
Sentence, phrase, word, or group of words set in large, bold type on a newspaper front page or above a body of text on any page of a newspaper or magazine, or in a printed advertisement (or featured as part of a broadcast commercial). The purpose of a headline is to attract attention and usually to encourage the reading of the following copy (or, in the case of broadcast, to encourage the listener or viewer to keep listening or viewing). In print advertising, the headline is considered to be the most important element, because it invites the reader into the advertisement. Therefore, it must arouse interest and curiosity about the advertised product or service. A variety of techniques are used in designing headline copy, such as the offer of a reward, the promise of a product benefit, the asking of a question, or the use of key provocative words such as "new," "amazing," or "revolutionary." split-run research testing of headlines, where the headlines differ but the body text remains the same, has proven that the headline is the key factor in the effectiveness of an advertisement. See also blind headline.

The headline is the text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article below it.
It is sometimes termed a news hed, a deliberate misspelling that dates from production flow during hot type days, to notify the composing room that a written note from an editor concerned a headline and should not be set in type.
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A headline's purpose is to quickly and briefly draw attention to the story. It is generally written by a copy editor, but may also be written by the writer, the page layout designer, or other editors. The most important story on the front page above the fold may have a larger headline if the story is unusually important. The New York Times's 21 July 1969 front page stated, for example, that "MEN WALK ON MOON", with the four words in gigantic size spread from the left to right edges of the page.[1]
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:
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.
A number of newspapers use humour, puns, alliteration or other word play devices in their headlines. Equally, the need to keep headlines brief occasionally 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.
While editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley began a contest to find the most boring newspaper headline.[7] According to him, no entry surpassed the one that had inspired him to create the contest: "WORTHWHILE CANADIAN INITIATIVE", over a column by The New York Times' Flora Lewis.[8]
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - overskrift, kort nyhedsresume, klummetitel
v. tr. - sætte overskrift på
idioms:
Nederlands (Dutch)
krantenkop, hoofdattractie, hoofdlijn in handpalm, voorzien van titel, met vette koppen aankondigen
Français (French)
n. - (Journ) gros titre
v. tr. - intituler, titrer
idioms:
Deutsch (German)
n. - Schlagzeile
v. - mit einer Schlagzeile versehen, als Star auftreten
idioms:
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - επικεφαλίδα (εφημερίδας), κύριος τίτλος, (τυπογρ.) κεφαλίδα σελίδας, (ναυτ.) αναδέτης
v. - βάζω επικεφαλίδα
idioms:
Italiano (Italian)
titolo, sommario delle notizie più importanti
idioms:
Português (Portuguese)
n. - manchete (f) (jornal), título (m) de artigo ou trabalho
v. - titular, fazer manchete
idioms:
Русский (Russian)
газетный заголовок, озаглавить
idioms:
Español (Spanish)
n. - titular, primera plana
v. tr. - titular, primera plana
idioms:
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - rubrik, överskrift
v. - rubricera
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
大标题, 新闻摘要, 为...做标题, 写标题
idioms:
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 大標題, 新聞摘要
v. tr. - 為...做標題, 寫標題
idioms:
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 큰 표제, 돛을 활죽에 매는 줄, 페이지의 윗 난
v. tr. - ~에 표제를 붙이다
idioms:
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 見出し, 主な項目, 大見出し
v. - 見出しを付ける
idioms:
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) الرأسيه عنوان مقال في جريدة, الخط الرأسي كلمات توضع في رأس, مقال أو صفحه على سبيل التقديم أو التصدير (فعل) يجعل للمقال أو الصفحه رأسيه, يعلن في مكان بارز
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - כותרת
v. tr. - נתן כותרת ל-