The use of unemphatic words, like “of,” “to,” “for,” “and,” “but,” “if,” “a,” “the,” at the end of parts of the top deck is not desirable, as in this position they are given prominence and emphasis out of all proportion to their importance. Typographical limitations and the exigencies of rapid headline writing, however, result not infrequently in their appearance in these positions. Whenever it is possible, they should be avoided at the end of parts of the top deck.
Punctuation. Punctuation in headlines and subheads follows the accepted rules. When marks are not absolutely necessary for clearness, they should be omitted. In the first deck, and in cross-line heads, independent sentences not connected by conjunctions are separated by semicolons; for example:
The image above is a drop-line head in three parts. The first two lines say | HATTERS GUILTY | OF BOYCOTTING; | and is terminated by a semicolon. The third line of the head says | FINED $222,000 |.
In other decks dashes are usually used to separate independent unconnected statements. Care should be taken to avoid a dash at the end of one of the parts of a deck. The use of the dash is shown in the following example:
The image above is a head with two decks separated by a short horizontal rule. The first deck is a cross-line head that reads | TAFT PREPARES FOR YALE POST |.
The second deck is a pyramid head in three parts. It says | President Leases Residence at New | Haven—Expects to Go There | in the Spring. | It demonstrates the careful use of a dash which appears in the middle of the second line of the pyramid. The dash serves to separate the unconnected statements | President Leases Residence at New Haven | and | Expects to Go There in the Spring. |
Headline punctuation in various forms is illustrated in the heads given below:
