Headlines teasers and lead A headline is the

Headlines, teasers and lead

A headline is the bold, larger text on top of a story

• It is not a complete sentence. • It is often limited to 5 -10 words • It is often in present tense

A teaser is what is said orally to get a viewer to watch the news; or online to get a user to click

A lead is the first sentence of the story. • It is a complete sentence, with a subject and predicate, with articles. • It can be up to 30 words long. • It’s longer to add more context than a headline • If is often past tense because it already happened but can be future or even a form of present (it shouldn’t sound forced) • We will be writing LEADS in this class and some headlines. These should be distinctly different.

Here are some side-by-side looks Headline style City Council cancels recycling. (Present tense, no articles, too short so no context) Correct The City Council eliminated curbside recycling Monday to save money. (Articles, past tense because it already happened, more words to add context, day of week to show it is new) Or The City Council is eliminating curbside recycling to save money. On Monday ….

You mostly will use past or future for the eye (for the ear, a form of present) Headline style OK City Council doubles parking restrictions near campus. The City Council on Monday doubled the number of streets with parking restrictions in a near-campus neighborhood after resident complaints. (Simple present tense, no articles, too short so no context). Students will have a harder time finding parking near campus because of new restrictions passed Monday by the City Council.

If you use present, you need an acceptable form Like present progressive: Curbside recycling services are being eliminated in West Lafayette to save money.