Headline, Lead and Story Proper © M. Grazia Busà 2013.

Headline, Lead andStory Proper

© M. Grazia Busà 2013

The components of the news article• Headline• Byline• Caption

• Lead

• Body Copy

Mont Blanc considered one of the deadliest mountains*By M. Grazia Busà

The Daily PaperPosted on Fri, Dec. 14, 2012

Chamonix, France – Mont Blanc has been considered the deadliest mountain in Europe and one of the deadliest in the world, experts say.

A recent report by the International Geographic Institute in Rome shows that Mont Blanc is the deadliest mountain in Europe and one of the deadliest in the world. The report, which will appear in National Geographic, is based on the rate of fatalities occurring per year. This rate averages 100 hikers a year. Interestingly, Mont Blanc is not one of the …

A picture of Mont Blanc

*This article is invented


The headline

Written by the sub-editor

Extracted from the lead

Main functions:● To attract the reader’s attention● To provide a guide to the main topics of the article

Other functions:● To indicate the writer’s angle in the story

● e.g., ‘Body fat calculator – bye bye self-esteem’*

● To indicate the register of the text (ironic, sarcastic, …)● e.g., ‘Lads’ mags inflict preening course’†

*http://pigpog.com/2012/07/13/bbc-news-body-fat-calculator-bye-bye-self-esteem/†The Sunday Times, March 16, 2008)


Grammar of headlines


Witty headlines

Engage readers in intellectual games

● Use linguistic, rhetorical or stylistic strategies: Puns, alliteration, plays with the reader’s

knowledge, metaphorical expressions, pseudo-direct quotes, etc.

● Particularly common in British newspapers Especially tabloids

● More frequent in print than in online news


Common headline strategies

Intertextuality: Reference to other texts of various kinds (poems, book or movie titles, famous people’s names, …):● To wash or not to wash

(Daily Express, March 27 2002)

● From Russia with gloves(Los Angeles Sentinel, July 16, 2009)

Word associations:

Words in the headline are meant to create an association with other words:● Home, Barren, Home

(abcnews, May 7, 2009)


Play with sounds Rhymes

● The rape the tape(Daily Mirror, November 12, 2002)

Alliterations● Animalistic antics in arctic Alaska

(The Weekly Telegraph, February 12, 2002)

Homophony and sound similarity● Purr-fect opportunity

(New York Post, April 4, 2002)

● Brrrrrrrrrr-die(San Francisco Chronicle, April 19, 2003).


Puns

Exploit word ambiguity to create a humorous or rhetorical effect:● with sound/spelling correspondences

e.g., Baghdead(The Sunday Times, December 30, 2006)

● by reference to common expressionse.g., Holy cow! Hirst turns to religion

(the Daily Telegraph, September 9, 2003)


Metaphors

Setting up analogies between two otherwise distinct concepts:● Swimming with sharks as scandals mount

(http://www.marketwatch.com, July 18, 2012)

● Investors dip into riskier waters (the Wall Street Journal online, http://online.wsj.com, April 1, 2012)

● Nikkei inches up as investors fish for oversold stocks

(www.reuters.com, August 14, 2012)


Informative headlines

Privilege the informative, descriptive element

Favoured in authoritative papers

Suitable for tragic stories

Favoured in online news● Keywords make them retrievable by online search

engines

● More appropriate for online users’ reading patterns


Examples

Survey documents popularity of alternative treatments

(Washington Post, December 10, 2008)

Flat price frustrates farmers(the Independent, Bangladesh, August 26, 2012)

Cycling may go into a decline(DNA Sunday, India, August 26, 2012)


The lead

First paragraph of the article Introduces the story and summarizes the

most important information● Helps the reader decide whether the story is worth

reading

Information is concise but clear● Does not exceed 25‒30 words

● Highly packed information may get in the way of text intelligibility

Headlines are extracted from the lead


Direct leads

Used for conventional hard news stories written in inverted pyramid style

Provide a summary of the story and answers the who, what, where, when, how of the story

Appear to expand on the headline

Concise message

Simple subject‒predicate‒object syntax


Examples

Pets offered to help Internet addictsThe government is providing animal companions to help Internet addicts recover from their addiction.

(the Korea Times, August 29, 2012)

Primary school maths failures on the riseThe number of seven-year-olds failing to master basic maths skills increased this year despite government efforts to drive up standards.

(The Times, August 25, 2009)


Delayed leads Can be a few paragraphs long

Withhold relaying the facts until the third or fourth paragraph● before the lead, an anecdote sets the scene

● after the lead, the story facts are told in decreasing order of importance

Aimed to create a sense of suspense or anticipated surprise

Example: • http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1280632/Suspicious-wives-best-spying-spouses-checking-texts-

emails.html


The body copy

Builds upon the points made in the lead Presents the facts, includes details

Second and third paragraphs expand upon the lead● Why the reported event is significant● Who is/are the person(s) discussed

Other paragraphs add background information, further details

Final paragraphs add non-crucial information● Can be cut from the bottom without altering the story

Example: http://news.msn.com/us/judge-evidence-sufficient-for-colorado-shooting-trial


Headline, Lead and Story Proper © M. Grazia Busà 2013.

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