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Chapter 9 Writing Headlines and Cutlines
Headline Forms

Journalist 3 & 2 - Introduction to Journalism and other reporting practices
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carried  by  the   New  York  Sun  over  the  story  of  the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865. Toward  the  turn  of  the  century  (during  the Spanish-American War), technical improvements and a circulation   war   between   the   Hearst   and   Pulitzer newspapers in New York helped speed the adoption of multicolumn   headlines.   Important   stories   were introduced by screaming headlines (banners) across the entire  page,  followed  by  as  many  as  eight  or  more related   heads.   Sometimes   headlines   occupied   more space than their stories. However, by the end of World War I, many editors began  experimenting  with  headlines  that  were  more streamlined  and  more  compact.  They  found  the  space they saved could be used more advantageously for news and  advertising  —  especially  advertising,  which  them as now, paid the bills. HEADLINE  FUNCTIONS LEARNING   OBJECTIVE:   Identify   the functions of the headline. The modem trend in headlines is toward simplicity. Most newspapers now use heads that say what has to be said in a minimum of words. A good headline conveys the  news  in  a  story  and  the  significance  and  meaning behind the story. It never implies more — and should not say too much less — than what actually appears in the story. It does not contain misleading suggestions and it does not leave false impressions. An  easy  way  to  remember  the  functions  of  the headline is through the acronym HEADS: H  -   Heralds   the   days   news;   tells   what   is   of importance. E - Entices the reader with essential or interesting facts. A - Advertises the most important story by size or placement on the page (the most important stories are displayed at the top of the page). D - Dresses up a page with typography; helps male design attractive. S - Summarizes the story with a “super” lead; tells what the story is about. HEADLINE  STYLES LEARNING   OBJECTIVE:   Recognize   the various types of headline styles. There  are  several  ways  in  which  you  can  display headlines. For style variation, your headlines can beset in  all-caps,  caps  and  lowercase  or  downstyle.  These methods are covered in the following text. ALL-CAPS  HEADS The all-capital letter headline style is almost extinct. All-caps  heads,  while  they  are  easier  to  write  than others, are the most difficult to read To test this premise, read the following paragraph: AS THIS PARAGRAPH DEMONSTRATES, THE ALL-CAPITAL   SETTING   IS   NEITHER EFFICIENT   FOR   THE   READER,   NOR PLEASING   TO   THE   EYE.   WILLIAM RANDOLPH  HEARST  USED  TO  HAVE  KEY GRAPHS IN HIS EDITORIALS SET ALL-CAPS. I N S T E A D    O F    M A K I N G    T H E    P O I NT EMPHATICALLY,   AS   HE   INTENDED,   SUCH SETTING   ACTUALLY   CUT   DOWN   THE READERSHIP AND ITS IMPACT. Even the most patient, attentive and skilled reader will  be  blinded  by  the  onslaught  of  all  those  capital letters. By the way, did you spot the typo? CAPS AND LOWERCASE HEADS A widely used headline style is the uppercase and lowercase head In this headline style, all words, other than  articles,  conjunctions,  and  prepositions  of  fewer than four (and sometimes five) letters, are set with the first letter in caps and the others in lowercase. DOWN-STYLE  HEADS The   down-style   head   usage   has   increased   in popularity  in  recent  years.  In  down-style  heads,  the  first letter of the first word— and the first letter of any proper noun — is set as a cap, and all other letters are lowercase. Down-style is presented in the way persons are taught to  read  and  write.  The  style  is  visually  attractive  and enhances the readability of the line. By design, it lacks the numerous capital letters in a headline which serve as “eye stoppers.” 9 -2







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