Headlines Gone Wrong
This short word is a pronoun, not a preposition — so unlike "in," it's always capitalized in an AP headline.
What is "it"?
This letter of TACT checks whether the headline grabs the reader without sacrificing accuracy.
What is A, for Attractiveness?
This is the average number of words in a headline.
What is five?
Prepositions need at least this many letters to get capitalized in AP style, no matter what your word processor suggests.
What is four?
In the TACT test, this first letter asks whether the headline could be taken the wrong way.
What is T, for Taste?
This is the average number of characters in a headline.
What is thirty-four?
Regardless of part of speech, these two positions in a headline are always capitalized.
What are the first word and the last word?
This letter of TACT asks whether the headline is free of confusion, odd words, or double meanings.
What is C, for Clarity?
A "hammer headline" uses this many words and skips the verb entirely.
What is one to three?
This headline strings together NEPA, BNFL, AMWTP, INEEL, and SRA into total unreadability.
What headline sin is jargon overload?
The final letter of TACT checks whether the subject-verb relationship in the headline is actually accurate.
What is T, for Truth?
A headline should never begin with one of these parts of speech.
What is a verb?
This headline about a raid revealed only that agents found weapons at a gun shop — true, but not exactly news.
What is "Federal Agents Raid Gun Shop, Find Weapons"?
This many "no" votes on the TACT test is enough to veto a headline and send it back to the start.
What is one?
Use this verb tense to indicate the past, as in "Bush Wins Presidency."
What is present tense?