PUNCTUATION

Newspaper editors generally adhere to the following style for headlines: l Use single quotation marks instead of double.

Use commas to replace the word and. Also, where natural, use commas to make pauses or breaks in headline construction.

Use semicolons to divide thoughts, where needed especially three-line heads.

Use periods only after abbreviations.

In a caps and lowercase head, start each line and every important word with capital letters.

Articles (which are rarely used) and prepositions (which do not lead off a line) are not capitalized in a caps and lowercase head.

HEADLINE FITTING METHOD

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Summarize the method used to fit headlines properly.

To make sure a headline fits in its allotted space, you can use a form of measurement called a "unit count." This system assigns each letter, number, punctuation mark and space character a specified number value. The area on a newspaper page is limited, so it is important that you use the unit count system properly.

"Flit-j" UNIT COUNT SYSTEM

Headline counting systems vary from newspaper to newspaper. However, in this section, we use the standard system in the newspaper industry today - the "flit-j" unit count system. The letters that compose the name of this system act as a crutch to remind you what groups of letters receive unique values when counting the headline.

The "flit-j" unit count system is determined by the following rules: l l

All lowercase letters and spaces between words or characters each receive one (1) count.

EXCEPTIONS: f, l, i, t and j each receive one-half (0.5) count; m and w each receive one and one-half (1.5) counts.

All uppercase letters and all numeric characters each receive one and one-half (1.5) counts.

EXCEPTIONS: M and W each receive two (2) counts; I and the numeral 1 each receive one (1) count. l All punctuation characters each receive one-half (0.5) count.

EXCEPTIONS: Each hyphen (-) receives one (1) count; each dollar sign ($) or question mark (?) receives one and one-half (1.5) counts; each dash ( - ) receives two (2) counts.

In counting the units in a headline, you place one tick mark over each character or space that has a count of one; place two tick marks over each character that has a count of two; and place one tick mark beneath each character that has a count of one-half.

For example, say you want to count the units in the following headline:

Congress approves $2 billion year-end budget

First, either write or type the headline on a sheet of paper. Then place the tick marks in pencil, as shown in the following example:

Congress approves $2 billion year-end budget

After placing the tick marks, total the whole number count values and then add any one-half count values. Note the following example:

Congress approves $2 billion year-end budget

In this example, the headline count is 43. If the count does not fall within the range of allowed minimum and maximum values for the headline width on the headline schedule, try to change the verb to make it fit. If the headline still does not fit, work with other words in the headline. If you cannot make it fit by changing the other words, begin again with a new headline.

HEADLINE SCHEDULES

Maximum unit count limits are predetermined for various newspaper column widths for each headline size of a particular typeface or font. These count limits are provided in charts or lists called headline schedules. A sample headline schedule is shown in figure 9-13.

Figure 9-13. - Sample headline schedule.

The chart gives the minimum-maximum unit count for each line based on the number of columns the line stretches across. Each headline listed on the chart is often given a key, or code, that tells the printer the name of the type style and the number of columns the headline covers. As shown in figure 9-4, a headline with a key "A5' would indicate a headline set in a 60-point type style called Tempo Bold Reg., which has a minimum-maximum unit count of 23-26 stretched across five columns (the number indicated in the "AS" key).