Day 3 - Writing Headlines

McDaniel College Budapest
ENG 1103 Introduction to Journalism
Spring 2007

Instructor: Jacob Doyle
Email: Jacob@bbj.hu
Mobile: 06 30 233 5318

Day 3 – Headline Writing

Create headlines with impact. The most effective words in a headline are eye-catching words like "announces" and "new." Comparative words like "better" or "more" can also draw attention to the article. The headline is the "hook" that lures readers into reading more. Headlines must be compelling.

Many beginning journalists make the mistake of embellishing their headlines. Too much information, or confusing information, is a turnoff. Most importantly, you should never sacrifice accuracy for the sake of a flashy headline.

Here are some guidelines for writing headlines:

• Determine the most significant information your most important reader will derive from the news.

• Try and state that information in seven words or less.

• Ask yourself if your statement is meaningful to someone who knows little or nothing about the subject of the article.

• When actually writing the headline, try to achieve the greatest impact using the fewest words.
• Your headline doesn't need to be quite as dramatic as a tabloid headline:

o ELEVATOR PLUNGE KILLS CLUBGOER
o B'KLYN COPS DIG FOR DEMISED GUYS

• Most readers are looking for information in the headline, so try to at least include who, what, and why.
• Whatever the headline, you must accurately reflect the content that follows.


A good news headline is concise, informative and, at times, entertaining. When you write a news headline, your goal is both to inform and to hook the reader into reading further. Some steps to follow:

1. Read the article closely; identify the underlying theme.
2. Express the theme in an active voice using as few words as possible. Active verbs lend immediacy to a story. If a reader sees a headline written in a passive voice, he or she might glance right over it.
3. Keep your headline in present tense.
4. Keep it simple. A typical headline is a short, direct sentence without extra adjectives or adverbs.
5. Provide enough information in the headline to give the casual reader an impression of the entire story.

Overall Tips & Warnings

• Don’t try to be overly witty.
• Make sure you don’t misrepresent the story by choosing a headline that doesn’t cover the main subject of your piece.
• Make sure the headline can stand on its own.
• Always lead with the latest information, even if the story happened yesterday. This also lends a sense of immediacy to the story.




1. From passive to headline

Passive Voice
It is believed by the candidate that a ceiling must be placed on the budget by Congress.

Active Voice
The candidate believes that Congress must place a ceiling on the budget.

Headline
Candidate Believes Congress Must Place Ceiling On Budget

Tip: Look for a "by" phrase, if you find one, the sentence may be in the passive voice. Rewrite the sentence so that the subject buried in the "by" clause is closer to the beginning of the sentence.

Passive Voice
The man was bitten by the dog.

Active Voice
The dog bit the man.

Headline
Dog Bites Man

If the subject of the sentence is somewhat anonymous, see if you can use a general term, such as "researchers," or "the study," or "experts in this field."

Passive Voice
It was earlier demonstrated that heart attacks can be caused by high stress.

Active Voice
Researchers earlier showed that high stress can cause heart attacks.

Headline
?

2. Example headlines - Examine the news headlines below and take note of the language and grammar

At Least 130 Die as Blast Levels Baghdad Market
Deadly Bird Flu Confirmed in British Turkeys
Hamas Fighters Appear to Tighten Hold in Gaza
German fans single out 'racist'
Nepali becomes both man and woman
Iraq fire downed US helicopters
German 1970s 'radicals' surrender
Jakarta floods death toll rises


Travel Feature Headlines
In Cuba, Finding a Tiny Corner of Jewish Life
Chasing Snow South in Argentina
In Warsaw, a Once-Lawless Area Starts Its Way Up
Making the Most of Those Long Argentine Nights
Super Bowl Ads of Cartoonish Violence, Perhaps Reflecting Toll of War

Business Feature Headlines
Internet Boom in China Is Built on Virtual Fun
A Long-Delayed Ad System Has Yahoo Crossing Its Fingers


3. Convert to headlines

Jennifer Lopez will receive an award for her work as producer and star of a film.

Shahzadpur police yesterday arrested a 'regional leader' of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) and recovered a shutter gun from his possession at Saila Chapri village the upazila.

Satu Deo, an unmarried young girl, has proved how women can also contribute to the national economy.

Amusement parks and recreational facilities have thrived in parts of the West Bank lately, mainly as a reaction to the often draconian Israeli travel restrictions and protracted closures that affect the vast bulk of Palestinians.

4. Write headlines for the following news summaries

All parliamentary parties were present at a discussion yesterday on the country's competitiveness - the first of a series of six discussions addressing key questions affecting the national interest. The closed meeting is the first five-party meeting since main opposition Fidesz and its Christian Democratic partner KDNP stated their refusal to cooperate with the governing parties as long as PM Ferenc Gyurcsány holds office. (Bloomberg, MH 11)


Public employees will stage a two-hour strike February 21 after talks with the government for higher wages failed to bring results, newswire MTI reported, citing the chairman of a committee of trade unions. The strike will affect some 800,000 employees working in public health, education, administration, social and cultural institutions, MTI reported, citing Endre Szabó. (Bloomberg, MH 4)


The National Gypsy Authority (OCÖ) urged parliament to renew its attempts to pass legislation against hate speech, the authority's chairman Orbán Kolompár told reporters yesterday. After a recent increase in verbal attacks against Roma, legal means are needed, said Kolompár. OCÖ also calls on Fidesz and allied Roma organisation Lungo Drom to distance themselves from extreme right organizations, such as Jobbik, accused of disguised hate speech. (Bloomberg)


HALESWORTH - Square, steel gas chambers were delivered to a Suffolk farm yesterday. All 159,000 turkeys at the hub of Bernard Matthews's business empire were to be placed into crates, forklifted into the chambers and gassed. Workers carrying out the slaughter near Halesworth, Suffolk, were offered avian flu drugs such as Tamiflu and wore protective clothing. Their grim task started after confirmation that the deaths of 2500 birds had been caused by the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which can be fatal to humans. As a 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone were set up around Holton farm, the British Government attempted to calm fears over a threat to public health, saying there was no risk from eating poultry. – 02.05.07 New Zealand Herald