Headlines

Headlines are crucial to any news story because its purposes are
twofold.
The purposes are:
1. Tell the story
2. Sell the story
The challenge is to write a headline that does both
simultaneously.
Essentially, a headline is a short sentence telling the gist of the
story.
Keep headlines short and simple. Use present tense for past
actions.
Good headlines help readers find what they want to read.
Headlines should both catch the eye and guide attention to the
main idea.
The main idea should be located in the lead so the writer doesnt
have to read the whole story to write a headline.
Headline Rules
Give every headline an active verb
Use present tense for past events
Use infinitives for future events
Use short, positive words
Use a comma in place of and
Use a semicolon in place of a period
Use single mark quotations within a headline
Never use forms of to be
Omit a, an, or the
Avoid negatives
Avoid excessive abbreviation
Omit a period at the end of a headline
Styles
Banner: The most popular style. It runs across the
entire width of the page. Theyre used for breaking news and big
events.
Kicker: A clever word or phrase that runs above the
main headline and is usually in italics.
Slammer: A two part headline that uses a boldface
word or phrase to lead into the main headline.
Raw Wrap: Lets the story wrap around the headline
on two sides.
Hammer: A headline that uses a large, bold phrase to
catch the readers eye.
 Tripods: Headlines that come in three parts; a
boldface word or phrase, often in all caps, with two smaller lines
beside it.
Sidesaddle Head: HAs the headline beside the story.
Sizes
More important stories usually merit bigger
headlines.
Designers usually put ;arger headlines at the top of
the page to draw the readers attention.