NEWS, TYPES OF NEWS, TYPES OF

HEADLINES

Dr. Arpita Sharma

Assistant Professor, Dept of Agricultural

Communication, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar

AAC-640

Publication Editing and Production

NEWS

A news is what everyone wants to know about.

Anything timely that interests a large number of

persons and the best news is that which has the

greatest interest for the greatest number.

News is timely report of events, facts, opinions

and interests about a significant no of people.

News is an abstract concept whose shape

changes as the interest of human change.

The definition of news items is dependent on:

1. The size of community. (Reader).

2. Periodicity of the publication. (Weekly, Daily).

3. Social character and economic base of the

community.

4. Focus of attention or emphasis of the

community. (Provincial city’s municipality

election may not become headline in the

newspapers of Delhi or Calcutta.

Inverted Pyramid

Most important facts

Next most

important

Next most

important

Next

Characteristics of a good

Summary Lead

The first paragraph of a news story contains the

most important information.

This is called the Summary Lead, because it

summarizes the most important facts gathered about

the story.

•Briefest possible summary of a story, usually no more

than 25 words.

•Includes only those 5 Ws and 1 H that are important.

What are the Ws and H

•Who

•What

•When

•Where

•Why

•How

DIFFERENT TYPES OF NEWS

Hard news

Soft news

HARD NEWS

Event oriented.

Centred on “What, when, where and why.”

Major thrust of newspaper is hard news.

Hard news covers news on serious crime e.g terrorist attacks

Politics

Disasters eg: an earthquake

Foreign affairs

SOFT NEWS

Soft news are news about entertainment, human

interest stories and less serious crime.

More on analysis, reasons, background and

interpretation.

Mere account of events do not satisfy the readers.

They would like to enter beneath the upper crust

of hard news.

INGREDIENTS OF THE NEWS

Timeliness: News must be timely and new.

Not arouse interest if it is already known.

Proximity: People are more interested in what happens

in their village, town, country.

Conflict: People gather in a street if and when there is

fight. Conflicts of all kinds are part of life and make good

copy.

Prominence: What happens to important people makes

news.

Government action: The passing of law or other orders

concerning general people cabinet meetings, parliament

and assembly sessions, notifications about new rules

regulations are news worthy.

NEWS VALUE

Accuracy: Accuracy is basic to any news item.

Balance: If you are writing controversy, give both

sides of story.

Objectivity: You should not mix your opinion in the

story. Report only fact and other people’s opinions.

Clarity: Your Introductory sentence should be short

and in active voice. Ideal length of each para may

be 3-4 lines containing one to three sentences to

facilitate easy comprehension.

Impact: Will it induce some changes somewhere for

the better.

KINDS OF HEADLINES

Banner head

Crossline head

Flush left head

Side heads/ Flush right head

Kicker (eyebrow)

BANNER HEAD

Banner headlines are attention grabbers. They set

the tone, and are used sparingly.

The banner head is set the full-page width at the

top of a news page to draw attention to the lead

story of that particular page.

CROSSLINE HEAD

It does not always span the full width of the page,

but does cover all the columns of the story to

which it pertains.

FLUSH LEFT HEAD

The flush left head is a two- or three-line head

with each line set flush left.

The lines do not have to be equal in width or set

full.

HEADLINE VARIANTS

Standing Head: A label used for regular or recurring content, such as sports and film review columns. It does not change from issue to issue. Eg: Film Review

FEATURE HEADLINES

Usually three words or more in length but do not

have a subject or verb.

Dollars for Scholars (article on scholarships)

Cafeteria Blues (article on rule changes in cafeteria)

Hanging Indention: has at least three lines,

second and third line indented.

Teachers Need

Bigger Increase

In Wage Package

CROSS LINE:

a single line of type filling the column or space.

Example: (notice width)

Wage increase breeds discontent

INVERTED PYRAMID

The first line fills in the entire column, then uses

less space as it gets to the bottom.

Example: Two Spanish classes

to host festivals

for community

in evenings

CENTERED HEADLINE

this type of headline is centered above the column.

KICKER

Kicker, also known as a tag line, is a line that

introduces the headline, can be underlined for

emphasis.

Example: Cold weather hits…

Temperature drops

below freezing

HAMMER HEAD:

Opposite of kicker.

Example: Drowning in “Purple Rain”

Storm delays Prince’s concert at Arena

SIDESADDLE HEADS:

Places the head to the left of the story, rather

than above.

Example: Turkey Day: Pioneers regain Bell

RULES FOR WRITING SENTENCE HEADLINES:

Strive to make each one an attention grabber.

Make sure each head fills the space allotted.

Avoid repetition of words or phrases.

Use single rather than double quotation marks.

Avoid using a semicolon in a one line head.

Example: Principal makes presentation;

discusses attendance policy

Avoid beginning headline with a verb.

RULES FOR WRITING SENTENCE HEADLINES

CONT.

Use only well known abbreviations. (YMCA, NBA,

NFL)

Don’t begin headline with a number (spell out)

Use information from your lead when writing a

headline for a feature story.

Use active voice.

Use full names unless the person is well known.

DECK:

a second headline under the first, smaller in size.

Example: Pioneers down Lancers, 3-0,

in muddy, defensive battle

before standing-room crowd

Win Clinches district berth

Thanks