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Filling out headlines

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by copperpot, Mar 3, 2008.

  1. Gomer

    Gomer Active Member

    My ME says he wants every headline to fit 100 per cent of the space allocated for it. No, I'm not joking.

    I was taught that you fill two-thirds of the last column your headline runs over.
     
  2. Smokey33

    Smokey33 Member

    My shop is absolutely terrible at this. I'm a designer, but the copy editors write headlines and edit stories. We have 14 point nutgraphs that are frequently written with zero regard for filling out the line.

    I always heard the last line shouldn't be the shortest one. I don't mind if it's a character or two short but our copy desk leaves them many words short.

    They frequently look something like this:

    Podunk wins district title
    behind 14 points from
    Jones
     
  3. expendable

    expendable Well-Known Member

    I can't warm up to the parallel nicknames as an absolute rule. In fact, I guess this is a rule I break the most.
     
  4. ColbertNation

    ColbertNation Member

    Just an aside, our ME recently told us that any number 1-9 MUST be spelled out in a hed. Interestingly, that rule doesn't apply to news.
     
  5. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    I have never understood the logic behind that rule, whether for heads, body copy or anything else.

    IMO, there is no better --- or shorter --- way of expressing a number than by actually using the number.
     
  6. expendable

    expendable Well-Known Member

    Fucktards win three-to-two.

    Meh, just doesn't do it for me.
     
  7. Mystery_Meat

    Mystery_Meat Guest

    Horse
    wins
    race
     
  8. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Like I said, I can't stand some of the USAT's heds that don't come even remotely close to filling up the space. The two-thirds rule, IMO, should be an exception, not the guideline.

    I don't think *every* headline should fill out 100 percent ... but it should be pretty damn close.
     
  9. Some Guy

    Some Guy Active Member

    OK ... so Tiger wins the Masters. How do you write that headline? Can you use his name in a deckhead at least?
     
  10. Agreed, leaving it short is just busy lazy. It's one thing if you are right on deadline or have an extremely tough count, but otherwise it should be as tight as possible, it's part of what us deskers are getting paid for in first place. There is almost always another way to word a hed to fit better, almost always.
     
  11. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Simple...

    Cablanasian beats White Guy in playoff
     
  12. Jeremy Goodwin

    Jeremy Goodwin Active Member

    nice. I was trying to remember what Tiger called himself in order to come up with a headline like that.
     
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