HEADLINE FORMS

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Identify the most common headline forms.

Headline forms constantly come and go. Regardless of the form, the most common headlines are easy to read, easy to write and easy to set. Some of the most common headline forms are explained in the following text.

BANNER HEAD

The banner head (fig. 9-2) is set the frill-page width at the top of a news page to draw attention to the lead story or that particular page. If you run a banner head above the flag or nameplate, it is called a skyline. A streamer applies to the widest and biggest multicolumn head on a page, regardless of whether it is the full width.

CROSSLINE HEAD

The crossline head (fig. 9-3) is very similar to a banner headline. Although it does not always span the full width of the page, it does cover all the columns of the story to which it pertains.

FLUSH LEFT HEAD

The flush left head (fig. 9-4) is a two- or three-line head with each line set flush left. The lines do not have to be equal in width or set full. The white space at the right is considered enhancing, because it allows "air" into the otherwise stuffy column spaces. Flush left is the most commonly used head today.

Figure 9-4. - Flush left head.

Figure 9-5. - Side head.

Figure 9-6. - Kicker.

SIDE HEAD

The side head (fig. 9-5) is a headline form that runs alongside a story. It is normally three or four lines and looks best when set flush right. A side head is usually placed slightly above the center of the story.

KICKER

The kicker (fig. 9-6) opens up the area on a page where the headline is located. It can be used to introduce a feature article with a pun line above the main head

The following are some basic rules for you to follow when writing kickers:

Extract kicker information from the bridge or the body of the story.

Do not repeat words in the kicker and main head. Interpretation of the main head should not depend on information in the kicker. l l l l l l

Make the kicker 1/2 the point size of the main head. For example, a 36-point main head will have an 18-point kicker.

Set the kicker 1/3 to 1/2 the width of the main head. For example, a three-column main head requires a one-column to 1 1/2-column kicker.

Alternate type postures to give the head the proper emphasis. For instance, a reman style main head requires an italic kicker and vice versa.

Indent the main head two counts (headline unit counting will be explained later) under the kicker. to add white space.

Always underline the kicker.

Do not use a kicker at the top of a page.