HEADLINE: It is a standing headline used continuously issue after issue like Today in History .
HAMMER HEADLINE STUCK Juniors denied off-campus; Lunch lines longer than ever
KINDS OF HEADLINES (cont) REVERSE PLATE HEADLINE: It is set in reverse i.e. the letters are printed in white on a black background. REVERSE KICKER: It is a line set in larger type sizes and placed above the main headline. It is also called a HAMMER or BARKER headline. BANNER: It spreads across all the columns of a front page. These usually shout the news about and are used while covering very important stories.
KINDS OF HEADLINES (cont) TELLER HEADLINE: It gains the reader s attention by clearly and concisely summarizing the story. The voice of the teller is typically straight forward. TEASER: It attracts by arousing curiosity and is more entertaining.
DOS AND DONTS/MECHANICS OF HEADLINE WRITING Headline-writing among professional newspapers and magazines. The New York Times , for example, now uses articles such as a, and, and the more often than it used to. The use of past tense verbs is more accepted to make sure the headline is clear. Still more publications adhere to the following guidelines. LENGTH OF LINE:Q rules are continually changing
TASKS Clip and mount five headlines of each kind from the newspaper. Clip and mount five headlines from your local area daily newspaper and rank them for quality. Explain why each grabbed your attention and why. Choose a story from a newspaper story and give six different headlines. Download HEADLINE SCHEDULE FROM THE INTERNET
Suggested reading News Reporting and Editing By K. M. Shrivastava New Delhi: Sterling Publishers.
