Precise art of headline writing suffers setback

-- Jay Brodell

Widespread use of computers, although making publishing much easier, also destroyed a great art form. Most do not consider headline writing as art. But under the constraints of hot metal print publishing the discipline and skills needed rivaled those generating epigrams, haikus or poems.

Headline writers had to fit a specified space assigned by the editor laying out the newspaper or magazine page. There was little room for error.

Once written, the text of the headline went to the back production shop where a typically gruff man chewing a cigar assembled the words by hand using individual brass forms for each letter. Then he inserted his product into a Ludlow machine that injected a lead-based alloy into the form. Once cool and solid, the man then moved to a small table saw where he would set the specified column width. A headline that was a tad too long ended up being savaged by the saw blade. A rewrite was sought when the proof arrived at the layout desk with a final letter decapitated.

That’s why headline writers used a counting technique that usually showed a line of headline type could fit in the allocated space. Journalism college students until the 1990s learned this technique as did newly promoted headline writers. The count was not guaranteed, but usually worked.

Capital Ms and Ws were counted as two each. Other capital letters were 1.5, thin letters like the I and L sometimes were valued as just one half, as was punctuation and space.

So a headline writer knew from experience that if the layout desk wanted a three-column, two line headline in 36-point (half-inch) Times New Roman typeface, he usually had about 36 counts per line to work with.

Then there were other constraints. Tradition called for a headline in active voice with at least one verb and words with impact. There also was the need to rapidly reflect the content of the story that would appear under the headline and to avoid stealing creativity that the writer may have injected into the first paragraphs or two, the lead or lede. (That’s pronounced leed instead of led, the pronunciation of the metal used to cast lines of type in the back shop.)

A good headline was supposed to be a bit creative and use words known to most readers. Newspapers that relied on street sales, like the Daily Mirror, the Post and Daily News in New York sought sensational stories topped with sensational headlines. The New York Times editors, on the other hand, usually opted for dull headlines crammed into the space of a single column. The layout and size of type used were consistent with the style of the publication.

The traditional greatest headline of all times is considered to be the one that dominated the front Page of the New York Post April 15, 1983: Headless body in topless bar

Although the headline avoided the usual mandatory use of a verb, the impact is unquestionable.

Some larger newspapers would offer prizes each month to the writer top editors decided created the best recent headline. The Columbia Journalism Review dedicated a page each month to include some terrible ones, either off color or badly spelled. Perhaps the worst headline of all times has to be the incorrect banner penned in haste at the Chicago Tribune for Nov. 3, 1948: DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN

When newspapers began using Macintosh computers to produce full newspaper pages in the early 1990s, headline writing became less of a challenge. If the proposed headline was too long for the space, the computer could easily shrink it to make it fit. Now with internet publishing, a news story may sport a headline of three or four ragged lines, something that would be a cardinal sin in the hot metal days.

The newspaper page in hot metal production had to be very thick and sturdy because the page form underwent great pressure as workmen created a papier-mâché matrix that could be folded into a half circle to be filled to create a half circle lead (led) plate to fit on a modern rotary printing press. Today the offset printing plate is a thin piece of aluminum etched photographically.

Some larger newspapers employed handfuls of copy editors who scanned each story for grammar and errors and then wrote the headline ordered by the layout editor. One metro newspaper created a section when editors did nothing all day but write headlines for all departments in the company. That idea was shelved when the headline writers started showing signs of stress.

A good exercise for would-be headline writers is to encapsulate some historical event into a modern headline of say 34 to 36 counts:

• Dinosaurs unhappy at their likely demise
• Neighbors deride man building big boat
• Gen. Custer calls Indians inept fighters
• French Emperor predicts a Russian win

A great headline begins with great reporting that uncovers details that amplify the news event. “Woman hit by a car” does not generate the drama as much as “champion runner hit by neighbor’s vehicle.” Some reporter had to confirm that the New York bar really promoted half-dressed waitresses to be characterized as topless.

Then there is the super obvious type of headline, such as one that says “Police search for killer of store clerk.” Of course police are searching for the killer. That’s what they are paid to do. The story would be a big one if they were not trying.

Other headlines which add nothing to the understanding of a news story frequently are called wooden headlines. These generally are the result of laziness on the part of the headline writer. And example might be “Governor speaks to local Rotary Club.” A better headline might actually focus on what the governor said to the club.

Some headline writers say they began to think in short punchy sentences similar to the rhythmic speech of rap performers and the rhyming phrases of a poet.

Thanks to computer use and current flexibility, the constraints and challenges that faced headline writers in the hot metal days are much fewer, almost as if the composer of a traditional Japanese haiku three-line poem were to be told to use as many lines and syllables as wanted.

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