14. The good fairy wins prize for refusing
to deliver Pinocchio’s conscience
15. Headlines organize the news
and the newspaper.
Headlines capture a tone that is consistent
to the story.
TONE -- refers to voice, focus, overall identity
and purpose
16. FUNDAMENTAL STEPS
IN
WRITING HEADLINES :
1. Read and summarize
the story.
17. Dozens of students at Angeles City
National High School became ill
yesterday after being served a tuna
lunch in the school cafeteria,
officials said.
Forty-two third-, fourth- and
fifth-graders were taken to two
area hospitals, where most were
released after treatment for food
poisoning and dehydration. Eight
students were kept overnight for
observation at Angeles Medical Center.
18. Guide Questions:
What are the key words?
What is the point of the story?
What does the lead/lede and
the nut graf say?
20. Some guidelines:
Demand accuracy. There is no place in
newspapers for headlines that are not
absolutely accurate. Near enough is not good
enough.
Keep it short and direct.
Write active, rather than passive, heads.
Almost every head is improved with a strong
verb.
(a THESAURUS is a good investment!)
21. WHAT CAN I CHANGE
Ask yourself:
WITHOUT CHANGING OR CLOUDING
THE MEANING OF THE SENTENCE?
Make every word count. Avoid headlines
that waste words. “Eating" is far more
direct than “being served with"
23. The Basics of headline form:
Usepresent tense.
Ex: Angry GMA
promises
to wipe out
Abu Sayyaf
Duterte wants Misuari
freed
24. Eliminate the articles a, an and the
Ex: Skip the highway, mayor
appeals to the motorists
`The Aviator’ wins 3 awards
25. Replace the conjunction and with a
comma.
Example: Pangasinan groups,
execs act to revive
mangroves
DENR to probe Gov, son
on illegal logging raps
26. Use figures rather than writing out numbers
higher than one.
Teenager killed, 2 hurt
Example:
in collision
Attack on rebel leader
kills son, 3 others
in Arayat
27. • Drop the end punctuation
• Use single instead of double quotation
marks
• Example:
•Al-Qaeda capable
of ‘devastating attack,’
says UN
28. Use semi-colon when there are 2 subjects.
Example:
Trapped child freed from cave;
Rescuers lauded for ‘heroic’ effort
For future-tense headlines, replace WILL
with TO
Example: 3 Celebrities to appear
on game show
29. Supply attribution where needed
Example:
Eating more fat raises
cancer risk, new study
concurs
New research underscores
link between cancer, high-fat diet
30. Use common abbreviations that are approved
by your stylebook
Example:
Ebdane warned
of DPWH syndicate
DBM passes buck
on ‘love bonus’
31. Avoid bad breaks
Never divide a first and last name
Ex: Victory for Al
Gore seen
Never divide a title and a name
Never hyphenate to end a line
Ex: Promising edit-
ing career end-
ed by lousy head
32. Avoid adjective-noun break when
each has a meaning distinct from its
parts
Ex: Ex-con is fried
chicken chain’s
manager of year
• Rewritten version: Ex-con named
best manager
by chicken chain