Breathe life into hedlines

Headlines matter more online than in print, because they're not good enough to make readers click, stories won't get read. Jenny Montgomery, local news editor for HoustonChronicle.com, said during a presentation at the March 2004 American Copy Editors Society national conference that online heds must:

• be specific enough to hook readers
• have key words that refer to past stories in the news that are on people's minds during watercooler chat
• be written in a conversational tone
• be simple and straightforward
• give the pertinent information since online hedlines don't typically follow newspaper design strategies such as drop heds
• find a blend of sensationalism and exaggeration
• use "magic" words that everyone is curious about (e.g., babies, spam, the Web, viruses, taxes, reality TV)

Apr 23, 2004 | E-MAIL | SAVE | PRINT | PERMALINK | DISCUSS(0)

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