Download - Writing Effective Headlines and captions
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WRITING EFFECTIVE HEADLINES AND
CAPTIONS
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What is needed?
Potential witness to murder drunk
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What is needed here? Dole and
Bush dead even in Kansas polls
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HUH?
Pope plans headache
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REVISE
Clinic gives
poor freelegal advice
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Is that legal?S. Florida
illegal aliens cut in half by new law
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Writing effective headlines: Do’s
DoKeep it short:
5-7 words ideal Trim any extra words: a, an, the
Woody High earns high rating from State
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More do’s
Grab reader’s attentionPitts picks Pitt
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Do’s--Tense Write in present tense to give readers
sense of NOWEX: Wolverines defeat Indians
If historic event, past tense is acceptableEx: Volcano erupted 50 years ago today
If future tense use infinitive rather than will. EX: Juniors to take PSSA’s in March
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More Do’s
Use lively VERBS (no is, am, are, was, were)
Not: Valko is new president
Instead: Valko elected president of senior class
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Punctuation USE only comma,
quotation mark and semicolon
Use comma in place of and
White, Kyles win scholarship
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Punctuation of quotes
Use single quotes
Obama promises ‘No new taxes’
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Exclamation points
Do not use!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Semi colonsRULE EXAMPLE
Use when period would be used in regular writing
Wolverines pass PSSA’s; students get day off
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Capitalization
AVOID ALL CAP HEADLINES
DIFFICULT TO READ—SHAPES ARE LOST WHEN ALL LETTERS ARE CAPITALIZED
INSTEAD: Capitalize only the first word of the headline and any proper nouns
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Headline styles
This is a centered headline
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Headline stylesFlush left
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Headline styles—the hammer head
Hammer head
Big on top, small on the bottom
Top line is usually twice as large as the bottom line;
one line should be set in a contrasting style
Used for important stories where primary headline receives most attention.
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Headline styles—the kickerThis is a kicker or overline
Main head indentedUsed when writer wishes to feature a single word or
phrase as the main title and add more specific information in the secondary headline.
Girls basketball clinches section as
Lady Wolverines defeat Penn Hills
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Headline styles—the wicket
The introductory paragraph, which may run several lines long and offer enticing facts—and even quotes leads the reader naturally to the
Main title here_______________________Egyptian military takes over after Egyptians fill the
streets of Cairo, cleansing the streets as well as the government as
Mubarik steps down
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Headlines on web newspapers Use kicker or wicket Use subheadings between different sections of long articles
If a small group of people in every Arab country went out and persevered as we did, then that would be the end of all the regimes,” he said, joking that the next Arab summit might be “a coming-out party” for all the ascendant youth leaders.
Bloggers Lead the Way The Egyptian revolt was years in the making. Ahmed Maher, a
30-year-old civil engineer and a leading organizer of the April 6 Youth Movement, first became engaged in a political movement known as Kefaya, or Enough, in about 2005. Mr. Maher and others organized their own brigade, Youth for Change.
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Caps or no caps?Many newspapers use a down style – that is all letters except proper nouns and the first letter of the first word in lower case.
Up style, is when every word except articles and prepositions in caps.
NOTE: Paw Prints and WH Update use Down style
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Captions or cutlines Check the facts Be accurate:1. Spelling of student, staff
names2. Position (administrator, etc.)3. Marital status
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Captions or cutlines
Avoid the obvious: don’t use words like “as pictured” “is shown,” and “looks on.”
Homecoming court poses for photo
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Captions or cutlines
Avoid making judgments
Kimberlee Moore dislikes tomato juice
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Who’s who?Use descriptions when they will help reader identify persons in photos
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Do’s for writing captions Use present tense: creates a sense of immediacy Use commas to set off directions from the
captions to the picture: Claudine Zido, upper left, gets in game mode
Allow for longer captions when more information will help the reader understand the story and the situation.
Conversational language works best. Do not use cliches. Write the caption as if you are telling a story.
Use quotes when they work
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Don’ts for writing captions Don’t try to be funny if the picture is not
Don’t let cutlines repeat information that is in the head, deck, or pull quote
Don’t assume you know: Ask questions when taking the photo
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If the picture is historic, or a file photo, indicate the date that it was taken
Ex: Mr. Crone (in foreground) marches in 33rd Homecoming Parade (2007)
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If the picture is borrowed from another site, you must indicate the site
(photo courtesy of AP images)