Headlines Are the Short Titles Above Newspaper Articles

L. Hakobian, K. Krunkyan

Newspaper Headlines

A Handbook

Yerevan

“Anania Shirakatsi”

University of International Relations

2009

UDC 802.0 (07)

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Editorial Staff:

Vagharshak Madoyan - Doctor of Philology, professor

Mariam Tufekchyan - Candidate of Philology

Viola Amiryan - Candidate of Philology

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ISBN 978-99947-62-15-4 ©
L. Hakobian, K. Krunkyan

Newspaper Headlines

A Handbook

K. Krunkyan

Supplement

(Learn to read a newspaper article)

Foreword

The Handbook of Newspaper Headlines is meant for senior students of English language departments. The handbook consists of two parts: Newspaper Headlines and a short supplement (Learn to Read a Newspaper Article).

The book provides presentation and practice of all the key grammar, vocabulary and stylistic peculiarities of English newspaper headlines. All the points of the theoretical presentation are illustrated with headlines taken from British and American newspapers. It is common knowledge that English newspaper headlines are not always easy to decode. Brevity, one of the main peculiar features of newspaper headlines, in combination with other functions of newspaper headlines-informative, sensational, evaluative and others make headlines sometimes tricky or ambiguous and deciphering them requires a special reader competence. To acquire it students need some practice witch is provided by a set of assignments and exercises.

Newspaper Headlines

Look at these headlines!

Headlines are the short "titles” above newspaper articles.

Normally, most articles have two headlines. The first introduces the general subject, the second - subheading, indicates the more precise content of the article, e.g. ANC GIVES WARNING TO BOSSES – heading.

"End brutality against mineworkers or else..." – subheading. Headlines contain condensed information and unless the reader has special background information, some headlines may not be understood until the whole article has been read.

Those Strange Headlines

When a newspaper gets its material from its own reporting staff or from outside contributors, the copy, as it is called, is passed to sub-editors. Their duty is to overlook, go through it, check it for mistakes, and shape it for the available space. They have also to provide headlines which will give the reader in the shortest possible way a good idea of what the report or article contains.

These headlines have to be fitted into very narrow columns; so the sub-editors have a difficult task. Long words are only a nuisance, therefore quite small ones have to be used; and this has caused the creation of a Journalistic language of its own, which we can call "Headline English".

How does a sub-editor set about his work of composing short, snappy headlines which are, at the same time, immediately comprehensible to the readers of the newspaper?

One obvious way is to cut down the names of prominent people; so in Headline English, Sir Alec Douglas-Home may become Alec or Home.

Another feature of Headline English is the replacement of adjectives by nouns, because the latter are shorter.

One may also meet a headline which contains several nouns jammed together; for example "SMOKING REPORT OUTCRY CLASH". This would refer to the report made by a medical commission of inquiry into the dangers to health caused by smoking, especially of cigarettes. The verdict of the doctors has caused alarm and protest among smokers; and the tobacco trade is challenging the verdict and disputing with she doctors. The whole thing is thus confined in the four words in the headline.

Another habit of sub-editors is to use abbreviated names of organizations and institutions, and this is frequently the case in reports of crimes. You have certainly heard of the Criminal Investigation Department which is housed at Scotland Yard. In describing police action the makers of headlines drop the word "Scotland" and simply say "Yard"; so you may read: BLONDE DEAD IN LUXURY FLAT, YARD MOVES". That might suggest to you that the corpse of a fair lady has somehow moved over a space of three feet. But, of course, it really means that the police at Scotland Yard are investigating what may be an accident or a crime. Sometimes the initials CID are used, or sometimes just this mysterious "Yard".

In reports of that kind people are not arrested: they are "held"; thus saving four letters.

One who saw the brief statement "England Collapse" might think that the nation was financially ruined. But it would probably mean that the English batsmen (a player at bat) had been doing badly in a cricket match!

(abridged)

From "English by Radio and Television" N43.

Which are some of the ways of composing headlines as given in the article?

Could you guess what the following headlines imply?

1. COIN-IN-SLOT TV GETS GO-AHEAD

2. DOORSTEP MURDER: SAILORS QUIZZED

You may be interested to learn that the first article informs the reader of a plan under which the television viewer will pay a certain sum of money into a meter attached to his television receiver to enable him to see a film, and that this plan has been approved by the authorities. The second article informs the reader that someone was murdered outside the door of his home. Some sailors were questioned by the police about the matter.

AS YOU SEE the headlines in the English-language newspapers can be very difficult to understand. One reason for this is that newspaper headlines are often written in a special style, which is very different from ordinary English. In this style words are used in unusual ways, and there are some special rules of grammar.

"Headline" words (vocabulary)

Short words save space, and so they are very common in newspaper headlines.

Some of the short words in headlines are unusual in ordinary language (e.g. curb, meaning "restriction"), and some are used in special senses which they do not often have in ordinary language (e.g. bid, meaning "attempt"). Other words are chosen not because they are short, but because they sound dramatic (e.g. blaze, meaning "fire") and are emotionally colored, very often intriguing (e.g. "shot" instead of "wounded"). "Headline" English is also characterized by frequent use of the nouns and adjectives having positive or negative evaluation (e.g. epoch-making, historic, triumphant; sore, tough, shock, horror, angry, terror). "Headline" words normally have their neutral, literary synonyms in the article.

The following is a list of special "headline" words.

1. ax. axe - (to)dismiss, close, reduce (costs, spendings)

ICI JOBS AXE THREATENS THOUSANDS

2. bid -(to) attempt

NEW EVEREST BID BY JAPANESE WOMEN

3. back - to support

AMERICA BACKS BRITISH PEACE MOVE

4. bar – ban, prohibit, prohibition

NEW BAR ON IMMIGRANTS

5. blaze - fire

THREE DIE IN HOTEL BLAZE

6. boost - encourage(ment); (to) increase

GOVERNMENT PLAN TO BOOST EXPORTS

7. call for – (to) demand for, (to) appeal for

MP CALLS FOR CABINET CORRUPTION INQUIRY

8. cash - money, financial assistance

END CASH TO APARTHEID

9. clash - violent disagreement; to disgrace violently

STUDENTS IN CLASH WITH POLICE

10. curb – restrict; restriction

NEW PRICE CURBS PROPOSED

11. drama – dramatic event, tense situation

PRINCE OF WALES IN HEATHROW KIDNAP DRAMA

12. drive - united effort

DRIVE TO SAVE WATER

13. envoy – ambassador

QUEEN SEES FRENCH ENVOY

14. gems – jewels

£ 20,000 GEMS STOLEN

15. haul – amount stolen in robbery, or seized by police or customs.

BIG GOLD HAUL IN TRAIN ROBBERY

16. head – leader, to lead

COMMONWEALTH HEADS TO MEET IN OTTAWA

PM TO HEAD TRADE MISSION

17. hit - affect badly

SNOWSTORMS HIT TRANSPORT

18. hold - keep under arrest

BRITON HELD IN SOUTH AFRICA

19. key - important, vital

KEY WITNESS DISAPPEARS

20. link – connection, contact

NEW TRADE LINK WITH CHINA

21. mission – delegation (official group sent to conference, to investigate, etc.)

SHOTS FIRED AT UN MISSION

22. move – step towards a particular result (often political)

MOVE TO BRING BACK DEATH PENALTY

23. oust – drive out, replace

MODERATES OUSTED IN UNION ELECTIONS

24. pact – agreement

NUCLEAR PACT RUNS INTO TROUBLE

25. pit – coal mine

NEW PIT STRIKE THREAT

26. plea – call for help

BIG RESPONSE TO PLEA FOR FLOOD VICTIMS

27. PM – Prime Minister

PM RESIGNS

28. poll – election; public opinion survey

SOCIALISTS AHEAD IN POLL

29. premier – head of state

PREMIER IN SPY SCANDAL

30. probe – investigate; investigation

CALL FOR STUDENT DRUG PROBE

31. quit – resign

THREE MORE MINISTERS QUIT

32. raid – (to) attack; robbery

POLICE RAID DUCHESS’S FLAT

$ 500000 GEM RAID

33. riddle – mystery

MISSING ENVOY RIDDLE DRAMA

34. rap – to condemn, criticize

SWEDEN’S PM RAPS REAGAN ON NICARAGUA

35. scare – public alarm; alarming rumour

TYPHOID SCARE

36. shock – unexpected, unpleasant; sudden revelation

SCOTS PIT SHOCK CLOSURE

37. split – disagree(ment)

LABOUR SPLIT ON PRICES

38. switch – (to) change

DEFENCE POLICY SWITCH

39. swoop – (to) raid

POLICE SWOOP ON DRUG GANG

40. threat - danger

PIT STRIKE THREAT

41. top – exceed

IMPORTS TOP £ 250 M

42. vow - (to) promise

EXILED PRINCE VOWS TO RETURN

Exercise1. Use ordinary English instead of “headline” words in the following headlines.

1. SCARGILL ELECTION BOOST. 2. BACK US FOR PEACE 3. FORMER MOB BOSS GOTTI HELD AFTER FBI SWOOP ON LONG ISLAND HOME. 4. HOUSING BILL TO HIT LOW PAID. 5. 10 KILLED IN SRI LANKA CLASHES. 6. CAMERON’S BID FOR FREEDOM. 7. BRENT BACKS SOUTH AFRICAN PIT STRIKE. 8. POLICE PLEA IN KILLER HUNT. 9. POLL TAX SPLITS TORIES. 10. SYRIA LINK TO EL AL BOMB BID. 11. GERMAN PLEA TO FREE 14 CHILEANS. 12. TUG BACKS STRUGGLE IN TURKEY. 13. THREE INJURED IN PARIS BOMB BLAST. 14. APARTHEID PLANNING NEW RAIDS. 15. UNION HIT BROWN WITH 130 DEMANDS, 16. DEFENCE LAWYER OUSTED IN TRIAL OF BRITISH MERCENARY. 17. DIRECT HIT ON TRAVEL AGENTS. 18. PORTILLO QUITS CRUSADE FOR THATCHERISM. 19. PLAN TO BOOST ORGAN TRANSPLANTS WITH CONSENT SYMBOL ON PLASTIC.

THAT TRICKY GRAMMAR OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINES

I. Morphological peculiarities

Newspaper headlines often follow rather different grammatical rules from other kinds of writing.

1. Articles and the verb “to be” in various functions are often left out.

MISSING TEENAGER FOUND UNHARMED

CATHEDRAL SCHOOLBOYS “BULLIED” BY STAFF

EVERY WORKER A UNION MEMBER

MCLEISH NOT FOR SALE

AT LEAST 145 KILLED IN INDIA TEMPLE STAMPEDE

KING BACK AND LEADING

2. Newspapers have a special tense-system. It is unusual to find complex forms like “is coming” or “has produced”; generally the simple present form (“comes”, “produced”) is used, whether the headline is about something that has happened, something that is happening, or something that happens repeatedly.

IRAN GULF GUNBOAT ATTACKS US TANKER

SIKH GUNMEN KILL CONGRESS PARTY OFFICIAL

BRITAIN’S WEALTH GAP WIDENS

FEARS GROW OVER KRISTY

AFGHANS BEGIN MEETING ON CONSTITUTION

SOLDIER LOSES ARM IN ATTACK

ACTRESS IRENE HANDL DIES AGED 85

Sometimes the Present Continuous is used (usually to denote something that is changing or developing), but the auxiliary verb is usually left out.

US SPY JETS USING BRITAIN?

SOUTH AFRICA RUNNING DRY?

To refer to the future, headlines often use the infinitive. (This is really a contracted form of the "be+ infinitive" construction)

DENMARK TO VOTE

TORIES TO BLOCK THIRD RUNWAY AT HEATHROW

ITAQUI MILITIA LEADER TO ORDER FOLLOWERS TO LAY DOWN THEIR ARMS

3. Passive sentences are constructed with no auxiliary verb, just the past participle.

PLAYERS TOLD: “FORGET IT”

RANGERS DUMPED OUT OF EUROPE

Headlines like these are sometimes easy to misunderstand. For instance, BLACK TEENAGERS ATTACKED IN RACE RIOT means that the teenagers "were attacked”, not that they attacked somebody. If the black teenagers did the attacking, the headline would probably use the simple present tense (BLACK TEENAGERS ATTACK...).

4. The introductory "there is/are" is usually left out.

NOTHING UTOPIAN IN CLASS UNITY

WAR THREAT TO BRITAIN

5. To make the information more concise English and American headlines prefer the use of the possessive case to an of-phrase (thus often neglecting rules of traditional Grammar).

HOSPITAL STAFF’S DEATH WARNING

It must be noted that in newspaper headlines the possessive case of inanimate nouns is quite common.

RACISTS FACE RUGBY’S WRATH

STRIKE HALTS CAPITAL’S BUSES

Another peculiarity of newspaper headlines is that nouns denoting names of persons are often found in the common case where the possessive case is normally expected.

JAGAN VISIT TO BRITAIN

MCCAIN CAMPAIGN IS CYNICAL BUT NOT RACIST, SAYS OBAMA

KINNOCK HAND STRENGTHENED

STRASBOURG BACKS PARENTS RIGHTS

Exercise 2 Fill in the missing elements and make other necessary changes to turn the following headlines into complete sentences.

MODELS

1. Prices up by 1% - The prices are up by 1%.

2. Missing teenager found unharmed – The missing teenager is(was) found unharmed.

3. Poll tax splits Tories. - The poll tax has split Tories.

1. 15 DEAD IN SIKH VIOLENCE. 2. FORMER FIJI MINISTER ARRESTED. 3. MINERS’ STRIKE ACTION SPREADS. 4. EARTHQUAKE HORROR IN GREECE. 5. ANTI-DICTATORSHIP PITS FIGHT JUSTIFIED. 6. ANGELA DAVIS TO SPEAK AT RALLY 7. TUG GROUP AGREES TO REVIEW OF UNION RELATIONS. 8. CELEBRATION DANCE FOR STAR READERS.

Exercise 3 Transform the following sentences into newspaper headlines leaving out redundant elements and making necessary changes. Try to use no more than 3-5 words.

MODELS

1. Jack Kevorkian, the famous Doctor Death, behind bars for the videotaped lethal injection of a man, says he expects to die in prison, but has no regrets.

DR. DEATH.

2. Church leaders in South Africa and Britain yesterday urged foreign capital to cease its financial backing to apartheid -----

END CASH TO APARTHEID

Great friends Pirmin Zurbriggen of Switzerland and West German Markus Wasmeier become rivals today in the battle for the World Alpine Ski Championship ---------

FROM FRIEHDS TO RIVALS

1. FROM SEPTEMBER, PRIMARY SCHOOL STAFF WILL MEASURE THE HEIGHT AND WEIGHT OF CHILDREN IN THE RECEPTION CLASS (AGED 4-5) AND IN YEAR 6 (AGED 10-11). 2. AT LEAST TWO PEOPLE WERE SHOT DEAD AND 50 WOUNDED IN CLASHES BETWEEN PROTESTERS AND POLICE IN KARACHI YESTERDAY. 3. AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF ETHIOPIANS VOTED YESTERDAY IN FAVOUR OF THE MARXIST GOVERNMENT’S NEW CONSTITUTION. 4. CHILEAN COMMUNISTS IN BRITAIN CELEBRATED THEIR PARTY’S 65TH ANNIVERSARY AT THE WEEK-END. 5. CHILEAN PROTEST SMASHED A 100-STRONG DEMONSTRA-TION IN CONCEPCION YESTERDAY ON THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF SEBASTIAN ACEVEDO. 6. US SENT ARMS TO TEHRAN IN DANISH SHIPS. 7. WASHINGTON HAS PLANS TO INCREASE EXPENDITURE ON NUCLEAR TESTING BY 60 PER CENT OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. 8. TWO PEOPLE DIED AND TWO OTHERS WERE INJURED YESTERDAY IN A FIRE.

II. Syntactical peculiarities

The basic language peculiarities of headlines, however, lie in their structure. Syntactically headlines are very short sentences or phrases of a variety of patterns:

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