HEADLINE

HEADLINE
Science of Headline Writing

1. Headlines must tell the reader what the story's about
2. Headlines must be accurate
3. Headlines must be fair
4. Headlines must fit and fill the space allotted
5. The headline’s tone must be consistent with the nature of the story
6. The headline’s tone must be consistent with the personality of the publication
7. The headline can't say more than the story says
8. In other words, the story must support the headline
9. The headline needs to persuade the reader to read the story.
Headline Checklist – Things to Avoid
1. Inappropriate language or a tone that doesn't fit the story.
2. Exaggerating conflict, danger, criticism, etc.
3. Editorialization or words that suggest an opinion of the head-writer.
4. A "negative" head using the word "not.“
5. Conclusions the story doesn't back up.
6. Inappropriate assumptions or interpretations.
7. Piled-up adjectives or other modifiers that detract from clarity.
8. A "label head," unless omitting the verb helps the head or the count is so short that a "book title" head is the only way out.
9. Assumptions that the reader has been following the story daily.
10. Obscure names that readers won't instantly recognize.
11. Undue familiarity, often by using a person's first name.
12. Abbreviations or acronyms that are not instantly recognizable.
13. Jargon, which clouds the meaning for readers.
14. Cliches, which are neither creative nor compelling.
15. Meanings the reader won't "get" until the story is read.
16. Echoing the lede or stealing the punchline.
17. A hard-news head based on facts far down in the story.
18. Puns in heads on serious news stories.
19. Putting first-day heads on second-day stories.
20. Using "question" or "colon" heads routinely.

Q: What should readers reasonably expect from headlines?
Ans.: Accuracy, clarity and precision. Liveliness and originality are important to capturing the reader's interest, but they are secondary to accuracy.
Q: What challenges do copy editors face in meeting those expectations?
Ans.: There is seldom enough time to polish and refine headlines as much as copy editors would like. And the lack of time also comes up against the fundamental challenge: distilling the sense of an entire article into half a dozen words.
Q: What are the uppermost cardinal rules of good headline writing?
Ans.: Try to follow the vocabulary and syntax of conversational English insofar as you can. Avoid headlinese ("Solons slate parley") and wretched, obvious wordplay ("purr-fect" for any story about cats).
Q: What was the worst headline?
Ans.: You want to write a famous headline? Write a bad one. "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN" is still the most famous headline in American journalism.
Do you have a story?
First and foremost, you need a story to tell. You should think in terms of issues or themes, rather than a description of data. Specifically, you need to find meaning in the statistics. A technical report is not a story, nor is there a story in conducting a survey.
A story tells the reader briefly what you found and why it is important to the reader. Focus on how the findings affect people. If readers are able to relate the information to important events in their life, your article becomes a lot more interesting.
Statistical offices have an obligation to make the data they collect useful to the public. Stories get people interested in statistical information and help them to understand what the information means in their lives. After they read good statistical stories, people should feel wiser and informed, not confused.

Possible topics/themes for stories:
· Current interest (policy agenda, media coverage, etc.);
· Reference to everyday life (food prices, health, etc.);
· Reference to a particular group (teens, women, the elderly, etc.);
· Personal experiences (transportation, education, etc.);
· Holidays (Independence Day, Christmas, etc.);
· Current events (statistics on a topic frequently in the news);
· Calendar themes (spring, summer, etc.);
· New findings;
· A regular series (“This is the way we live now”, “Spotlight on xxxx”, etc.).

Write like a journalist: The “inverted pyramid”
How can statisticians communicate like journalists? By writing their stories the way journalists do. The bonus is that the media are more likely to use the information.
Journalists use the “inverted pyramid” style. Simply, you write about your conclusions at the top of the news story, and follow with secondary points in order of decreasing importance throughout the text.
Think of a typical analytical article as a right-side-up pyramid. In the opening section, you introduce the thesis you want to prove. In following sections, you introduce the dataset, you do your analysis and you wrap things up with a set of conclusions.
Journalists invert this style. They want the main findings from those conclusions right up top in your news story. They don’t want to have to dig for the story.
You build on your story line throughout the rest of the text. If the text is long, use subheadings to strengthen the organization and break it into manageable, meaningful sections. Use a verb in subheadings, such as: “Gender gap narrows slightly.”


The lead: Your first paragraph
The first paragraph, or lead, is the most important element of the story. The lead not only has to grab the reader’s attention and draw him or her into the story, but it also has to capture the general message of the data.
The lead is not an introduction to the story. On the contrary, it should tell a story about the data. It summarizes the story line concisely, clearly and simply.
It should contain few numbers. In fact, try writing the first sentence of the lead using no figures at all.
Don’t try to summarize your whole report. Rather, provide the most important and interesting facts. And don’t pack it with assumptions, explanations of methodology or information on how you collected the data.
The lead paragraph should also place your findings in context, which makes them more interesting. Research shows that it is easier to remember a news report if it establishes relevance, or attempts to explain a particular finding. Exercise caution, though. It is not a good idea to speculate, especially if your statistical office cannot empirically establish causality, or does not produce projections.
Give enough information so the reader can decide whether to continue reading. But keep it tight. Some authors suggest five lines or fewer – not five sentences – for the opening paragraph.
Poor: A new study probes the relationship between parental education and income and participation in post-secondary education from 1993 to 2001.
Good: Despite mounting financial challenges during the 1990s, young people from moderate and low-income families were no less likely to attend university in 2001 than they were in 1993, according to a new study.
Finally: there is no contradiction between getting attention and being accurate.
Remember:
· Focus on one or two findings;
· Write in everyday language (the “popular science” level);
· Create images for your readers;
· Focus on the things you want readers to remember;
· Choose the points you think are newsworthy and timely.


Good writing techniques
Write clearly and simply, using language and a style that the layperson can understand. Pretend you are explaining your findings to a friend or relative who is unfamiliar with the subject or statistics in general. Your readers may not be expert users who often go straight to the data tables.
Terms meaningful to an economist may be foreign to a layperson, so avoid jargon. Use everyday language as much as possible. If you have to use difficult terms or acronyms, you should explain them the first time they are used.
Remember: on the Internet, people want the story quickly. Write for the busy, time-sensitive reader. Avoid long, complex sentences. Keep them short and to the point. Paragraphs should contain no more than three sentences.
Paragraphs should start with a theme sentence that contains no numbers.
Example: Norway’s population had a higher growth last year than the year before. The increase amounted to 33,000 people, or a growth rate of 0.7%.
Large numbers are difficult to grasp. Use the words millions, billions or trillions. Instead of 3,657,218, write “about 3.7 million.” You can also make data simpler and more comprehensible by using rates, such as per capita or per square mile. Some suggestions follow.
Use:
· Language that people understand;
· Short sentences, short paragraphs;
· One main idea per paragraph;
· Subheadings to guide the reader’s eye;
· Simple language: “Get,” not “acquire.” “About,” not “approximately.” “Same,” not “identical”;
· Bulleted lists for easy scanning;
· A good editor. Go beyond Spell-Check; ask a colleague to read your article;
· Active voice. “We found that…” Not: “It was found that....”;
· Numbers in a consistent fashion: For example, choose 20 or twenty, and stick with your choice;
· Rounded numbers (both long decimals and big numbers);
· Embedded quotes (these are sentences that generally explain “how” or “why”, and which journalists like to use verbatim in their news stories in quotes);
· URLs, or electronic links, to provide your reader with a full report containing further information.
Avoid:
· “Elevator statistics”: This went up, this went down, this went up;
· Jargon and technical terms;
· Acronyms;
· All capital letters and all italics: Mixed upper and lower case is easier to read;
· “Table reading”, that is, describing every cell of a complex table in your text.
Not Good: From January to August, the total square metres of utility floor space building starts rose by 20.5% from the January to August period last year.
Better: In the first eight months of 2004, the amount of utility floor space started was about 20% higher than in the same period of 2003.

Headlines: Make them compelling
If your agency’s particular style calls for a headline on top of a statistical story, here are some suggestions to keep in mind.
Readers are most likely to read the headline before deciding to read the full story. Therefore, it should capture their attention. The headline should be short and make people want to read on. It should say something about the findings presented in the article, not just the theme.
Write the headline after you have written your story. Headlines are so important that most newspapers employ copy editors who craft the headlines for every story. Because the information is likely new to them, these editors can focus more readily on the most interesting aspects of the story.
In the same vein, statistical agencies might consider a similar arrangement. The individual who writes the headline could be different than the story’s author.
Headlines should:
· Be informative, appealing, magnetic, interesting and newsy, and incorporate:
· the highest since, the lowest since…;
· something new;
· the first time, a record, a continuing trend;
· Make you want to read the story, not scare you off;
· Summarize the most important finding;
· Be no longer than one line of type;
· Not try to tell everything;
· Contain few numbers, if any at all ;
· Have a verb or implied verb.
Not Good: New report released today (the report is not the news) Energy conservation measures widespread (too vague)Prices up in domestic and import markets (what prices?)
Good: Gasoline prices hit 10-year low Crime down third year in a row July oil prices levelled off in August

Headline Alternatives
We'll start it off with a principle that I sort of unintentionally invented. It's called the O-SUUUK-R Principle.
O is the Offer and the R is the Result, the Big Benefit of your product or service. The letters in between relate directly to either the Offer or the Result.
S means that your headline must be Specific. It must relate to a specific offer or to a specific result or benefit. The headline can't be vague or ambiguous.
U means that the Offer or the Result must be Unique to your product or service.
U means that the Offer or Result must be Useful to your target audience. It's got to be something meaningful, something that they want.
U means that the Offer or Result must convey a sense of Urgency. It's practically got to reach out, grab them by the shirt and say, "Handle this now!" Urgent.
C means that the Offer or Result itself must create a strong Curiosity within the reader. "You mean this is really possible?" or "Wow. Really? How?"
K means that the Offer or Result itself will impart some Knowledge that the reader really wants. Or there should be some promise of Knowledge gained that the person wants, and that when applied, the knowledge will produce a result that the person wants badly.
Now, your headline must contain at least 3 of the SUUUK part, and those three or more from the SUUUK part must relate directly to the Offer or the Result. The best headlines would contain all 6 parts and relate to the offer or the result. Really good ones contain 4 or more.
Notice that the elements relate to either the result, the big benefit, or the offer.

HEADLINE FUNCTIONS.
The modem trend in headlines is toward simplicity. Most newspapers now use heads that say what has to be said in a minimum of words. A good headline conveys the news in a story and the significance and meaning behind the story. It never implies more — and should not say too much less — than what actually appears in the story. It does not contain misleading suggestions and it does not leave false impressions. An easy way to remember the functions of the headline is through the acronym
HEADS: H - Heralds the days news; tells what is of importance. E - Entices the reader with essential or interesting facts. A - Advertises the most important story by size or placement on the page (the most important stories are displayed at the top of the page). D - Dresses up a page with typography; helps male design attractive. S - Summarizes the story with a “super” lead; tells what the story is about.


HEADLINE STYLES
There are several ways in which you can display headlines. For style variation, your headlines can beset in all-caps, caps and lowercase or downstyle. These methods are covered in the following text.
Ø ALL-CAPS HEADS The all-capital letter headline style is almost extinct. All-caps heads, while they are easier to write than others, are the most difficult to read To test this premise, read the following paragraph: AS THIS PARAGRAPH DEMONSTRATES, THE ALL-CAPITAL SETTING IS NEITHER EFFICIENT FOR THE READER, NOR PLEASING TO THE EYE. WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST USED TO HAVE KEY GRAPHS IN HIS EDITORIALS SET ALL-CAPS. I N S T E A D O F M A K I N G T H E P O I NT EMPHATICALLY, AS HE INTENDED, SUCH SETTING ACTUALLY CUT DOWN THE READERSHIP AND ITS IMPACT. Even the most patient, attentive and skilled reader will be blinded by the onslaught of all those capital letters. By the way, did you spot the typo?

Ø CAPS AND LOWERCASE HEADS A widely used headline style is the uppercase and lowercase head In this headline style, all words, other than articles, conjunctions, and prepositions of fewer than four (and sometimes five) letters, are set with the first letter in caps and the others in lowercase.
Ø DOWN-STYLE HEADS The down-style head usage has increased in popularity in recent years. In down-style heads, the first letter of the first word— and the first letter of any proper noun — is set as a cap, and all other letters are lowercase. Down-style is presented in the way persons are taught to read and write. The style is visually attractive and enhances the readability of the line. By design, it lacks the numerous capital letters in a headline which serve as “eye stoppers.”




Banner head


Crossline head
Flush left head




HEADLINE FORMS
. Headline forms constantly come and go. Regardless of the form, the most common headlines are easy to read, easy to write and easy to set. Some of the most common headline forms are explained in the following text.
Ø BANNER HEAD The banner head (fig. 9-2) is set the frill-page width at the top of a news page to draw attention to the lead story or that particular page. If you run a banner head above the flag or nameplate, it is called a skyline. A streamer applies to the widest and biggest multicolumn head on a page, regardless of whether it is the full width.
Ø CROSSLINE HEAD The crossline head (fig. 9-3) is very similar to a banner headline. Although it does not always span the full width of the page, it does cover all the columns of the story to which it pertains.
Ø FLUSH LEFT HEAD The flush left head (fig. 9-4) is a two- or three-line head with each line set flush left. The lines do not have to be equal in width or set full. The white space at the right is considered enhancing, because it allows “air” into the otherwise stuffy column spaces. Flush left is the most commonly used head today.

Writing Eye-Catching Headlines
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody's around, does it still make a sound? Conversely, if a great story exists in a sea of 10-point type and the headline is dry and boring, will the reader even bother with the story?
Headline writing is such an important part of the journalism process that some newspapers hire creative folks for the sole purpose of crafting killer headlines. It's the only way in which a journalist can win a major award by writing less than a sentence. In most newsrooms, the task falls on the shoulders of copy editors or page designers, with other editors contributing their demands or suggestions on especially important stories. Sometimes reporters will suggest headlines for their own stories, but this is generally seen as not being the story writer's job.
Outside the newsroom, headlines have become increasingly important in the online world. Blogs are a dime a dozen, and a Technorati or similar search for a keyword will usually pull up a long list of blog posts from which the reader can select. Since blog aggregates use the headline that the blog author originally posts, it's up to the blog author to write a punchy headline that will stand out from the rest.
First, a tutorial on the types of headlines:
Banner heds: Spanning all six columns across the top of the page.
Deck heds: Usually a good complement to a banner headline, providing a second deck of smaller (at least half the point size, usually more) text that explains the story in further detail.
Subheds: A secondary headline providing further detail about the story, in various sizes and column widths in relation to the main hed. Also one-column short headlines within the text of a story that break up the gray space.
Hammer heds: Two or three punchy words (sometimes a pun) usually directly above a deck hed; can be all caps.
Kicker: A catchy, short headline usually above a photo that draws readers into the story package, sometimes seen in all capital letters or in italic font.
Summary graf: A short, paragraph-style headline sometimes ending in a period under a main hed and in text that's larger in point size than the story.
Jumphed: Some papers use additional headlines when the story jumps to another page; these serve to make the jump easy to find and remind the reader what was going on in the story. Ideally, the jumphed should not mirror the main headline on the originating page, but should have fresh tidbits that perhaps reflect the content of text on the jump page.
Heavy hed: Reserved for the biggest stories, the heavy hed is a dark, thick font, often all caps, that needs little explanation and is intended to scream at readers from a newspaper box. Examples: "Terrorists strike," "It's war," "Dow plummets," "Not guilty!"
First-day hed: The term for a headline on a story that is being reported for the first time in that publication.
Second-day hed: This type of headline would be put on a follow-up story, taking care not to repeat the details introduced in the first day hed. For example, the first-day hed might be "Two killed in gang shooting." A confusing lede on the next-day folo might lead a headline writer to write something similar on the second-day, when it should read something like, "Victims identified in gang shooting."
But picking a style that suits the story is only half the battle. Which type of headline writing will work the best and be most appropriate for the story's subject matter?
Hard-news heds
When crafting headlines for hard-news stories, creativity isn't so important as accuracy and the ability to pull the hook out of the story and weave it into the hed. After all, it's in poor taste to slap a funny or pun headline on a story about a plane crashing and killing everyone on board, or ebola sweeping through a village. So what's the clincher, the shocking fact, the breaking news, the super scoop to highlight in the hed to pull in the reader?
Let's pull an example from an Associated Press story and explore potential headlines:
"Hamas militants on Monday claimed responsibility for a shooting that wounded an Israeli civilian near the border with the Gaza Strip — the first serious violence after formation of the new Palestinian unity government.
The shooting dealt an embarrassing blow to Hamas political leaders, who have been trying to persuade the international community to recognize their coalition with the rival Fatah movement and lift a year-old economic boycott against the Palestinian government. It also exposed divisions within the Islamic militant group.
Israel said the attack proved the coalition was flouting international demands to renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist, and accept past peace accords."
Since this lede was written well, those first three paragraphs are all we need to know to write a good headline. So what can the headline writer seize upon? There's always "Hamas militants wound Israeli civilian." But that misses so much of the drama surrounding the implications of the event. Here are some possibilities:
Hamas shooting shakes up new unity government
Wounding of Israeli civilian a blow to Palestinian leadership
Violence threatens aims of Hamas-Fatah union
We see ways in which heds can draw readers into hard-news stories:
Noting eye-catching details, which in hard-news stories can include violence, scandal, blazes, danger, political upheaval, corruption, etc.
Choosing words to convey the drama of the situation -- in the above examples, we see "shakes up," "a blow," "threatens."
Using a headline that lets the reader look foward and imagine what's up next. In the above headlines, the reader wonders if this incident will be enough to damage the newly formed unity government and will read on to learn more.
10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work
Let’s move beyond those common headline formulas you see over and over, and add some new blood to your attention-grabbing arsenal.
1. Who Else Wants [blank]?
Starting a headline with “Who Else Wants…” is a classic social proof strategy that implies an already existing consensus desire. While overused in the Internet marketing arena, it still works like gangbusters for other subject matter.
Who Else Wants a Great Blog Template Design?
Who Else Wants a Higher Paying Job?
Who Else Wants More Fun and Less Stress When on Vacation?
2. The Secret of [blank]
This one is used quite a bit, but that’s because it works. Share insider knowledge and translate it into a benefit for the reader.
The Secret of Successful Podcasting
The Secret of Protecting Your Assets in Litigation
The Secret of Getting Your Home Loan Approved
3. Here is a Method That is Helping [blank] to [blank]
Simply identify your target audience and the benefit you can provide them, and fill in the blanks.
Here is a Method That is Helping Homeowners Save Hundreds on Insurance
Here is a Method That is Helping Children Learn to Read Sooner
Here is a Method That is Helping Bloggers Write Better Post Titles
4. Little Known Ways to [blank]
A more intriguing (and less common) way of accomplishing the same thing as “The Secret of…” headline.
Little Known Ways to Save on Your Heating Bill
Little Known Ways to Hack Google’s Gmail
Little Known Ways to Lose Weight Quickly and Safely
5. Get Rid of [problem] Once and For All
A classic formula that identifies either a painful problem or an unfulfilled desire that the reader wants to remedy.
Get Rid of Your Unproductive Work Habits Once and For All
Get Rid of That Carpet Stain Once and For All
Get Rid of That Lame Mullet Hairdo Once and For All

6. Here’s a Quick Way to [solve a problem]
People love quick and easy when it comes to solving a nagging problem.
Here’s a Quick Way to Get Over a Cold
Here’s a Quick Way to Potty Train Junior
Here’s a Quick Way to Backup Your Hard Drive
7. Now You Can Have [something desirable] [great circumstance]
The is the classic “have your cake and eat it too” headline — and who doesn’t like that?
Now You Can Quit Your Job and Make Even More Money
Now You Can Meet Sexy Singles Online Without Spending a Dime
Now You Can Own a Cool Mac and Still Run Windows
8. [Do something] like [world-class example]
Gatorade milked this one fully with the “Be Like Mike” campaign featuring Michael Jordan in the early 1990s.
Speak Spanish Like a Diplomat
Party Like Paris Hilton
Blog Like an A-Lister
9. Have a [or] Build a [blank] You Can Be Proud Of
Appeal to vanity, dissatisfaction, or shame. Enough said.
Build a Body You Can Be Proud Of
Have a Smile You Can Be Proud Of
Build a Blog Network You Can Be Proud Of
10. What Everybody Ought to Know About [blank]
Big curiosity draw with this type of headline, and it acts almost as a challenge to the reader to go ahead and see if they are missing something.
What Everybody Ought to Know About ASP
What Everybody Ought to Know About Adjustable Rate Mortgages
What Everybody Ought to Know About Writing Great Headlines
Ask your news item to meet several of the following criteria to determine its newsworthiness:
a) Impact—How many people does the event affect? How seriously does it affect them?
b) Proximity—An event will be more important if is closer to the readers. An earthquake in a far-off land is not as interesting as one that is close to home.
c) Timeliness—Is the event fresh? Is it new? The news must be timely to be of use to readers.
d) Prominence—Names make news, and big names make big news. Ordinary people are intrigued by the doings of the rich and famous.
e) Novelty—This is the new in news, the unusual. The “firsts,” “lasts” and “onlys” have been the staples of the news business for many years.
f) Conflict—Conflict has been the currency of great literature, drama and movies for all time. From the stories of Shakespeare to those of Disney, conflict has played a crucial role. Newspapers are no different.
g) Audience—Who is the audience? The answer to that question helps determine whether an event is news at all, and if it is, where it will be played in the paper.
And a little more to think about from Cerritos:
Timeliness — Something that just happened tends to be more newsworthy than something that happened some time ago. In today’s fast-paced communications environment you want to give the reader a sense that this is news NOW. In fact, when you write a news story you want to make sure it has a news peg. Think of a peg on the wall that you might hang a hat on. The news peg is the element that you hang your story on. It is the element that makes the story news NOW, as opposed to last week or next week. Timeliness is often the news peg.
Impact — How many people are impacted by the story. The more the merrier. This might also be called the “Who Cares?” element I talked about earlier. The greater the impact, even if it is an old story, the more likely that it is newsworthy.
Prominence — Like it or not, prominent people make more news. When spousal abuse leads to one partner injuring or killing the other, it is sad. When one of those partners is O.J. Simpson, you have an international news story. When a married man has an extra-marital sexual relationship with a woman half his age, it is bad for a marriage. But if the man is Bill Clinton, president of the United States, it can affect the world’s economy. If the who of a story is someone well known, you might have a story in the most common place of events.
Proximity — The closer to home a story takes place, the more newsworthy it is. The local politics of a small town in New York probably would not affect or interest our readers, but certainly the local politics of our hometown would. Even if you have a major story break half way around the world look for a local angle. For instance, if a plane crashes and kills 200 people, it certainly is news. But if one of the passengers was local, or used to be local, or has local relatives, you have a new story angle. Even if you don’t have that kind of connection to the story, you can ask, “How safe are planes that fly out of the local airport? Could what happened there happen here?” It will bring the story home for the reader, who is more likely to read it and say “Gee Whiz!”
Conflict — Sad to say, but bad news is often more newsworthy than good news. When war breaks out, it is more newsworthy than when neighbors get along. Even stories about peace are more stories about war, or a lack of it. A car driving down the street is not news until it comes into conflict with a telephone pole or a pedestrian.
The Unusual — Pulitzer, Dana and others had the right idea about news, too. Something that is out of the ordinary is news. A pumpkin is not news, unless it is as big as a small car. We are obsessed with records, too, that indicate, the biggest, longest, shortest, smallest, tallest, shortest, etc. something. There are thousands of news stories in the Guinness Book of World Records because of our obsession. A major league baseball player hitting a lot of homeruns is interesting, but is international news when a mark McGwire closes in on and surpasses a 37-year-old record for the most homeruns in a season.
Currency — News can create itself, too. Currency is similar to timeliness. But currency grows from other news elements. Something maintains newsworthiness over time because it first was deemed newsworthy for some other reason. While the fall of the stock market and its impact on world economy may have been newsworthy for several of the reasons listed above, its effects remain newsworthy over time because now they are current events.




So What? SO WHAT!
The main idea of a news story and lead is called the “angle.”
It is also referred to in newsrooms as the “hook” because the angle is used to grab, or hook, the reader’s attention to make them want to read the rest of the student’s story.
Simply, it is the main point a student learned from their reporting and that the rest of their story will try to support.
Finding the angle of a news story forces a newswriter to be critical of a story idea and the reporting. A news writer will discover if there’s no angle in an idea or the facts that have been gathered before an editor, teacher or reader will.
Writing the lead and angle involves making some difficult decisions. A news writer must sort through the facts that were gathered from the reporting and decide what the theme is. There may be several different themes, but the writer must decide what the central theme of the story will be in the lead.
Then students must consider what form their story will take.
In sorting through a mass of material, Carman Cumming and Catherine McKercher of Carleton University tell reporters to think about “S-I-N” — which stands for Significant, Interesting and New. Students should look for either of those three things from their research and interviews and they will be able to find a compelling angle for their lead.

Four functions of a headline:
1.It gets the reader's attention.2.It summarizes or tells about the article.3.It helps organize the news on the page.4. It indicates the relative importance of a story.
· A good headline should be accurate, clear, grammatically correct, strong, active, fresh and immediate. It should catch the reader's attention.
The two most basic rules for headlines:
1. They must be accurate.2. They must fit the available space.
For headlines to be accurate, the headline writer must understand the article thoroughly before writing the headline; the copy editor who doesn't have a good view of what the article says isn't likely to write a headline that communicates clearly and accurately.
Accuracy tips:
1. Spell check AFTER writing the display type.2. In particular, double-check any proper names or any numbers.
The headline should sell the article to the reader. Tell readers why they should be interested.Every news story headline should have an active VERB; headlines on feature stories can be more creative. But aim for complete thoughts. Tell the story, but avoid the "clears hurdle" or "man dies" phenomena. Get the most important element first, the least important head element last.
ATTRIBUTE heads that convey opinion. If the lead needs attribution, chances are the headline will, too. Most times, attribution will go at the end of the headline.
Headlines should be accurate in TONE: don't put a light headline on a serious story. Be careful not to put a first-day head on a second-day story. Match the tone of the story. Be original and creative, but not trite and cliché. If you do employ word play on an idiom or common phrase, be sure the meter is exactly the same. The headline will ring falsely otherwise. If you use a pun, be honest with yourself. Will it make the reader smile, or groan?
Don't repeat the lead in a headline. Write a better headline than the lead. And don't give away the punch line of a feature story that has a surprise ending.Be aware of any unintended double meanings: Real-life examples of some headlines that were published: Old man winter sticks icy finger into Virginia.; Teens indicted for drowning in lake; FBI ordered to assist Atlanta in child slayings.
Avoid BAD BREAKS at the end of lines, such as dangling prepositions or conjunctions.
Avoid HEADLINESE: Words such as mull, eye, rap, hit, slam, vie, assail, seen and bid are headline weaklings. Alter your approach to get away from them. Look for a fresh approach.
Don't go for the obvious. On fire-related stories, for example, stay away from verbs such as spark and snuff; on storm stories, stay away from verbs such as spawn, dump, blow, churn. In articles, hurricanes always seem to churn, and tornadoes are always spawned. And nothing should be taxing around April 15.
In page layout
The layout editor should make the headlines work with the graphics and the art on the page. Most reader surveys show that newspaper readers look first at photos on a page, then headlines.
The page designer should leave AMPLE ROOM so writers can create good headlines. Also, the layout editor should vary the SIZE and SHAPE of headlines to accurately grade the news elements for the reader.
Some basic TYPES of headlines: banner (streamer), hammer, kicker or eyebrow (above the main headline), sidesaddle, deck (usually half the point size of the main headline), drop, read-in, read-out, jump heads.
Some Headline Technicalities
Don't get into the habit of relying on SQUEEZING or STRETCHING the headline type to fit the space. To trained eyes, it can look sloppy, especially when the "doctored" headline appears near other headlines.
In general, commas are used to replace 'and'; semicolons are used to split multisentence headlines. Many desks do not allow colons to indicate attribution, except in rare cases, so it might be best to avoid that usage altogether.
Some "headlinese" words to avoid: slate, solon, nix, eyes, acronyms (unless they are well-known, such as CIA, FBI), names of people who are not well-known. Don't convict someone in a headline (unless the story is about a conviction) -- use "in" instead of "for."
Avoid repeating bugs or page titles in headlines. For example, in a regular column that runs with the bug "Insider Trading," avoid using the word "Insiders" in the headline.
Avoid using the same word in several headlines that appear on the same page. This can easily bore the reader.
Doug Simpson's Tips
Best headline writers are spontaneous and creative; the best headlines instantly come to you.
Headline writers have to be the best writers at the newspaper.
Many times, the best headlines you come up with cannot be printed!
Continuity leads to better headlines; one must write them day after day to get good at it.
Read others' headlines to get ideas, but doing so isn't necessarily going to make you a better headline writer.
The most-effective headlines are those that give an old cliche a new twist; readers are familiar with the cliche, but something different about it will reel them in.
The more conversational the headline, the more the readers will like it.
Don't be so quick to abandon using articles such as "a," "and" and "the"; sometimes these words are needed for clarity. Also, headline styles change over time.
Four-part test for each headline: 1.Is it accurate? 2.Is it clear?3.Is it proper in tone? 4. Does it have a twist?