Headlines, types of headlines

1. Headlines writing
• By
• Mita Biswas
• Assistant Professor
• Dept of Journalism and Mass Communication

2. Headlines/ শির োনোম
Definition: A headline is a line that heads a report highlighting the
news in it. It is the title which comes at the top of a story and acts as
an inducement to read the news in detail down below.
An explanatory title over a newspaper article summarizing the main
point for the reader.
** a headline serves four important purposes:
1. Advertise the contents of the news story
2. Give hurried reader a brief summary
3. Add variety to the typographical appearance of the page
4. Indicate by their construction the kind of stories they head

3. Some rules to follow while writing a Headline
• Terse sentence: FM DELIVERS A BOOSTER DOSE……..Mint
নির্মলার বাজেজে নিতীয় দফার স্বচ্ছ ভারত নর্শজির নদশা……Ei Samay
Telling words: David Wainwright.. Brisk and attractive, “ it must give
guts of the story”.
Harold Evans.. “where headlines are wordy, vague or confused, the
newspaper seems to be in its dotage. Where every headline goes
unerringly to the point with precision or wit, the whole newspaper
comes alive”
The DOJ Just Released Its Ferguson Investigation — And What They
Found Was Horrifying (vague, teaser)

4. Some rules to follow while writing a Headline
• Good vocabulary
• Edmund C. Arnold: Definitive and Connotative
- Maharashtra colleges to reopen from February 15; compulsory attendance waived off.
- The tiny terrors and big bullies of the animal kingdom
• Verb in Headline: Active, names, preset tense Gandhiji assasinated
• When use past tense?
• Strong verb: Subrata is arrested……Subrata arrested
• Articles, shorter word, negative word
• Labels work when?.... The Unbreakables
• লাল-সবুজ ঘুরে রুদ্রে মুরে এবাে েং দে দমারে দেরুয়া

5. Guidelines: do’s and don’ts
• Take the subject in the head: Two cops injured in encounter with cattle smugglers in UP's
Kaushambi district
• Flash when a name is news: PM Narendra Modi to chair Niti Aayog's
governing council meeting on February 20.
• Take the venue: নদনি নবজফারজে আল-কায়দার হাত? তদজে মর্াসাদ
• Never paint the gory
• Make no comment
• Avoid bad taste

6. Guidelines: do’s and don’ts
• Use of quotes when the truth is in question: ‘Dead’ man comes back to life in
Assam morgue
• Use meaningful words
• Avoid loaded head
• Don’t repeat words in a headline: Rajiv plans cabinet change
to bring in new faces

7. • Unit count: x= 1unit f,I,l, w m
• Hed sked: 30pt times roman 20
• Headlinese: a) careless use of nouns as adjectives
• B) plural adjective: he is better than him
• C) extravagant extension of metaphors: watery grave
• D) excessive omission of words: Writers’ employees salute martyrs
• E) confusion of tenses: babies saved in fire: CID suspect arosn
• F) excessive catchwords
• G) slang

8. Types of headlines
1.Decker headline: Arnold- ‘that portion of a headline which is set
in a single type style and size’
Govt won’t use WhatsApp, other social media for salary communication
Govt won’t use WhatsApp, other social media for salary
Communication
Govt won’t use WhatsApp, 1deck=unit
other social media for
salary communication

9. Types of headline
Ex- Woman dies
Tiger mauls in Uttarakhand’s Nainital, woman dies
Five children dies of house collapse in Kolkata
Ex- ‘I just don’t understand why’:Panesar questions selection of Indian
bowler.
Five cubs dies in alipore zoo
Vet suspects mystery disease.
লনর-গান়ি র্ুজিার্ুনি সংঘজষম র্ৃতু ু ২ যুবজকর, গুরুতর আহত ৩

11. Types of headline
2. Kicker/strapline/overline/shoulder: Descriptive, design tool, subject matter
Australian open series
Sarapova defeats Serena William
3. Reverse kicker/hammer/barker: extra highlight points

12. Kicker/strapline/shoulder Reverse kicker

13. Types of headline
4. Flush left headline: This is one of the more modern headline forms in use. It
consists of two or three lines of headline, each one set flush left to the left side of the space.
The design is simple and allows freedom in writing the headline. No rules govern the writing
of the flush left headline; however, a uniform style for better results is generally adopted.
This type of headline is popular because it is easy to write, allows flexibility in unit count
and provides a feeling of airiness to the page with the white space.

15. Types of headline
5. Banner headline:
Banner headlines spread
across the columns of a
front page. These
usually shouts the news
about and are used
while covering very,
important stories.

17. Types of headline
6. Inverted pyramid
headline: It consists
of two or more line
of type. The top line
always runs flush
with the column
rule, and the
following lines have
equal indention on
both side and are
graded down in
length. Usually set in
upper and lower
case type.

18. Types of headline
6. Downstyle
7. Waist
headline
8. Stet/
standing
head
9. Slammer
10. Tripod
11. Crossline
12. Jump
head