There is a recent article by Tom Corfman at Ragan on April 15, 2025 titled How to write headlines like The Wall Street Journal. His five tips are:
“Two-sentence headlines or colon constructions are best when there’s an element of tension to play up.
Behind/inside headlines (starting a headline with these come-hither words) are for when we’re actually showing readers something revelatory.
Question headlines should ‘pose big, existential questions, ones that everyday people are actually asking.
How/Why headlines work best when we’re doing explanatory journalism.
Use a quote in a headline when it’s ‘such a standout that the story couldn’t live without it.’ “
Five headlines from their February 1, 2025 issue are:
Crash victims mourned amid search for answers.
President threatens to widen trade war.
Was that a Van Gogh at the garage sale?
Inflation remains just above Fed target.
Trump’s tariff plans risk jolting economy.
Another article by Ann Wylie at Wylie Communications in April 2021 is titled Stop it with the ing-ing headlines (Examples!) She has the following quote:
“Barney Kilgore, the legendary editor of The Wall Street Journal, once wrote: ‘If I see ‘upcoming’ slip in[to] the paper again. I’ll be downcoming and someone will be outgoing.’ “
On June 15, 2022 I blogged about how Speeches and slides need headlines – not just titles. And on April 6, 2021 I had another post titled Your speech needs a great headline -not just a title.
The cartoon of a man reading a newspaper was adapted from one at OpenClipArt.
