The headline
Two types:
There are two types of headlines. Most news stories in newspapers use sentence headlines although they may be shortened by omitting certain words as you will see later. Many feature stories and some very short news stories use phrase headlines or titles which leave out the verb. Here are some examples of both.
The Grammar of Sentence Headlines
Almost all sentence headlines in the newspaper use the present tense - despite the fact that they generally describe past events. The present tense gives the subject a sense of freshness and immediacy making it more interesting to read. Headlines pack a great deal of information into a limited space, so it is not surprising that newspaper writers (journalists) use several methods to conserve space. One obvious example is to use abbreviations, "PM" for "Prime Minister" and so on. But they also use a special grammar omitting articles, ("a") and ("and")and the verb "to be" wherever possible.
Headline Vocabulary
Another way to conserve space in headlines is to use short words instead of long ones. In the example below, notice the various ways the headline writer can shorten the headline, "MP criticises dishonest election plan"
Newspapers use about one hundred easily-learned short words in its news headlines. Here are a few of the most common.
probe......................investigate, investigation
graft.......................corruption
rort.........................steal, cheat
bid..........................attempt, offer
row.........................disagreement or quarrel

The opening paragraph of the news story is known as the lead. It too, has a distinctive stlye. Click here for a detailed look at The lead.
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