WRITING EFFECTIVE HEADLINES AND

CAPTIONS

; Writing effective headlines | Good headlines Home | Assignment list

 

What is needed?

Potential witness to murder drunk

What is needed here? Dole and

Bush dead even in Kansas polls

HUH?

Pope plans headache

REVISE

Clinic gives

poor freelegal advice

Is that legal?S. Florida

illegal aliens cut in half by new law

Writing effective headlines: Do’s

DoKeep it short:

5-7 words ideal Trim any extra words: a, an, the

Woody High earns high rating from State

More do’s

Grab reader’s attentionPitts picks Pitt

Do’s Write in present tense to give readers

sense of NOWEX: Wolverines defeat Indians If historic event, past tense is acceptableEx: Volcano erupted 50 years ago today If future tense use infinitive rather than

will. EX: Juniors to take PSSA’s in March

More Do’s

Use lively VERBS (no is, am, are, was, were)

Not: Valko is new president

Instead: Valko elected president of senior class

Punctuation USE only comma,

quotation mark and semicolon

Use comma in place of and

White, Kyles win scholarship

Punctuation of quotes

Use single quotes

Obama promises ‘No new taxes’

Exclamation points Do not use

Semi colons Use when

period would be used in regular writing

Wolverines pass PSSA’s; students get day off

Capitalization

AVOID ALL CAP HEADLINES

DIFFICULT TO READ—SHAPES ARE LOST WHEN ALL LETTERS ARE CAPITALIZED

INSTEAD: Capitalize only the first word of the headline and any proper nouns

Headline styles

This is a centered headline

Headline styles

This representsflush left

Headline styles—the hammer head

Hammer headBig on top, small on the bottom

Top line is usually twice as large as the bottom line;

one line should be set in a contrasting style

Used for important stories where primary headline receives most attention.

Headline styles—the kickerThis is a kicker or overline

Main head indentedUsed when writer wishes to feature a single word or

phrase as the main title and add more specific information in the secondary headline.

Girls basketball clinches section as

Lady Wolverines defeat Penn Hills

Headline styles—the wicket

The introductory paragraph, which may run several lines long and offer enticing facts—and even quotes leads the reader naturally to the

Main title hereEgyptian military takes over after Egyptians fill

the streets of Cairo, cleansing the streets as well as the government as

Mubarik steps down

Headlines on web newspapers Use kicker or wicket Use subheadings between different sections of long articles

If a small group of people in every Arab country went out and persevered as we did, then that would be the end of all the regimes,” he said, joking that the next Arab summit might be “a coming-out party” for all the ascendant youth leaders.

Bloggers Lead the Way The Egyptian revolt was years in the making. Ahmed Maher, a

30-year-old civil engineer and a leading organizer of the April 6 Youth Movement, first became engaged in a political movement known as Kefaya, or Enough, in about 2005. Mr. Maher and others organized their own brigade, Youth for Change.

Captions or cutlines Check the facts Be accurate:1. spelling of student, staff

names2. Position (administrator, etc.)3. .

Captions or cutlines

Avoid the obvious: don’t use words like “as pictured” “is shown,” and “looks on.”

Homecoming court poses for photo

Captions or cutlines

Avoid making judgments

Kimberlee Moore dislikes tomato juice

Use descriptions when they will help reader identify persons in photos

Do’s for writing captions Use present tense: creates a sense of immediacy Use commas to set off directions from the

captions to the picture: Brandon Sachs, upper left,

Allow for longer captions when more information will help the reader understand the story and the situation.

Conversational language works best. Do not use cliches. Write the caption as if you are telling a story.

Use quotes when they work

Don’ts for writing captions Don’t try to be funny if the picture is not

Don’t let cutlines repeat information that is in the head, deck, or pull quote

Don’t assume you know: ask questions when taking the photo

If the picture is historic, or a file photo, indicate the date that it was taken

Ex: Mr. Crone (in foreground) marches in 33rd Homecoming Parade (2007)

If the picture is borrowed from another site, you must indicate the site

(photo courtesy of AP images)