AY Honors/Journalism/Answer Key
A headline is text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article below it.
Headlines may be written in bold, and are written in a much larger size than the article text. Headline conventions include normally using present tense, omitting forms of the verb "to be" in certain contexts, and removing short articles like "a" and "the". Most newspapers feature a very large headline on their front page, dramatically describing the biggest news of the day.
Headlines are written by copy editors.
Occasionally, the need to keep headlines brief leads to unintentional double meanings, if not double entendres. For example, if the story is about the president of Iraq trying to acquire weapons, the headline might be IRAQI HEAD SEEKS ARMS. Or if some agricultural legislation is defeated in the United States House of Representatives, the title could read FARMER BILL DIES IN HOUSE.
The film The Shipping News has an illustrative exchange between the protagonist, who is learning how to write for a local newspaper, and his publisher:
- Publisher: It's finding the center of your story, the beating heart of it, that's what makes a reporter. You have to start by making up some headlines. You know: short, punchy, dramatic headlines. Now, have a look, [pointing at dark clouds gathering in the sky over the ocean] what do you see? Tell me the headline.
- Protagonist: HORIZON FILLS WITH DARK CLOUDS?
- Publisher: IMMINENT STORM THREATENS VILLAGE.
- Protagonist: But what if no storm comes?
- Publisher: VILLAGE SPARED FROM DEADLY STORM.
In the United States, headline contests are sponsored by the American Copy Editors Society, the National Federation of Press Women, and many state press associations.
Famous headlines
- WAR BREAKS OUT IN EUROPE
- ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA
- PRESIDENT SHOT DEAD
- MAN WALKS ON MOON
- DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN (an early edition of a newspaper ran with this erroneous headline)
- FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD
- HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR
