“Headline style” primarily refers to either title case capitalization (capitalizing major words) or “headlinese,” a compressed, telegraphic writing style.
Understanding headline style breaks down into two main areas: how you capitalize the words, and how you write the actual text. 1. Capitalization (Title Case vs. Sentence Case)
There are two main styles for capitalizing headlines, and sticking to one creates consistency.
Title Case (Headline Style): Capitalize the first word, the last word, and all major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs). Minor words (articles like a, an, the; coordinating conjunctions like and, but, for; and short prepositions like at, by, to) remain lowercase.
Sentence Case: Capitalize only the first word of the headline and any proper nouns (like you would write a normal sentence). This is used by publications like the Associated Press (AP), The Washington Post, and Google. 2. Writing Style (“Headlinese”)
Because traditional print newspapers and digital platforms require brevity, headlines are written in a compressed, punchy style.
Omit unnecessary words: Skip articles (a, an, the) and auxiliary verbs (is, are, was, were).
Use present tense: Use the simple present tense for current events (“Governor signs bill”) and the infinitive form with “to” for future events (“Governor to sign bill”).
Use commas instead of “and”: Commas act as a shorthand to save space (“Bush, Blair agree on treaty”). 3. Common Formats and Formulas Headline Capitalization: Title Case Tool
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