Types of Headlines Popularly Used in Newspapers and Magazines
The newspaper industry is very vibrant with many engaging in depth investigations to come up with good stories to attract audience attention. Headline writing is one key area where the competition is fierce and where audience patronage is often won. Newspapers take headline writing seriously because it does the first job of winning audience attention to a medium.
Here are 30 kinds of headlines you’ll find in newspapers and magazines. We have used examples in the video below to make it easy for you to identify these headlines whenever you see them in a newspaper or magazine. This is the first part of our video on this topic. Subscribe to our channel to be the first to get the second part of this video.
Here’s a summary of the headlines we discussed in this first part of our lecture series on this topic.
Deck Headline
A deck is an extension of the headline
It expands the headline, not duplicate it
Deck provides secondary angle to the news headline
A deck is a rider
Decks summarize the story content so well that visitors can get the gist of the story without reading the text
You don’t repeat a single word from the headline in the deck
A deck is a second layer of headline and it is essential to communicate to today’s audience of flippers and skimmers (who flip past or skim over newspaper or magazine contents).
Kicker
Provides subject of the story
Appears before the main headline (above or by the right side separated with a comma)
Provides a quick background summary of what the headline is all about or what the story is referring to.
Rider
It is an extension of the headline
It expands the headline, not duplicate it
Provides secondary angle to the news headline
Also called the deck
Riders summarize the story content so well that visitors can get the gist of the story without reading the text
You don’t repeat a single word from the headline in the rider
A rider is a second layer of headline and it is essential to communicate to today’s audience of flippers and skimmers (who flip past or skim over newspaper or magazine contents).
Example:
Kicker – ATTACK, EVACUATION OF NIGERIANS
Main Headline – South Africa Begs Nigeria
Rider – Ramaphosa’s special envoy in Abuja, apologizes to Buhari
Rider – Obasanjo urges FG, others to report South Africa to AU
Jump Headline
Headline written to indicate that a story is the continuation of a previous one
Most times you find the page where the previous story is contained (continued on page….)
Screaming Headline
Large headline that runs across four or more columns on a page
Sometimes uses exclamation marks
Also called the screamer
Quotation Headline
A headline that uses quotation from the ‘Who’ element of a story
A headline written from what was said by the main source of a story
The quotation is attributed to a source
Crossline Headline
Single line sentence headline that runs across a story.
It does not always run across the complete width of the columns.
Over-banner Headline
A banner headline that appears above the mast head or nameplate
Also called skyline headline or over-the-roof headline
It is used in extra important occasions
Rarely used by newspaper establishments
Teaser Headline
A short headline used to attract readers’ attention to a story inside the newspaper or magazine
Skyline Headline
A kind of headline that appears above the masthead or nameplate
Also called over-banner headline or over-the-roof headline
Blanket Headline
This is a headline that runs across all columns of a story or a combination of related stories.
It is used to cover all stories written on same theme or related issue.
Sometimes short sub-headlines are used to differentiate segment the story but with one general headline covering them.
Over-the Roof Headline
A kind of headline that appears above the masthead or nameplate
Also called over-banner headline or skyline headline
