The document provides guidance on writing cutlines or captions for photographs in journalism. It discusses that a cutline describes what is seen in a photo in 1-3 sentences. The first sentence should answer who, what, where, when using present tense. The second sentence adds context about the activity or people in the photo. Cutlines should be fact checked for accuracy and avoid unnecessary words. They allow a photo to tell its story when seen separately from the original article.

1. CUTLINES
Judd Slivka
Missouri School of Journalism
slivkaj@missouri.edu
@juddslivka

2. CUTLINE OR CAPTION
They’re the same thing.
Cutline comes from the old newspaper days. A “cut” was the photoengraving of a picture. A
“line” was the lead type beneath it.
What’s important is that it’s done right:
First sentence describes the moment
Second sentence tells what is not readily apparent
No overlines
No typos
No errors in fact or context

3. QUICK TIPS
• Don’t restate what’s in the picture if there’s action
• Answer why we care (the nut graf)
• Know the placement or crop BEFORE you write the cutline
• Write to the photo’s focus point
• Don’t use “is pictured” or “is shown”
• Let the photo speak for itself

4. DESCRIBE WHAT YOU SEE

5. DESCRIBE WHAT YOU SEE

6. WHAT A CUTLINE LOOKS LIKE
Jim Pinter packs his car as he evacuates his home at the Wallow Fire near Alpine, Ariz., June 2, 2011. High winds and
temperatures complicated firefighters' efforts to get the blaze under control. Officials have issued a mandatory evacuation
order and residents of the Alpine area had to leave by 8 p.m. Thursday (Jack Kurtz/The Arizona Republic)

7. THE FIRST SENTENCE
Answer as many of the four Ws and one H as possible.
Always in present tense; you’re capturing a moment
Structure:
Noun-verb-direct object-preposition-event name-preposition-location-preposition-day-week-
month.
A Thai soldier takes shelter in a bus stop in Lumpini Park May 19, 2013 while a dead anti-
government protester lies in the street during the Thai government crack down against Red
Shirt and anti government protesters.
It answers who, what’s going on, where it’s happening and when it’s happening.

8. THE SECOND SENTENCE AND ETC.
Use the second sentence to add context to the basic news in the first sentence.
Context is especially important because a photo may be reused over and over again, away
from its original story.
Context can be more about the activity, why someone is at a location or even something like a
quote.
The Royal Thai Army attacked anti-government protesters May 19 with troops and armored
personnel carriers. More than 90 people were killed during the crackdown (Photo by Jack
Kurtz)
It gives us background and context for why he’s fishing and (presumably) it connects the
cutline to the story.

10. TOGETHER
A Thai soldier takes shelter in a bus stop in Lumpini Park May 19, 2013
while a dead anti-government protester lies in the street during the Thai
government crack down against Red Shirt and anti-government protesters.
T he Royal Thai Army attacked anti-government protesters with troops and
armored personnel carriers. More than 90 people were killed during the
crackdown (Photo by Jack Kurtz)

11. DO WE EVEN NEED TO TALK ABOUT TYPOS?
Check every name against published sources if available
Double-check every proper noun
Write neatly in your notebook and spell back the name to the person you’re getting it from

12. Grand Canyon University left fielder Terry Barry taken Nov. 8, 2103, Phoenix, Arizona
Barry: All-conference two years in a row, team captain, trying out for U.S. Olympic team next week.
Photographer: Tim Koors. Grand Canyon University. Photo is for a profile.

13. Thais and foreign tourists participate in water fights up and down Khao San Road, which is Bangkok's
"backpacker" district, during Songkran celebrations in the Thai capital. Songkran is celebrated in Thailand
as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 16 April. The date of the festival was originally set by
astrological calculation, but it is now fixed. If the days fall on a weekend, the missed days are taken on the
weekdays immediately following. Songkran is in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the
dry season and provides an excuse for people to cool off in friendly water fights that take place throughout
the country. Songkran has been a national holiday since 1940, when Thailand moved the first day of the
year to January 1 (Photo by Jack Kurtz)

14. Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep rams. Forming a herd in a mountain pasture above
Government Meadow in Glacier National Park, Montana, July 15 2012. 12,000 feet
elevation, above treeline, Glaciated geology in the Bitterroot Mountains in the background.
Photo: Tim Koors. Photo is for piece on how sheep populations are growing in the park.

15. “Pete,” a resident of Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 8, 2010. Spending three days in the desert near Three Points, Arizona in the Altar
Valley looking for illegal immigrants as part of the Minutemen. Minutemen are a political group that’s opposed to illegal
immigration and frustrated with the federal government’s response, Judd Slivka for Slate. Photo for news piece.

16. Bob Bondurant, Bondurant Racing School, Phoenix,
Arizona. Bob has owned the school for 30 years and
has built it from a drag racing strip to a professionally
banked track where people can spend up to $30,000
for five days of learning how to drive race cars.
Photographer Tim Koors 9:15 a.m. August 2011.
Photo is for a profile.