Published by The New England Press Assosication Bulletin – February 2009
By Sarah Moomaw, Bulletin Correspondent
Readership of printed newspapers is down, but that is not a secret; it is one reason papers are looking to their layout and catchy headlines to gain readership.
Len Levin talked about writing inviting headlines to an audience of about 40 people at the New England Press Association convention Friday, Feb. 6, at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.
He assured writers that readers can be attracted through headlines.
Levin’s history working on copy desks, writing headlines and editing stories at The Providence (R.I.) Journal qualified him to give this refresher course in a new era of headlines. Levin, a member of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors, is retired from the Journal.
Levin stood at the front of the workshop room, next to an overhead projector on which he placed example after example of new versus old headlines.
“The New York Times is writing the wittiest, (most) catching headlines around,” Levin said early in the workshop.
Levin’s first pointers were about structuring headlines: “It’s not a sentence, it’s a phrase.”
As Levin switched headline copy on the projector, his headline examples went from the good old ones to the new, poorer ones, leading to why papers have begun to look toward redesigning. Redesigning the newspapers means changing the layout and typeface.
Levin noted that with a different typeface, news pieces in a tight 2-inch column could squeeze in an extra letter or two in the headline. That extra letter expands the window in which the copy editor has to work in writing a headline for a story.
In headlines with tight character counts, parts of speech might get confused.
Levin’s example of that came from a Rhode Island paper, which headlined a story “Teachers Contest Ordered Cutbacks.” In reading that headline, the issue is whether “contest” is being used as a noun or as a verb. An extra letter or two in the headline could allow for a different word to have been chosen, such as “Teachers Object to Ordered Cutbacks,” eliminating the possibility of confusion.
Levin continued with examples and pointers about writing headlines, and audience members seemed to agree and understand what he was saying and how to use his advice. The advice ranged from when to use punctuation, such as avoiding everything except commas, to where not to split words in tight headlines.
Levin warned about the use of the past tense and time frames in headlines. He said to watch out for the past tense and try to use it only when there is a long span of time between the event being covered and publication of the piece. As for using time frames in headlines, he said: “Don’t.”
An audience member quarreled with the use of “stir” in one of the examples. She said people do not in everyday conversation say “so-and-so created a stir,” and that she avoids using non-conversational words and phrases in her headlines and stories.
Levin said he had heard of that approach before, but that he had not found it worthwhile because it usually eliminates strong words that are good for headlines. He did list a few cliché words that he wants everyone to avoid, such as “see,” “mull over,” “eyes” and “says.” He also suggested eliminating cutesy alliterations.
Levin stressed the importance of striving for complete clarity in headlines. He posted a list of confusing headlines that he said has been on the Internet for years and keeps growing. Among those headlines are “Include Your Children When Baking Cookies” and “Drunk Gets Nine Years in Violin Case.”
Sarah Moomaw is an undergraduate student in the Northeastern University School of Journalism.
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