Wheeling Steel Appoints Jones To Head Pittsville Foundries

Exhibit shows the many variations possible when crafting a basic headline, and the pitfalls of writing a head that tells too much or too little.

The headline you provide won't necessarily be used. Usually edi­tors will write a headline to fit their own specifications, so the sample is primarily a means of suggesting the important point of the story. If no headline is provided, leave approximately one-fourth of the page blank to allow the editor to write one right at the top of the release. Often the decision on whether or not to use a marginally newsworthy release is simply the ease with which it can be processed by the editor.

Headlines look so simple sitting atop their stories. That is, they do if they are written well. Achieving both clarity and simplicity takes practice, however. One way to simplify the task is to offer a one-line headline: