HEADLINES

FUNCTION
Most important part of the newspaper
Have developed into bulletins giving the substance of the article
to which they are attached
Makes possible rapid reading of the news outlined in the head
Becomes an advertisement of the news to attract the purchaser
Is vital for Yellow Journalism
Present facts in a clear and concise manner
Express the action related in the news-story
Should be impartial

DIVISIONS OF HEADLINES
Headlines are composed of one or more divisions called lines, decks or
banks
These divisions are separated by dashes and are frequently different in
form and in size of type
Headlines are constructed on the basis of four forms:
1. The drop-line: May consist of two, three or four parts
2. The pyramid: May consist of two, three or four parts (forming the shape)
3. The cross-line: Consists of only one line (not necessarily fills the space)
4. The hanging indentation: Consists of several parts
The drop-line, cross-line, or pyramid may be used in any deck, whereas the

TYPE LIMITS
These limitations are determined by the size of type
and the form of each deck of the head
In the counting of unit letters in a headline, the writer/
editor must consider
1. M as one unit
2. W as one and a half unit
3. The letter I and the figure 1 as half a unit each
4. Each space between words as one unit

POINTS TO REMEMBER WHILE WRITING A

HEAD
The Head is based on the Lead
Adapt the character of the headline to the tone of the story
There should be a minimum amount of repetition of words
Dont make the head a comment on the news and avoid libelous statements
If the grammatical subject remains the same in statements made in two or three decks it should not
be repeated

STYLE IN HEADS
Rhyme and Alliteration may be used to advantage on rare occasions
To make headlines as concise as possible articles are omitted and auxiliary verbs
are suppressed
The verb is usually put in the present tense even though the action is in the past
Future action is expressed by the infinitive form of by the form of will
The active voice is preferred over the passive (significance)
The use of abbreviations cannot be fixed by rule
Colloquial contractions and slang, although not common, may give naturalness
often well suited to a story
In the first deck short words are preferred
Numerical figures and punctuation should be put only when absolutely necessary
Breaking up of words in between lines should be avoided

SUBHEADS
Inserted at intervals to break up the solid masses of type which are unrelieved
except by paragraph division
Most subheads are a cross-line head that does not fill the entire column
width
Should be an announcement in three to four words of the story it precedes
Significant matter or an important change of topic warrants a subhead

https://
books.google.co.in/books?id=BN1S9PwMZQAC&pg=PT195&lpg=PT195&dq=types+o
f+subheads+journalism&source=bl&ots=CsWhPe8GQt&sig=74_yDWxEoYCI7jjTtlU
OdE-bTOk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwih6ITds5nPAhUDnZQKHWZpBQsQ6AEIJzAC#v=
epage&q=subheads&f=false

JUMP-HEADS OR RUN-OVER HEADS

Inserted when a story is continued from one page to another

STREAMER OR BANNER
The standard headline style, often called a streamer or banner, is a one-line headline that
stretches all the way across a story. When designing your page, make sure that all
headlines touch the half-way point of the last column of text. Although the banner
headline is the basic type, there are alternatives.

KICKERS
Kickers lead into headlines by using a word or phrase to label topics or catch your eye.
Theyre usually much smaller than the main headline, set in a contrasting font style
(regular or italic) or weight (light or bold).

SLAMMERS
This two-part headline uses a bold face word or phrase leading into the rest of the headline.
Some papers limit these to special features or jump headlines. Use slammers sparingly.

RAW WRAPS
Most headlines cover all the text below. However, this treatment lets text wrap alongside.
Its a risky idea because you want to make sure your text is clearly separated from
neighbouring stories. Raw wraps lead into headlines using words or phrases to label topics
or catch the eye. These are usually much smaller than the main headline and are set in
contrasting style or weight.

HAMMERS
Hammers use a big bold phrase to catch your eye, then add a lengthier deck below. These
headlines are usually reserved for special stories or features.

TRIPODS
Tripods come in three parts: a bold word or phrase, often all caps, and two decks squaring
off alongside. They are often gimmicky and work better for features.

SIDESADDLES
Sidesaddles let you park the headline beside the story, rather than above. Its best for
squeezing a story, preferably one thats boxed, into a shallow horizontal space. This type of
headline can be flush left, flush right or centred.

FORMATTING
Each character in your headline takes up space both vertically and horizontally
depending on the font size and the headlines length, or width.
In the printing business, we use picas to measure the width of items, such as the
width of a headline.
Type size is measured by using points.
Finally, the depth, or vertical space, is measured in inches.

FORMATTING
Generally speaking, large headlines are 48 points, or about two-thirds of an
inch in height. Those are headlines for lead stories on the front page of a
tabloid-sized paper.
Bigger (and more prominent) stories get larger headlines, and the size of
headlines usually decreases as you move down the page.
Midsize headlines are between 24 and 48 points.
Headlines smaller than 24 points usually serve as news briefs headlines.

https://
books.google.co.in/books?id=m7_DtngZLogC&pg=PA107&lpg=PA107&dq=types
+of+straplines+journalism&source=bl&ots=d3AlFbWbJM&sig=uvSgkggVkwhE_
gW8IFb_UU_m39I&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5xdrespnPAhVJE5QKHWU6BYUQ6A
TAB#v=snippet&q=strapline&f=false

HEADLINE DESIGNATORS
These designators include the number of columns, point size, typeface, type
weight, posture (i.e., bold or italic), the number of lines and the minimum and
maximum count.
Example: 5-36ABI-1 (56-61.5)
Broken down, this designator means:
5 -- Five-column headline
36 -- 36-point
A -- Arial
B -- Bold
I -- Italic
1 -- One-line headline
56 -- Minimum pica width