HEADLINES

The purpose of a headline is to summarize the news content of an article in a few words. The headline should report the topic and perhaps the main fact, accurately. It should also present the information in an interesting way so that the reader is encouraged to read the article itself. The kinds of news that appeal to readers of one newspaper may differ widely from those of a competitor. But all headlines include one or more of the following elements that attract a reader’s interest: newness or unusualness, personal relevance or consequences, and emotions. Sometimes one headline is not enough to summarize the important information, so a second headline, in smaller letters, is added below the first. It’s called subheadline.

Note that when you are reading a newspaper, you will find that much news in the headlines is repeated in the article. Thus you see them in a larger context in the article and can understand their meaning more easily than in a brief headline.

There are two types of headlines. Most news stories use sentence headlines although they may be shortened by omitting certain words, as you will see later. Many feature stories and some very short news stories use phrase headlines or titles that leave out the verb. Here are some examples of both:

Sentence headlines

Police rescue 12 divers as launch sinks off Bali.

Pen manufacturers still see good future for luxury pens.

Phrase headlines

Getting in touch with the spirits.

Heroism and cowardice at the «Top of the World».

Reward for tracing suspect.

The grammar of sentence headlines: almost all sentence headlines in the majority of newspapers use the present tense – despite the fact that they generally describe past events. The present tense gives the subject a sense of freshness and immediacy, making it more interesting to read. The news is only news, when it is fresh, immediate, and current. There are some exceptions, of course. Sometimes past events are reported in the past tense, as in this headline (19hrs. after deadline, the war began). Sometimes you may come across a future tense - as in this headline (4 large corporations will reduce emissions that harm ozone layer) is not usually used for future events. Instead, the present tense form “is to + verb” (“are to + verb) is used with the future meaning (Liz Taylor, 8^thhusband [are] to be married this week).

Present tense headlines are sometimes written in the passive voice (Westchester Mayor is stabbed by angry voter). It is important not to confuse the present tense passive voice in an elliptical headline – when an auxiliary verb is omitted (passive: Mayor stabbed at midnight = Mayor is stabbed at night / active: Mayor stabbed someone at night).

There are several special verb phrases in headlines that show that the information is a report of what someone else, a source, told a journalist, rather than information that the reporter gathered alone. The source might or might not be named in the news article. American laws protect the identity of a secret source: a journalist cannot be forced to reveal his or her name. The three most common expressions that indicate the indirect reporting described above are: is said to (Westchester mayor said to be near death), is reported to (Weschester mayor is reported to have Mafia connections), and reportedly (Mayor’s birthday party reportedly cost $25G).

Headlines pack a great deal of information into a limited space, so it is not surprising that headline writers use several methods to conserve space. One obvious example is to use abbreviations («PM» for «Prime Minister», etc.). But they also use a special grammar, omitting articles («a» and «the») and the verb «to be» wherever possible.

Cooperation agreement signed (A cooperation agreement is signed)

Australian ex-judge sworn in to represent UK queen (An Australian ex-judge is sworn in to represent the United Kingdom queen)

Be sure to notice that the omission of the verb «to be» can make the headline appear to be in the past tense when it is actually present tense, passive voice.

Punctuation Marks in Headlines

The comma

• Takes place of and (Income, spending up sharply).

• Is used with its normal function of separating words in a list (Massive, Mobile UN Force…).

• Separating phrases (19hrs. after deadline, the war began).

The colon

• Is used after a word or phrase to explain it (Washington prediction: slow growth, no recession).

• Following a name, tells what a person said without quoting their exact words (Junkie: I’ll take test).

Single quotation marks

• Tell what a person said, using their exact words. The whole headline (or subheadline) can be a quotation or just a few words. The speaker can be named in the headline or not («The liberation of Kuwait has begun» – President Bush or Iraqi air force «decimated».

• Are used instead of the name of a person who is not well-known or instead of a thing that has a difficult or technical name (Just 2 years (jail term) for «beauty queen» thief «Suicide machine» takes first life)

Serious journalism requires that the source of quotation be named at the beginning of the article.

Task: answer the following questions:

1 What is the main purpose of a headline?

2 What way should the headline present the information?

3 Why do they often use a second sentence to headline a newspaper article?

4 Why are many words from the headline often repeated in the article?

5 What types of headlines are usually used in newspapers?

6 Why are verbs in headlines mainly used in a present tense?

7 Are past and future tenses possible?

8 What construction is very frequent to express futurity?

9 What special verb phrases are often used in newspaper headlines not to disclose the source of information?

10 Why do editors often resort to elliptical (some words have been omitted) sentences?

11 What elements are omitted as a rule?

12 What punctuation marks are usually used in headlines?

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