WRITING HEADLINEPrepared by: Lea Mae B. Mangaron

Edited by: Sushimita Mae C. Bansil

Supported by: Elsie S. Aribe

Elan Jay B. Sarsona

Expected outcomes:

Appreciation of the values of the headlines Knowledge of the different kinds of headlines Ability to recognize to criticize headlines styles common in the daily

press Skill in writing headline types and ability to use them to advantage Ability to punctuate headlines Skill in counting units of headlines Understanding school paper’s headline schedule Mastery of headline vocabulary and ability to use headline terms for

the sake of simplicity, brevity, and easy reading.

Every news story has a title of its own called

HEADLINE. This headline in printed type much bigger and

bolder than its body. The headline of the Number One

story on page one is BANNER. If it runs across the page

may also be called a STREAMER.

The important function of the headline:

To tell in capsule form what is the story is all about

To grade the news as to importance ; and

To make the page look attractive

STRUCTURE OF A HEADLINE

FLUSH LEFT

o Both lines are flushed to the left margin. This is also true with a one line headline. This has no exact counts for the units in each time.

Ex .

Family planning

Seminar held

DROPLINE OF STEP FORM

o The first line is flushed left while the second is indented. It may consist two or three, and sometimes four lines of types of the same length, somewhat less than column in width, so that the first line is flushed to the left, the second centered, and the third flushed to the right.

Ex .

Local boy scouts

bleed for a cause

INVERTED PYRAMID

o This is self-explanatory. Each of the three four lines in this head is successively shorter than the line above it.

Ex .

School Launches

Kalinisan

Drive

HANGING INDENTION

o The first line is flushed left. This is followed by the two indented parallel lines.

Ex .

Chief editor

bats for more

developments news

CROSSLINE OR BARLINE

o A one line headline that runs across the column. The simplest form, it is the single line across the allotted space. If it run across the page, it is called a streamer.

Ex .

Local student join CLEAN drive

BOXED HEADLINEo For emphasis or art’s sake, some headline are boxed;

Full box -

Half box - Campus Paper catalysts for national

development

Quarter box – Local students, teacher bleed for a cause

today

Community involvement science camp theme

JUMP STORY HEADLINE

o A jump story (a story continued on another page)has a headline of its own. This maybe the same as the original headline or it may just be a word, a phrase or group of words followed by a series of dots.

Ex .

Local students…

( From Page 1)

DO’S AND DON’TS IN WRITING TRADITIONAL HEADLINES

A . Do’s

Make your headline answer as many W’s as possible.

The headline should summarize the news story. It should contain

nothing that is not found in the story.

Positive heads are preferable to negative one.

Put a verb expressed or implied in every deck.

Omit articles like a, an, and the and all forms of the verb to

be( is, are, be),unless needed to make the meaning clear.

Use the strongest word in the first line as much as possible.

The active verb is better than the passive verb in headlines.

Use the present tense for past stories and the infinitive form for

future stories.

Write numbers in figures or spell them out depending upon your

needs for your units count.

Use any of the following headline styles, but be consistent once

you have adopted one.

What to avoid in writing headlines?

FAT HEAD- the spaces between the letters or word are so crowded that there are no

more spaces between them or that the spaces are so small that several word read as one.

BSP LUNCHES DRIVE THIN HEAD

- the spaces between the letters or words or the space after words in a line are so wide that the effect is ugly.

B S P L A U N C H E S D R I V E

1. Avoid the following kinds of headlines:

LABEL HEAD

- an incomplete headline, like the label of a product.

CHRISTMAS PARTY WOODEN HEAD

- a very weak headline that is devoid of meaning, sometimes due to the absence of a subject or the lack of verb.

TO HOLD EXCURSION

MANDATORY HEAD

- it gives a command because it begins with a verb.

HOLD DIALOG WITH PRINCIPAL

SCREAMING HEAD

- it is a big and bold headline of a short and unimportant story. A sensational head is another kind of screaming headline.

2. Don’t tell the same thing even though you use a different word. Each succeeding deck should contribute information.

3. Don’t comment directly or indirectly. Avoid editorializing even in headlines.

4. Unless the subject is implied or has been mentioned in the first deck, avoid beginning a headline with a verb.

5. Don’t end a line with a preposition. Neither should you separate a preposition from its object. Don’t confuse a hanging preposition with a two-word verb that ends with a preposition.

Wrong: Students vote forSSG officials

(“for” is a hanging preposition)

Right: Principal bats formoral values

(“bats for” is a two-word verb)

6. Don’t break off abbreviations, names, and hyphenated

words.

7. Avoid repeating principal words regardless of the

number of decks.

8. Avoid heads that carry a double meaning.

9. Don’t coin abbreviations of your own. Use only those

that are common to the readers like PNRC, DepEd, and

DCS.

10. Don’t abbreviate days and months unless figures

follow, as: Mon., Jan. 23

Thank you for listening!