Download Chapter 7 Writing headlines JOURNALISM 1

Chapter 7
Writing headlines
JOURNALISM 1
Headlines - general
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The purpose of headlines
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Lure the reader to the story
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Capture the main idea of the story in a few
words
Headlines - style
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Telegraphic style
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Eliminate all extra words
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Articles (a, an, and, the) are left out
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Avoid repeating a word
Headlines - style
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Use “down style”
● Capitalize only first letter of first word and
first letter of proper nouns
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Use active verbs; avoid “to be” verbs
● Example: Senior graduation speakers
chosen
Use short words
● Avoid alliteration and rhyme
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Headlines – verb tense
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Verb tense
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Present tense
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Exceptions
● Writing about something historic, use past
tense
● Writing about something in the future, use
infinitives
Headlines - punctuation
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Punctuation
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Use single quotation mark (‘) instead of
regular quotation mark (“) to save space
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Comma in place of the word and
● Example: Smith, Jones win scholarships
Headlines - punctuation
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Avoid exclamation points
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No periods, except in abbreviations
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Semicolon used wherever a period would
seem appropriate
● Example: President announces freeze;
Congress to discuss