Ch. 7 Vocab: Writing Headlines and Captions

A word phrase set off geographically from the beginning of a caption and meant to capture the audience's attention.

• catch line

• descriptive headline

• display font

• drop head

A headline that may use creative writing tools to provoke interest or controversy; might contain multiple layers of meaning, wordplay, a variation on a quotation or a vivid scene from the story.

• catch line

• descriptive headline

• display font

• drop head

A large font that adds graphic interest to the design of the letters.

• catch line

• descriptive headline

• display font

• drop head

A subsidiary headline that adds information below the main deck and is usually in a different front than the main head; also called a read-out.

• catch line

• descriptive headline

• display font

• drop head

A subsidiary headline set in large, bold type above the main deck; often descriptive headlines with multiple layers of meaning, meant to intrigue the reader rather than communicate the most important or breaking news; used with news analysis and feature stories more than with breaking news stories; also called a barker.

• hammer head

• headlinese

• kicker

• main deck

An abbreviated writing style used in summary headlines to convey the most important elements of a story in a small amount of space.

• hammer head

• headlinese

• kicker

• main deck

A subsidiary headline that adds information to the main deck; goes above the main deck and is usually half the point size of the main deck.

• hammer head

• headlinese

• kicker

• main deck

The primary headline of a news story.

• hammer head

• headlinese

• kicker

• main deck

A headline written as a complete sentence in standard, sometimes conversational English; suggest that the reporting will include anecdotes and storytelling, as well as facts and breaking news.

• narrative headline

• read-out

• search engine optimized (SEO)

• spider

A subsidiary headline that adds information below the main deck and is usually in a different front than the main head; also called a drop head.

• narrative headline

• read-out

• search engine optimized (SEO)

• spider