The Functions of News Headline and Lead

侯志文

【Abstract】Headlines summarize the news and play a very important role in attracting readers. To attract readers attention and to sum up the story are two major functions of headline. Lead is also a significant part of news. The functions of lead are to inform readers of the news and to set the Tone.

【Key words】function；headline；lead

【中圖分類號】G64 【文獻標識碼】A 【文章編號】2095-3089（2014）05-0036-01

1.Functions of News Headline

Speaking of the functions of headlines， headlines generally has the same functions no matter whether the news is written in Chinese or English. To give a summary of the story and to attract readersattention are the two major functions of headlines， there are some other functions as well， such as providing adequate relief， depicting the mood of the story， and helping set the tone of the newspaper. However， attracting readers attention and summing up the story are the two most basic ones.

1.1 To Attract Readers Attention to News

A headline should be intriguing so as to attract its readers. A daily newspaper may contain a great number of pages. When we read a newspaper， what catches our eyes is the headline since a good headline is capable of informing us of the whole information in one sentence. Thus for people who are very busy， reading headlines is an effective way of getting the information they really want or need. A headline which does not arouse readers interest at first glance is not worthy since readers are the decision？鄄makers， who decide whether a certain story should be read or ignored by taking a look at the headline. A good headline is a perfect summary and advertisement of the story. In a word， headline is the lifeblood of newspapers. It is an essential ingredient in a news story. A good headline is the best tool to sell the story.

1.2 To Sum up the Story

Since we are living in a modern world and everyday we can gather different kinds of information. We could not cover it all， and neither time nor energy is allowed. Therefore， a good headline is supposed to allow readers to see a general picture of the story. For readers， their limited time should be spent in getting as much information as possible since headlines are put in the most conspicuous space of the newspaper and readers immediately notice what is about. So by just reading the headline， readers hope， they can know what the news is about.

2.Functions of Lead

The most challenging part of putting together a piece of good news or a feature story is to write leads. In general， news editors write soft news with soft leads， hard news with hard leads. Leads are used to entertain， educate or advise the readers or listeners. A lead generally performs two main functions：endprint

2.1 Informing readers of the news

A successful lead should be the one that informs readers of the news. Of course to perform this function， reporters must try to tell the most important points in a limited place and summarize the story in the most suitable and refined words. A good lead makes a clear statement of the essential news point and when possible includes a detail that distinguishes the story from others of its kind. Some journalists even maximize it into a single sentence. Some news agencies limit the number of words in the lead. Lets take a look at the following example：

2.2 Set the Tone

The mood of a whole story is often fixed with an effective lead， so it is easy to go on organizing the rest of the story after the lead. To begin with any of the leads， all one has to do is to create a mood for readers. The lead should not only tell the readers the essence of the event， but also to set the tone of the news. The following example can provide us with the inspiration for how to write a lead aiming to set the tone of the news story.

3.Conclusion

News headline and lead are the soul of a piece of news. By having a good knowledge of news functions， we can better understand and write headlines and leads. For readers， we can save a lot of time if we just read the headlines and leads. So paying attention to the functions of lead and headline is of great significance.

參考文獻：

[1]李中行. 張健. 1993《新聞英語》. 天津：南開大學出版社.

[2]劉川. 2002. 文稿與播音——新聞英語的文體特色. 山 東：《山東外語教學》第3期.

[3]劉玉麟. 1981. 當代英美報刊語言若十特點. 上海：《外國語》第1期.endprint