Online Display Type:
Headlines, Cutlines, and
Narrations
A work in progress
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Beware of rules – but here’s a few
Studies shed some light
Studies contradict one another
What’s my line? Editor, producer, curator
How it’s the same as print
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Cram in facts, leave no space on table
Generally subject-verb-object
Not an act of journalism, but marketing
To many, the head is the story
Consider text context: Hierarchy, images
Informative trumps clever
How it’s different from print
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Frontload heads: two words, 11 characters
Write for first readers: Spiders
Even more important (F) to serve scanner
Not headlines, but links - dynamic
Action oriented: immediacy, utility
Social networks: Taking it to the audience
Asset support: Stills, galleries, video,
symbiotic
How it’s different: SEO
Thousands flock to Vatican
(No traffic)
Pope dies
(Servers slammed)
It starts with the keywords
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Words to bring town, world to your door
Words, in order, to leave them smarter
Free, cheap, sex, celebrity, place, name
I.E. Tampa: Cycles, Hogan, IKEA, Bubba
Search engines and people
Online vs. print: An example
“Coping with the tall traveler’s curse”
- New York Times headline
• First 3: no information-carrying content
• Lacks keywords: airline seat, hotel bed
• “Tall traveler's curse”: Lacks specifics
But Poynter Eyetrack: Engaging is engaging
Now that’s using 140 characters
"Religious liberty might be supposed to mean
that everybody is free to discuss religion. In
practice it means that hardly anybody is
allowed to mention it.“
- G.K. Chesterton
Captions, soundslides, video
• Enhance, don’t repeat action in words
• Tell a story: Intro plus chapters
• Words as link between video clips
Exercises
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Review some head lists (your sites)
Sift out some keywords (use handouts)
Timed headlines (your sites)
Timed Twitter summaries (140 characters)
Gallery captions (your sites)
Soundslide (berries, 38)/video text (hero)