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Cutline Typography
Chapter 10 Libel, Right of Privacy, Freedom of Information and Copyright

Journalist 3 & 2 - Introduction to Journalism and other reporting practices
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CUTLINE LAYOUT Figure 9-17.—The four basic caption forms: (A) overline (B) under- line, (C) side catchline and(D) lead-in line. Its function is essentially the same as those used over a news story as follows: c  To  summarize .  To  attract  attention l To dress up the page There are several kinds of captions in this context. An overline runs above the photograph. An underline runs between the photograph and the cutline. The  side catchline is used with photographs of three columns or more and runs on the left side of the cutline. If a headline is not used, the first few words of the cutline maybe set in boldface or all capital letters to serve as a lead-in line. These four types of captions are shown in figure 9-17. All such display lines should be in large type, preferably the kind used in a small headline. Mortised Photographs Photographs   that   contain   dead   areas   of   sky   or unimportant background can be mortised (a rectangular window, or space, is cut out and the cutline is placed in the  space).  This  saves  page  space  and  may  actually improve the photograph. When  laying  out  a  page,  you  should  treat  each photograph and its cutline as one unit. The relationship of photograph to cutline must be obvious. Readers will seldom spend much time hunting for misplaced cutlines. In   addition,   cutlines   may   be   run   beside   or   above photographs.  This  adds  variety,  and  in  some  cases, enhances page layout. It is a common practice for most newspapers to run the story and accompanying photographs side by side. Because   of   space   limitations,   however,   this   is impractical  at  times.  If  a  story  and  an  accompanying photograph must be separated in a newspaper for any reason, the two are still “keyed” together. For example, if the photograph appears on page one and the story on page four, the cutline will carry a line that says “Story on page 4.” This keys the two together for the reader’s convenience. There are times when a newspaper may not have space to publish both story and photograph. When this happens, one or the other will be discarded. If it is the story that gets the toss, the cutline must be rewritten to include  more  details. When a photograph and cutline are released with a story or when you are writing a story and cutline for your command’s newspaper, the best practice is to write the story first. After the story is written, write the cutline for the  photograph.  There  are  two  important  reasons  for this — (1) it enables you to avoid any duplication of phrases or ideas that appear in the story and (2) it enables you  to  write  tighter,  more  compact  cutlines.  After writing the story, you have the salient features clear in your mind, and the act of paring the cutline down to its essentials  becomes  much  easier. DATELINES When  preparing  cutlines  for  photographs  to  be released  externally,  you  need  not  concern  yourself  with display lines. You merely write your cutline in complete and  simple  sentence  form.  An  additional  component must  accompany  a  cutline  for  outside  release  —  the dateline. The dateline answers the question “where?” and is used as a lead-in to the cutline. For example, a datelined cutline  might  read:  “ABOARD  THE  USS  UNITED STATES AT SEA — Carrier pilots leave . ..” Additional information on datelines maybe found in The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual. 9-17







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