Headline

A headline is usually the title of an article or advertisement in a newspaper, magazine or brochure.

The task of a headline is to catch the attention of a cursory and selective reader, to appeal to him and direct him to the subsequent body text. Headlines and headings help readers to select what interests them and what does not. According to research, twice as many readers read the headline of an article as the article itself.

To do this, it must stand out visibly, matched to a similar or vividly designed environment, and present its content briefly, comprehensibly and concisely, while not distorting the content of the article. A headline must be catchy, stand out and be understood at the same time. In order to generate more attention, linguistic intensification is often used.

Depending on the medium, field of application and target group, it uses different linguistic and stylistic means. In the field of advertising, it usually operates with attention-grabbing forms of language that underline the core message, such as alienation, jokes or wordplay. In addition, there are references to innovations, the promise of solutions to problems and benefits.

In journalism, the headline summarizes or interprets the content of an article below it, especially in commentaries or in the feature section. Here, but also in advertising, for some years now the headline has increasingly been accompanied by a sub-headline or by umbrella lines or sub-headlines that complement the headline in terms of content or reinforce it stylistically. Two main questions need to be answered in a headline, namely Who? and What? The biggest headline on the front page is always the lead.

In addition to their message, headlines have an effect primarily through their design, the choice of typeface, type size and type colour. In magazines, brochures and in advertising, the function of this typographically controlled impression is large and often linked to the interaction with illustrations. In tabloid magazines, it is usually scandal headlines, emotionally processed and printed in large colorful letters. In newspapers, headlines help the reader to orientate himself about the content and to decide which content he wants to read. Therefore, headlines here differ stylistically only slightly in font type, cut and size. However, there are differences here as well: the newspaper with the large letters is an almost proverbial example, even when deciding what to buy at the newsstand.

See also

• Lead Style
• Newspaper head