headline

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
(hĕd'līn') pronunciation
n.
  1. The title or caption of a newspaper article, usually set in large type.
  2. An important or sensational piece of news. Often used in the plural.
  3. A line at the head of a page or passage giving information such as the title, author, and page number.
tr.v., -lined, -lin·ing, -lines.
  1. To supply (a page or passage) with a headline.
    1. To present or promote as a headliner: The Palace Theater headlines a magician.
    2. To serve as the headliner of: He headlines the bill.

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.

Top

noun

    A term or terms in large type introducing a text: head, heading. See words.

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'headline'

Top
Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to headline, see:
  • Journalism - headline: large-type descriptive heading over printed news story


  See crossword solutions for the clue 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.

Contents

Production of headlines

The New York Times uses an unusually large headline to announce the Armistice with Germany at the end of World War I.

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:

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.

Unusual headlines

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]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Wilford, John Noble (2009-07-14). "On Hand for Space History, as Superpowers Spar". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/science/space/14mission.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved April 24, 2011. 
  2. ^ Google Books search result
  3. ^ The New York City Transit Authority in the 1980s
  4. ^ "Telegraph wins newspaper vote". BBC News. 25 May 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4973880.stm#hamster. 
  5. ^ Great Satan sits down with the Axis of Evil
  6. ^ "Super Caley dream realistic?". BBC. 22 March 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_div_1/2875957.stm. 
  7. ^ Kinsley, Michael (1986-06-02). "Don't Stop The Press". The New Republic. http://www.tnr.com/article/83792/dont-stop-the-presses. Retrieved April 26, 2011. 
  8. ^ Kinsley, Michael (2010-07-28). "Boring Article Contest". The Atlantic. http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2010/07/boring-article-contest/17657/. Retrieved April 26, 2011. 

External links


Translations:

Headline

Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - overskrift, kort nyhedsresume, klummetitel
v. tr. - sætte overskrift på

idioms:

  • grab the headline    snuppe overskrifterne
  • hit the headline    blive forsidestof

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:

  • grab the headlines    faire la une, avoir les honneurs de la presse
  • hit the headlines    faire la une

Deutsch (German)
n. - Schlagzeile
v. - mit einer Schlagzeile versehen, als Star auftreten

idioms:

  • grab the headlines    alles tun, um Schlagzeilen zu machen
  • hit the headlines    in die Schlagzeilen kommen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - επικεφαλίδα (εφημερίδας), κύριος τίτλος, (τυπογρ.) κεφαλίδα σελίδας, (ναυτ.) αναδέτης
v. - βάζω επικεφαλίδα

idioms:

  • grab the headline    γίνομαι πρωτοσέλιδο
  • hit the headline    κάνω/προκαλώ πρωτοσέλιδο

Italiano (Italian)
titolo, sommario delle notizie più importanti

idioms:

  • grab the headline    attrarre l'attenzione dei mass media
  • hit the headline    essere famoso nei mass media

Português (Portuguese)
n. - manchete (f) (jornal), título (m) de artigo ou trabalho
v. - titular, fazer manchete

idioms:

  • grab the headline    conquistar destaque nas notícias
  • hit the headline    chegou à manchete dos jornais

Русский (Russian)
газетный заголовок, озаглавить

idioms:

  • grab the headline    попасть в заголовки газет, стать известным
  • hit the headline    то, о чем пишут все газеты

Español (Spanish)
n. - titular, primera plana
v. tr. - titular, primera plana

idioms:

  • grab the headlines    obtener mucha publicidad por parte de los medios, ocupar la primera plana, hacer noticia
  • hit the headlines    obtener mucha publicidad por parte de los medios, ser pasto de la actualidad, aparecer en primera plana

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:

  • grab the headline    作为重要新闻见报, 被大肆宣扬
  • hit the headline    成为报上的头条新闻

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 大標題, 新聞摘要
v. tr. - 為...做標題, 寫標題

idioms:

  • grab the headline    作為重要新聞見報, 被大肆宣揚
  • hit the headline    成為報上的頭條新聞

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 큰 표제, 돛을 활죽에 매는 줄, 페이지의 윗 난
v. tr. - ~에 표제를 붙이다

idioms:

  • hit the headline    신문에 크게 취급되다, 유명해지다

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:

  • hit the headline    重大ニュースになる, 知れわたる

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-‬


Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

Mentioned in

French, James (Quotes By)
main head (in marketing)
Headline Risk (finance term)
subhead (in marketing)
blind headline (in marketing)