WRITING AND DESIGNING HEADLINES
In the days before computer technology, most newspaper headlines
were quite narrow. That was partly because the printing presses used
metal type locked into blocks. Type that was set too wide tended to come
loose and fly off the cylinder as the presses spun around. Consequently,
headlines were usually centered inside a single column. Often, headlines
were printed with each word capitalized. Many were stacked in layers,
with one deck on top of another.
Today’s headlines, by comparison, are run as wide as possible, posi-
tioned flush left and usually capitalized in normal sentence form. This
is called down style in newspaper parlance. The old-fashioned up style
capitalized each word in a headline:Attack Parrot Sends Thug Running for His Life
Here is the same headline in today’s down style:Attack parrot sends thug running for his life
In an ideal world, designers would never have to worry about the con-
tent of headlines. They could leave that to section editors or copy edi-
tors. But the truth is that designers are often left with the job of writing
headlines, because they’re the last people who work on the paper before
it goes to the printer. For that reason, we’ll digress briefly from the topic
of design to discuss how headlines should be written.Headlines Tell and Sell a Story
A savvy editor once gave a writer this advice: if you have 10 days to
create a story, spend nine of them working on the headline. The edi-
tor meant that the headline is crucial, because it both summarizes and
advertises the story. Too often, headline writers top a story with a “ho
hum” headline, thus burying the story on the page instead of saying
“Please read me!” The challenge becomes how to write a headline that
both tells and sells the story.
Essentially, a headline is a short, telegraphic sentence giving the gist of
the story. “Man jumps off building,” reads the headline, not “A man has
just jumped off the top of a building.” The grammar of the sentence—its
subject and verb—remains, but several words are missing. Headline writ-
ers use a sort of Western Union–style shorthand to trim away nonessen-
tial words. Headline writers also use present tense for past actions. That
strategy gives headlines more punch and immediacy.
Good headlines help readers find what they want to read. Headlines
should both catch the eye and guide the readers’ attention to the main
idea. For the headline writer, discovering the main idea shouldn’t be a
problem if the story is well written. The main idea should be located in the(^362) PRODUCING THE NEWS
OutTake
Headline Humor
Headlines are often written
as if they were short telegrams.
Because writers are so intent
on compressing a great deal of
information into a very few words,
they sometimes forget to see
the forest for the trees. In other
words, headline writers some-
times create unexpected humor.
Here are some classic head-
line bloopers. See if you can
imagine what the actual story was
about. (All the headlines actu-
ally ran in professional papers.)
Dealers will hear car talk
Friday noon
Salesman says he left four
large rings in motel bathtub
Rock star hit with sick child
Police discover crack in
Australia
Here’s how you can lick
Doberman’s leg sores
Crowd keeps police from
stabbing victim
Man with two broken legs
saves one from drowning
Crook escapes by turning into
drug store
Calf born to farmer with two
heads
Ban on nude dancing on
governor’s desk
Computer center turns on
students
Woman better after being
thrown from high-rise
Ritter, Silverman butt heads