TINA DAHELEY:More and more of us are keeping up to date with news on our tablets and mobile phones. Around 5 million of us check out the BBC website every single day and that number is getting bigger and bigger.
TINA DAHELEY:I'm going to look at how online news uses different types of language and writing to create enticing headlines.
TINA DAHELEY:Done well, this can attract more and more people to the bigger stories of the day.
TINA DAHELEY:'On the BBC site there are written reports 'but also video and audio clips. 'There are even links to the BBC's Facebook and Twitter pages. 'Websites present news in lots of different ways.'
TINA DAHELEY:I can use the search bar to find the news stories I'm interested in and I want to know what Donald Trump has been up to since he became the US president.
TINA DAHELEY:Written news stories often feature dramatic images that give us an idea of what the story is about and all stories need a headline.
TINA DAHELEY:'A headline sums up a news story and is quite short. 'A headline's job is to grab your attention 'so the words are picked very carefully.
TINA DAHELEY:'They have an important job to do.
TINA DAHELEY:'Here we can see that powerful verbs like "rise", "attacks" 'and "blazes" are used.
TINA DAHELEY:'These are dynamic verbs that show us something dramatic has happened. 'They make us want to click on the story to find out more.'
TINA DAHELEY:Journalists working on BBC news online only have limited space to fit their headlines into.
TINA DAHELEY:They can only use about 40 characters so about five or six words.
TINA DAHELEY:So they need to think really hard about what words they choose for their headlines. A good way to write a short headline is to start with a complete sentence that sums up your story.
TINA DAHELEY:Sentences have a subject and a verb a doing word and they express a complete thought.
TINA DAHELEY:So, for example, Donald Trump's first speech as president was a big news story.
DONALD TRUMP:America first. America first.
TINA DAHELEY:I'm starting with a sentence. "In America, Donald Trump gave a speech demanding that the country should take action."
TINA DAHELEY:To turn this sentence into a good headline I need to make it shorter so I'm going to take away some words.
TINA DAHELEY:Most people know that Donald Trump is the American president. So we don't need "in America". Headlines don't typically feature articles, that's the words "a", "an" and "the" and I can probably lose the word speech too.
TINA DAHELEY:Now I have "Donald Trump demanded the country take action."
TINA DAHELEY:That's looking a lot more like a headline but it's still a bit long so how about "Donald Trump demanded action." This is OK, it's a good length for a headline, just four words but it's the past tense.
TINA DAHELEY:The verb "demanded" makes us think this happened some time in the past. I'm going to change the verb to the present tense.
TINA DAHELEY:"Donald Trump demands action." That is much better.
TINA DAHELEY:Using the present tense makes the headlines sound immediate, like it's happening right now. I think that's a pretty good headline.
TINA DAHELEY:'Thanks to social media, you no longer need to search out the news' on Facebook and Twitter - news can find you and with so many stories landing all the time, clear headlines and eye-catching images are so important.
TINA DAHELEY:'Mark is the BBC's social media editor. 'He writes and posts BBC news alerts on Facebook and Twitter.'
TINA DAHELEY:Mark, how do you use language to make a successful social media post?
MARK FRANKEL:It's really important to get the language accurate and make sure your spelling is correct, that you're not misleading anybody.
MARK FRANKEL:Simplicity is really important, you've got to use informal language, the kind of language that people speak in every day conversation.
TINA DAHELEY:Could you show me some examples.
MARK FRANKEL:Here's the moment Donald Trump becomes US president. The use of "The moment". You're encouraging people to see this as the seminal point. The moment when something happens so they'll want to share that.
MARK FRANKEL:Then we have "Donald Trump becoming the 45th President of the United States."
TINA DAHELEY:You're starting that with an active verb, "Watch."
MARK FRANKEL:Exactly.
MARK FRANKEL:Simple words, simple language, encouraging people to get involved, to participate.
TINA DAHELEY:Mark, can I help you send out a social media alert.
MARK FRANKEL:Absolutely. There was a press conference last night. It was an extraordinary press conference, lots of quite tough questions for the president.
MARK FRANKEL:So the first thing that we really need to do is look for a, sort of, a way in - a good quote - and the thing that's probably most eye-catching to me is Donald Trump, in quotes, "I inherited a mess."
TINA DAHELEY:So we could start our alert with that quote.
MARK FRANKEL:Exactly.
MARK FRANKEL:I'm gonna hand this to you–
TINA DAHELEY:OK.
MARK FRANKEL:And we're–
TINA DAHELEY:Over to me.
MARK FRANKEL:We're gonna go through this. So why don't you start by writing that?
TINA DAHELEY:"I inherited a mess."
MARK FRANKEL:So that's a good start but we probably need to give people a little bit more information. OK, Donald Trump's epic press conference. That's a great start.
MARK FRANKEL:The great thing about this is that we've distilled 70 minutes into 70 seconds.
TINA DAHELEY:So I am about to publish a BBC news alert, this is very exciting.
TINA DAHELEY:Online news often presents facts in as few words as possible. There's little descriptive language and the register is formal. You won't find many exclamation marks. They are used to express emotion and aren't appropriate for formal writing.
TINA DAHELEY:You're unlikely to find spelling or grammar mistakes too. BBC news reports are redrafted to make them as clear as possible and are then proof-read before they are published online which means that spelling and grammar is checked by different people.
TINA DAHELEY:This is hugely important as spelling mistakes can completely change the meaning of a sentence. For example, this headline is about President Trump attempting to stop people from entering America.
TINA DAHELEY:"Donald Trump considers issuing new travel ban." but the letter B is next to the letter V on a keyboard so this could very easily be misspelt as - "Donald Trump considers issuing new travel van."
TINA DAHELEY:which makes it sound like the president is about to sell some kind of caravan. Very misleading.
TINA DAHELEY:A spelling mistake can ruin the whole story and the reader will always focus on the mistake, rather than the news story.
TINA DAHELEY:'Online news can also be reactive. 'It can report on stories as they happen.'
TINA DAHELEY:We've seen how online news uses short, snappy headlines 'and tells stories using formal sentences.
TINA DAHELEY:'We've also looked at how changing the tense 'can make your words have more of an impact 'and while it is important to get news alerts out quickly, 'accuracy is key.
TINA DAHELEY:'Checking your writing for mistakes 'is an essential part of being a journalist.'
TINA DAHELEY:See you next time.
This short film, first published in 2018, is for teachers and review is recommended before use in class.
Tina Daheley look at how a news story involving Donald Trump is presented on the BBC News website.
She explains the presentation features of a news website, including video, audio and images.
Students are invited to consider how the ‘search’ function can be used to find news online, and to examine the influence of dramatic images.
The language of headlines is examined, with a look at the impact of powerful, dynamic verbs and their effect on the audience.
She demonstrates how how to reduce a sentence to a pithy headline and this is particularly useful for students in terms of explaining how to draft and use language effectively.
She also looks at the effects of past and present tense in headlines, a useful reminder for students about the immediacy created by tense choices in writing.
An interview with Mark, the BBC Social Media editor, introduces students to the skills involved in the role of writing and posting social media for a large news corporation.
He highlights the importance of accuracy, spelling and register as he analyses the effects of short media alerts.
He also looks at the impact of words and suggests how to use quotations to create an exciting and popular media post.
This clip is from the series Making the News.
Teacher Notes
You could give students a news article without a headline and ask them to write the best headline they can, using no more than 36 characters. Ask them to discuss their work and decide which is more effective.
Examine a story that is currently on the BBC website and compare to social media posts about the same event.
You could get students to proofread an article written for a website - prepare this in advance with plenty of spelling and grammar errors for them to correct!
Curriculum Notes
This series is relevant for teaching English and Media Studies at Key Stage 3 in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and at Level 3 in Scotland.
