Writing Headlines and Captions

Front

A word phrase set off geographically from the beginning of a caption and meant to capture the audience's attention.

Back

catch line

Front

A headline that may use creative writing tools to provoke interest or controversy; might contain multiple layers of meaning, wordplay, a variation on a quotation or a vivid scene from the story.

Back

descriptive headline

Front

A subsidiary headline set in large, bold type above the main deck; often descriptive headlines with multiple layers of meaning, meant to intrigue the reader rather than communicate the most important or breaking news; used with news analysis and feature stories more than with breaking news stories; also called a barker.

Back

hammer head

Front

An abbreviated writing style used in summary headlines to convey the most important elements of a story in a small amount of space.

Back

headlinese

Front

A subsidiary headline that adds information to the main deck; goes above the main deck and is usually half the point size of the main deck.

Back

kicker

Front

A headline written as a complete sentence in standard, sometimes conversational English; suggest that the reporting will include anecdotes and storytelling, as well as facts and breaking news.

Back

narrative headline

Front

A subsidiary headline that adds information below the main deck and is usually in a different front than the main head; also called a drop head.

Back

read-out

Front

A headline that has been crafted to capture the attention of search engine's spiders.

Back

search engine optimized (SEO)

Front

A news story lead that includes answers to the five W's: who, what, when, where and why; also called a five W's lead.

Back

summary headline

Front

A broadcast headline meant to attract and hold the audience's attention; brief summary, usually under 48 words and usually in complete sentences; also called a tease or taster.

Back

teaser