- What is the purpose of a headline?
- What are the different types and styles of headlines in modern newspapers?
- How have computers changed the methodology employed in headline writing?
- What makes an effective headline?
- What makes a headline "good" or "bad?"
- What is the difference between news headlines and feature headlines?
- How do you know if a headline will fit in the allotted space?
- What kinds of questions can I ask myself in determining whether my headline is effective?
Activity 1:
Read the following headlines collected in the 2007 edition of The Lower Case (Columbia Review of Journalism). Note, as a comment, what is incorrect or humorous in these headlines:
Guest-worker plan proposed
Texas police want bullet lodged in teenager's head
The (London) Independent 12.23.06
Fifth Avenue clogged with police shooting protestors
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 12.17.06
U.S. pilots in Brazil crash back at home
The Press of Atlantic City 12.10.06
Will hanging help Bush?…
Activity 2:
What are the elements of headline writing? What are some purposes of headlines? Add your answers in the form of a WORDLE (word cloud). Then, post your Wordle as a blog post. You'll need to create your Wordle, then save it to the public gallery and finally, copy the HTML code that appears at the bottom of the page. You'll then paste the HTML code into your blog (when in "Edit HTML" mode, NOT in the "compose" mode).
Your blog title should be: Headline Wordle, Student Name. The labels for your post should be: lecture 7, review, headlines.
Here is an example of a Wordle that I did using information from Chapter 9:
What are the elements of headline writing? What are some purposes of headlines? Add your answers in the form of a WORDLE (word cloud). Then, post your Wordle as a blog post. You'll need to create your Wordle, then save it to the public gallery and finally, copy the HTML code that appears at the bottom of the page. You'll then paste the HTML code into your blog (when in "Edit HTML" mode, NOT in the "compose" mode).
Your blog title should be: Headline Wordle, Student Name. The labels for your post should be: lecture 7, review, headlines.
Here is an example of a Wordle that I did using information from Chapter 9:
Activity 3:
Go to the Huffington Post and read a few articles and then identify elements of strength and/or weaknesses you find in the headlines. Then read a short feature article, and similarly think about its headline. Examine differences in style, sensitivity, when humor is appropriate, inappropriate. Note the use of verbs, need for extensive "shorter word" vocabulary, etc. Then evaluate the headlines according to the "Characteristics of Good Headlines" in Chapter 9. Add your thoughts as a comment to this lecture post.
Activity 4:
Compare headlines from the Huffington Post with column width, typographical specs and spacing (how the headline must also fit within predetermined space) as explained in Chapter 9. Did you find any headlines that were too long or too short? How might you change them to fit with rules noted in Chapter 9? Add a comment here.
Activity 5:
Review the vocabulary list on page 181. Note the importance of shorter synonyms to ensure clear and precise headlines. Choose ten words from the vocabulary list and add at least two other synonyms not noted in Chapter 9. Also, include two or three words that don't appear in this list along with your own shorter synonyms. Add your vocabulary information to a blog post. Title: Vocabulary Builder. Labels: lecture 7, headlines, stylistics. Remember to include an image in your post.
Activity 6:
If time permits, we can finish the class by adding to your E-Portfolios. You may choose to edit posts you have already written, or begin a new one.
Homework:
Practise spelling and review vocabulary
Come to class with a topic to add to your E-Portfolio
Note: Question mark sign image from Illinois Wesleyan University and newspapers image from 24/7 Wall St.
Activity 1:
ReplyDeleteHeadline 1: sounds as though the guest-worker did such a good job they decided to propose his plan.
Headline 2: Sounds as though the police want to put a bullet in the teenagers head, not find the bullet that landed there.
Headline 3: The protesters are shooting the police! Don't go near that protest.
Headline 4: The pilots must have arrived in Brazil as ghosts if they crashed at home.
Headline 5: Bush's policies are so bad he either committed suicide or was brought to the rope by council.
Activity 1: These headlines all contain misplaced modifiers, meaning that the modifier isn't close enough to what it is modifying in the headline. As a result, they take on double meaning.
ReplyDeleteHeadline 1: This headline sounds like the guest-worker proposed the plan, as opposed to a "guest-worker plan" being proposed.
Headline 2: So do the police want to put a bullet in the teen's head or do they want the one that's already in there?
Headline 3: I think the reporter wanted to say that police are shooting protestors on Fifth Avenue, however it sounds like the protestors are the ones who are doing the shooting from this headline.
Headline 4: It sounds as if the U.S. pilots crashed when coming home, not that the pilots were the victims of a crash in Brazil.
Headline 5: This headline sounds like Bush is being hung...no comment there.
Activity 3: Here are a few examples of news headlines from the February 26, 2010, edition of the Huffington Post, and an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses based on the "Characteristics of Good Headlines" from Chapter 9.
ReplyDelete"Tiger Woods' Gatorade Sponsorship OVER: Third Major Sponsor to Leave"
Strengths: This headline quickly communicates the most important information in the story to readers. It is balanced and fair; this attitude can be hard to maintain when writing about controversial topics as seen in this article.
Weaknesses: There are some grammatical problems with this headline: Woods' should be written as Woods's. The word "over" should not be written in ALL CAPS either. Even though it does emphasize the word "over," it is actually harder for people to read headlines written in ALL CAPS, according to Chapter 9 of the text.
"Teenage Girls Cut Baby From Mother's Womb: Reports"
Strengths: It is clear, concise, and focuses on the main theme within the story. As well, it pays attention to attribution. By including the word "reports," readers know WHERE the information in the headline came from.
Weaknesses: I can't identify any weaknesses with this headline.
"Emma Jones, British Teacher, Killed Herself after Naked Photos Posted on Facebook"
Strengths: This headline captures the most important information in the story and delivers it quickly to readers. It uses strong, active verbs that work to "hook" the reader into the story.
Weaknesses: This headline is clearly accurate, however it is almost too specific; the name of the British teacher could have been left out of the headline, and included in the lead instead.
Here is an example of a feature headline from the same edition of the Huffington Post:
"We Need to End the Obesity Epidemic"
Strengths: Feature articles should reflect the overall tone of the article, as outlined in Chapter 9 of the text. This headlines achieves just that; the serious tone of the obesity epidemic addressed in the article is captured in this headline.
Weaknesses: The headline does appear somewhat bias, and reflective of the reporter's opinion. It is definitely a powerful statement, and work's to "hook" the reader's attention, but it could be rewritten so it reads more fair and balanced.
*Note: All articles from the Huffington Post are written in upstyle, where the first letter of every word is capitalized. This slows reading, according to Chapter 9 of the text. Instead, downstyle should be used, where only the first letter of the first word is capitalized.
In general, news headlines from the Huffington Post appeared more direct and concise; they focused on the main theme of the story and worked to communicate that information quickly to readers. Feature headlines were more stylistic and creative, and even funny in some cases depending on the overall tone of the story. This is allowed in feature headline writing, according to Chapter 9 of the text; this is not appropriate for news headlines. For both news and feature headlines, strong, shorter verbs proved most effective, however more leeway can be given to feature headlines in this area.
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ReplyDeleteActivity 1:The headlines have badly placed modifiers so they all could have a possible two meanings.
ReplyDelete"Guest-worker plan proposed" sounds likes a guest-worker is planning a proposal.
"Texas police..." this one sounds like the police want to put the bullet in the teenagers head, instead of find the one that was in there.
"Fifth avenue..." This sounds like the protestors are shooting the police, or the police are shooting the protestors...I just don't know what to think!
"U.S. pilots..." This is such a bad headline I don't know where to start. Did the pilots crash before going to Brazil or after coming back!
"Will hanging help Bush?" Hmm I suppose if we hang him someone will find that helpful...
Activity 4:
ReplyDeleteThe headlines from the Huffington Post generally follow the same format: left-aligned in large, bold type-face spanning the top of the story. I did not find any headlines that could be classified as too short or too long format-wise as outlined in Chaper 9 of the text; however, the text tends to focus on print layouts, which are more limiting than layouts found online.
In print, if a headline contains more units than the space allotted permits, the headline must be cut. Copy editors MUST abide by headline unit counts when writing headlines for print. Online, writers have more freedom with the length of their headlines; if a headline runs too long, it will often be formatted into a multi-deck headline with two or three lines.
If I were to change any of the headlines I read from the Huffington Post, I would change headlines that had two decks (lines) with only one word on the second deck. I would either shorten the headline to fit one line, or expand it to push more words on to the second line. Spacing or typographical specs could also be manipulated to better fit column width. This would be a more appropriate use of space, and look more centered over the story.
Activity 1
ReplyDelete1) The Guest proposed the worker plan?
2) The Texas police want to shoot a teenager in the head, not get the bullet that is already in his head out?
3) The protesters are shooting the police and Fifth Avenue sounds like some sort of faulty pipe with the word "clogged"
4) Sounds like U.S. pilots which are in Brazil are crashing in the U.S. while they are still in Brazil?
5) Are they condemning Bush to death maybe? Are they asking if he should just kill himself?
Activity 1: Like several of my classmates have pointed out, many of these headlines contain misplaces modifiers which can change the intended meaning of the headline. Sometimes, like in the fifth headline there are far too many questions needed to be answered before the headline meaning is clear.
ReplyDeleteHeadline 1: A guest-worker proposed a plan? What is a guest worker anyway?
Headline 2: This headline implies the Texas police want the bullet to be lodged in the teenager rather than the Texas police just physically wanting the bullet that is lodged in the teenager's head.
Headline 3: This headlines implies Fifth Avenue is clogged with protestors who are shooting police. Does this really mean the police are shooting the protestors?
Headline 4: The U.S. pilots are crashing at home in Brazil. That's very confusing. To be honest, I don't actually know what the intended meaning of this headline is.
Headline 5: What? Will hanging help Bush? Like Megan said, "are they asking if he should just kill himself?" This headline provokes far too many questions. Hanging who or what? How would it help Bush? I don't even understand what this headline was trying to imply so I wouldn't even know how to correct it.
Activity 1:
ReplyDelete1) This offers no insight on what the article is about. What is the guest worker? It is far too vague a headline.
2)The police obviously do not want a teenager to get a bullet in his head. This certainly needs to be rephrased!
3)Who is shooting who? The police are all shooting the protesters? Or, are the protesters shooting the police? I don't believe either group is shooting all the other group, so this needs to be changed.
4)How can these pilots from the U.S. be in Brazil but also, crash at home? These needs to be reworded because is simply makes no sense.
5)Hanging what? And if this refers to hanging himself, it probably won't help him (though this does not reflect my opinion...).
Activity 3:
ReplyDeleteThe top story headline is:
"200,000 UNEMPLOYED TO LOSE BENEFITS THIS WEEK"
It is a very effective headline simply because this is so alarming. Whenever there is something this important happening, a simple clear title is best and this is both of those.
The book is opposed to all capital letters for headlines and recommends that we not follow this method, but personally it doesn't take away from the headline for me.
Another headline is:
"TV Presenter Dies From 'Solo Sex Game' Gone Wrong"
This headline certainly makes me excited to read the article because it is so unusual. On the other hand, a man has died, is it really appropriate to be making light of the subject?
The headlines from the Huffington post all seem alright to me. On average, they are all an appropriate length, the longer headlines that I saw were still very too the point and I was unable to think of how to really make them shorter, but still get the point of the article across.
ReplyDeleteActivity 1:
ReplyDelete1. Guest-worker plan proposed – Is it the guest worker proposing a plan?
2. Texas police want bullet lodged in teenager's head – The intended meaning was probably that police want THE bullet which is lodged in the teenager’s head; not that they want a bullet to get lodged in his head.
3. Fifth Avenue clogged with police shooting protestors – Does this mean ‘police were shooting protestors’ or that ‘there were protestors against police shooting’?
4. U.S. pilots in Brazil crash back at home – If U.S. pilots were “back home”, they would not be “in Brazil”.
5. Will hanging help Bush?… - Who’s hanging will help Bush? The problem is whether the headline is prompting the question: ‘will another individual’s hanging (probably Saddam Hussein’s) help Bush’, or ‘will hanging himself help Bush?’.
Activity 3:
ReplyDeleteThe headline: Obama Wants Comprehensive Health Care Bill, Including GOP Ideas
This is an appropriate headline because it is clear and accurate. It uses an active voice which is important in headline writing because they should be direct and to the point. According to the "Characteristics of Good Headlines" in chapter 9, writing in an active voice is ideal. The headline does not use short words but I think it's appropriate for this article.
The headline: 11-Year-Old Boy Shoots Himself In Foot While Guarding Medical Pot Operation
This is an example of when humour would be appropriate in a headline. If the 11-year-old boy would have died in the event then it would not have been appropriate to imply humour. Similar to what Jayme commented in his Blog comment about the headline, "TV Presenter Dies From 'Solo Sex Game' Gone Wrong." Even though the story may be more interesting it may be inappropriate because somebody has died. These two articles differ in degrees of sensitivity. However, that doesn't mean to be more sensitive is a strength or a weakness. Both headlines are interesting which I think contribute to the strengths. According to the "Characteristics of Good Headlines," in chapger 9, both the headlines are fair and accurate which are strengths in writing headlines.
Short feature article headline: 17 Ridiculous Laws Still On The Books In The U.S.
This is an appropriate headline because it tells exactly what the article is about. As a strength it uses short words so people don't have to guess what the article will be about. It's not vague or abstract which definitely is a strength when writing headlines. According to the "Characteristics of Good Headlines," in chapter 9, is uses appropriate and accurate tone for the rest of the article. The headline uses humour appropriately because the article is funny and ridiculous and likely wouldn't offend anybody who is reading it. This is a really good example of where using humour in your headline is appropriate. This is even more appropriate than the other headlines that were about an 11-year-old boy shooting himself in the foot or the TV star dying.
Activity 4:
ReplyDeleteI think perhaps some of the headlines are too long but I don't really see a way of shortening some of them because they have all the necessary and appropriate facts to get the point across of what will be mentioned in the article. The entire website does well for spacing appropriately so that everything looks smooth and clear. People are easily able to navigate between headlines even if some of the headlines are longer. Chapter 9 discusses how headlines should be tight to the sides of the pages and that they should employ shorter words when necessary. I think the Huffington Post website does this well. They generally use a lot of short words.
Activity 1: As many others have noted, the headlines all contain misplaced modifiers. The ambiguity cause confusion as to what the articles are about, and may decrease the credibility of the journalist/editor/newspaper.
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ReplyDeleteActivity 4:
ReplyDeleteOther than wording issues most of the headlines on the Huffigton Post are pretty good style wise. They are fairly short, and express the message of the article.
Activity 3:
ReplyDeleteThe Huffington Post have very dramatic headlines. Sometimes these can be misleading, especially to online readers.
1) At War: Soldier throws back Taliban Hand Grenade
Strength:You get a picture of what happened even without reading the article. It acurratly portrays the information contained below.
Weakness:Redunt. If there is a soldier throwing back a hand grenade at the taliban it will be generally assumed he is at war, the first part is not necessary.
2)Japan Confirms Cold War Era 'Secret' Pact With U.S.
Strength:Names the imporant players in the story. Names the event, and places prominent events and players in strategic places in the sentence.
Weakness:Could have been worded better. ie) Investigation confirms Japan-U.S. Cold War Pact.
3)Biden Condemns Israel's Approval Of Plan to Build New Jewish Settlements In East Jerusalem
Strength: sufficantly summarizes the article gives context to an issue people would be interested in.
Weakness:Too wordy and long for an online reader. The headline is going to take up too much room and be cut off in RSS feeds.
There are different types of headlines that can be appropriate for different situations. Humour and word puns are great in print, however online readers are generally going to skip these articles and look for ones that are more direct. Haedlines, especially online need to be direct, to the point, easy to read and follow. The reader should not have to analyze the headline in order to understand what it is trying to say.