With Dynamic Headlines Compiled by Dianne Smith, CJE (edited for Molalla High School by Candice Vickers, 2010) Alief Hastings High School Houston, Texas August, 1999

A well-written story will go unread if the headline does not grab the reader. Headlines also serve as a graphic element on the page.

Headlines generally consist of two parts, a primary and a secondary.

The primary head is visually more prominent and more important.

The primary head captures the reader’s attention….

And ties into the lead of the story and the subject of the photo.

The secondary headline adds information found in the story.

There are four basic combinations of primary and secondary heads:

1. Hammer 2. Kicker 3. Tripod 4. Wicket

Hammer: A hammer consists of one or more lines of primary over one or more lines of secondary. Reign & Rain Five inches of pouring rain don’t dampen festivities Primary Secondary

Kicker: A kicker consists of one line of secondary over one or more lines of primary. Secondary Primary Five inches of rain don’t dampen festivities Reign & Rain

Tripod: A tripod consists of two or more lines of secondary stacked beside the primary. This is a more graphically challenging design. Five inches of pouring rain don’t dampen festivities Reign & Rain Five inches of pouring rain don’t dampen festivities Reign & Rain Primary Secondary

Tripod: A tripod consists of two or more lines of secondary stacked beside the primary. This is a more graphically challenging design. Five inches of pouring rain don’t dampen festivities Reign & Rain Five inches of pouring rain don’t dampen festivities Reign & Rain Primary Secondary

Wicket: A wicket consists of two or more lines of secondary over one or more lines of primary. ‘I had spent $45 getting my hair done, and I wasn’t about to ruin it before the dance, so I left the game in the first quarter.’--Jill Smith, Queen Rain & Reign Secondary Primary

Checklist Use fact-filled secondary heads and eye-opening primary heads. Use contrasting type styles (not fonts!) between primary and secondary heads: bold and ital, for example

Checklist Do not split an infinitive or prepositional phrase from one line to the next. Hyphens are allowed in SECONDARY HEADS, but don’t split a word with a hyphen from one line to the next.

Checklist Only use proper names of VERY famous people, and do not split a proper name from one line to another. Don’t split a verb phrase, prepositional phrase or infinitive phrase from one line to another.

Checklist Omit the articles a, an and the. Use numerals (1, 2, 3) rather than spelled out number names (one, two, three).

Checklist Avoid passive forms of the verb “to be”. Refer to the Associated Press Style Book if necessary. Consistency of style is important.

Checklist Primary head should be tied to the main photo if there is one.

Checklist Avoid stating the obvious. Tell the reader something new. Do not repeat key words from one part of the headline to the other.

Checklist Use literary techniques such as alliteration, puns, satire if appropriate. Quotes make great secondary heads.

Checklist Write in present tense, even if the event has already happened. Write in future tense or use infinitive (to + verb) to show that something will happen in the future. (Kids to write in J class)

Checklist Main headlines do not necessarily have to have a subject and verb. Secondary headlines should always have a subject and a verb.

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