HEADLINE WRITING Ian Reeves Tell it and sell

HEADLINE WRITING Ian Reeves

Tell it and sell it Condenses the story into just a handful of words Compels the reader to want to read more Engages their emotions by making them angry, sad, amused, incensed etc

Writing news headlines Re-read the story. Make sure you know what the underlying theme is Make sure you know what the NEW information is – it should be in the top line Ask yourself what are the key words that must be in your headline

Writing news headlines Use ACTIVE verbs in the present tense – these lend a sense of immediacy. Passive verbs will not engage the reader. And active verbs usually use fewer letters: New pay deal approved - passive Bosses boost pay - active

Writing news headlines Be as specific as you can: Auto crash proves fatal - general 4 die as car slams into wall – specific

Writing news headlines Write positively where possible: Nobody hurt in house fire - negative Family escapes fiery death – positive

Writing news headlines: grammatical conventions No need to use articles like ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘an’ etc Verbs can be implied – e. g ‘are’ Fill all decks of the headline unless house style says otherwise Purists say if letter ‘m’ fits at end of headline, it doesn’t fit Keep it simple: 1 noun, 1 verb will do Don’t spell out numbers – use numerals

Writing news headlines: grammatical conventions Never hyphenate words across decks of a headline Don’t use full stops at end of headline Use normal rules for capitalisation (Americans capitalise all headline words – but we do not) Beware of ‘read across’ or ‘read over’ on facing pages Use single quote marks – never double Quote marks can imply attribution – and have special place in court reports

Writing headlines: pitfalls and things to avoid Don’t put a question mark in a headline – unless you are asking a deliberately provocative question (‘Is this the most dangerous man in Britain? ’) Avoid cliches Be careful with cultural references that your readers might not get

Writing headlines: pitfalls and things to avoid Use ‘tabloid’ words sparingly (e. g slam, bid, brand, snub) Similarly with their broadsheet equivalents (e. g insist, target, signal) Use puns sparingly Write for the readers’ benefit - not your own amusement

When headlines go bad Police: crack cocaine found in man’s buttocks Keegan fills Schmeichel's gap with Seaman Tiger Woods plays with own balls, Nike says Drunk gets 9 months in violin case

When headlines go bad Include your children when baking cookies Killer sentenced to die for second time in five years Red tape holds up new bridge Woman improving after fatal crash

When headlines go bad

Classic headlines

Classic headlines

Classic headlines

Additional reading Guardian style guide on headlines Is this the beginning of the end of the UK headline? The Economist style note on headlines