A news headline is not a title. It is a short phrase which explains the key elements of a story. A reader should know exactly what the story is about after reading the headline. As space is at a premium, use minimal wording and eliminate articles (a, an, the).

Let’s use a familiar story as an example. Here’s the headline:

Titanic hits iceberg, sinks

Notice a few things:

• No “the,” “an” or “and.” This headline communicates the same messages as “The Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks,” but with significantly fewer characters. Character limit is crucial for social-media sharing and for print space.
• Sentence case without end punctuation. The headline is in AP style. It only capitalizes the first word and proper nouns. This is different than title case that we use in creative writing. A headline is not a sentence, so it does not end with a period.
• It’s a mini lede. The headline tells the reader what the story is about, plain and simple. In journalism, we strive for concise accuracy. 

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Headline-Writing Tips from the AP StylebookLinks to an external site.

Match the headline’s tone to the story’s: Most serious, hard news stories demand serious headlines; lighter stories call for clever, witty and creative approaches. Sometimes a lighter headline can work on serious stories, but use judgment.

Attribute carefully. Attribution is as important in headlines as in stories.

Think carefully about keywords, search engine optimization and social media optimization. What terms are readers likely to be searching for, or what will be easily recognizable and compelling in a print headline? Include keywords that are central to the story’s content, and consider what keywords relevant to the story are trending in search engines and social media.

Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns in headlines that use AP style. Exception: The first word after a colon is always uppercase in headlines.
📌 Note: The New York Times has its own writing style and uses title case for headlines. Write yours in AP style.

Always capitalize the first letter of a headline, even if it starts with a proper name such as iPhone or eBay, though recasting may be the better choice.

Avoid abbreviations and alphabet soup. Use only very universally recognized abbreviations. US, UK, UN and EU (no periods) are acceptable. Other acceptable shorthand includes FBI, CIA, IRS, SEC.

Avoid abbreviating state names when possible in headlines on AP stories. If the shorter version is essential for space reasons, do not use periods in those abbreviated with two capital letters: NY, NJ, NH, NM, NC, SC, ND, SD and RI. Also DC. Other state abbreviations retain periods: Ga., Ky., Mont., Conn., etc. Do not use postal codes.

Use numerals; do not spell out numbers except in casual uses or formal names: hundreds instead of 100s; Big Ten; one of the first. Spell out ordinals under 10: first, ninth, etc. But: 10th, 23rd, 104th.

Use single quote marks, never double quote marks.

Make every word and every character count. AP headlines are limited to 100 characters; use those characters wisely.
📌 Note: Avoid articles (definite and indefinite) whenever possible (e.g. Instead of “Area man injured in a crash,” write “Area man injured in crash.”)

For AP audiences, write headlines with a global online audience in mind. Locators are not needed for every headline. But use locators when the place name is likely to increase the chances of someone wanting to read the story, likely to be searched for by readers online, or when needed to understand the story (i.e, to differentiate between a federal Supreme Court vs. state Supreme Court decision).

Co. Try not to use this or cos. to abbreviate for company or companies.

Government. Do not abbreviate.

Millions, billions. These figures can be abbreviated in headlines. For example, $45 million would be $45M, and $5 billion would be $5B.

Periods: Avoid using them when abbreviations are necessary: AP (a trademark), GI, ID, EU, etc.

Quarters. Use Q4, not 4Q.

Additional Guidelines

• The headline is not a creative title. It is a mini lede.
• Avoid articles (a, an, the)
• Only use the verb to be when crucial to understanding.