ILLINO

I S

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

PRODUCTION NOTE
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign Library
Brittle Books Project, 2012.

COPYRIGHT NOTIFICATION
In Public Domain.
Published prior to 1923.

This digital copy was made from the printed version held
by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
It was made in compliance with copyright law.
Prepared for the Brittle Books Project, Main Library,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
by
Northern Micrographics
Brookhaven Bindery
La Crosse, Wisconsin
2012

Suggestions to Writers and

Style Book
OF THE DAILY ILLINI.

Compiled by

Donald M. Glover, Editor.
October 1915.

University

of Illinois.

Urbana-Champaign.

It is the hope of the editor that this
booklet will help impress on the minds
of staff members that ACCURACY IS
OF PARAMOUNT

IMPORTANCE IN

THE NEWSPAPER.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Foreword----------------------

2

Table of Contents

3

The Illini Board

5

The Editorial

6

Staff

The Scope of the Daily Illini

7

Instructions For Reporters ------- 11
How to Cover an Assignment -- 12
Writing the story ---------14
Special Forms to be Observed in
the Daily Illini ------------17
Punctuation -----------------18
Capitalization ---------------20
Abbreviation and Titles ------- 24
Figures --------------------26
Division of Words ------------ 28
Quotations -----------------29
Instructions to Copy Readers ---- 30
Proof Reading -----------------

32

Suggestions to Head Writers --.- 33
Sample

News Heads

----------- 36

Sample Big News Heads -------- 40
Sample Feature Heads ----------

42

THE ILLINI BOARD
The Daily Illini is published by the
Illini Publishing Company, a corporation. This corporation is controlled
by a Board of Trustees, consisting of
four undergraduate students and three
members of the faculty. The faculty
members are appointed by the Council of Administration; the student
members are elected by the students
of the University. The Board of Trustees owns all the property of the company. They appoint the editor, business manager and bookkeeper of the
Daily Illini, and approve the appointment of all other members of the staff.
They have supervision of the business
management of the Illini, but do not
in any way control the editorial policy
of the paper. The chairman of the
Board is required to present an annual
report to be published in the Illini,
and a representative of the Board contersigns all checks drawn against the
funds of the Daily Illini.

THE EDITORIAL STAFF
The editorial staff consists of an
editor, a managing editor, four assistant editors and an unspecified number of reporters. The business staff
consists of a business manager, an assistant business manager, a circulation manager and a bookkeeper. All
members of both the editorial and the
business staff, except the reporters,
are paid definite salaries. These, together with the reporters, are also entitled to share in the profits of the
publication.
Unassigned profits are
held by the Company for the purchase
of equipment or other purposes contributing to the advancement and benefit of the Daily Illini.

SCOPE OF THE DAILY ILLINI
News of the University: It is the
aim of the Daily Illini to cover every
event of interest to students or faculty
of the University. Even if news relates only to a small number of people
it should be covered in a limited space.
Quite naturally events or enterprises
which are of moment to the entire
University are to be given greatest
prominence. Every student activity,
whether it be in the field of athletics,
dramatics, literature, music or scholarship, should be fully covered. News
concerning small and sometimes even
unimportant organizations should be
run but not over emphasized. Social
affairs about the University such as
weddings, dances, receptions, stags
and the like. should be briefly noted
in the society column. Unless a social
event be of unusual importance it
should not begiven more than two or
three inches of space; usually less.
functions
fraternity
Sorority and
should never be given preference.
Every interesting fact or event that
concerns the faculty should be reported in much the same manner as student affairs. Actions of such official
bodies as the Board of Trustees, the
Council of Administration and the
Senate of the University should be
closely watched. Each meeting of any
one of the organizations mentioned
7

should be covered. There are a number of other important boards connected with the University and student activities that must be carefully covered at all times; for example, the* Illinois Union, the Illinois
Students' Council, the Athletic Board
of Control, the Illini Publishing Company, the Siren Board, the Technograph Board and others of similar nature.
In addition to securing these regular classes of news, reporters are expected to watch closely for items in
the various laboratories, shops, classrooms, libraries and offices about the
University.
Human interest feature
stories which accurately el11 unusual
incidents in ordinary places about the
campus will be welcomed.
For instance, any accident in one of the laboratories or shops, however slight,
should have mention; a fire in one
of the chemical laboratories would be
worth a feature story; unusual experiments or research are worthy of comment frequently; if a student should
faint in a classroom, the incident is
worth a small Illini story. Local items
concerning University people are necessary to the life of the paper; the
more there are, consistent with the
size of the publication, the greater is
the interest to the readers. Exchange
items of interest should be covered in
condensed form.
Any lecturer from away who speaks
on the campus should be reported by
the Illini; lecturers from away who
speak in the Twin Cities elsewhere
than on the campus deserve mention
if dealing with educational subjects.
8

Lectures by members of the faculty
and other local speakers to which the
general body of students and faculty
are invited should be reported. Ordinarily the Daily Illini does not attempt to cover public addresses other
than those mentioned.
News outside of the University:
In general the Illini covers every
class of news which is of special interest to the students or faculty of
the institution. That test must be applied in each special case that comes
up. It is not customary for the Illini
to cover general items of interest in
the Twin Cities or in the world at
large unless they have some specific
connection with the University. Murders, suicides, accidents. fires, games,
riots and elections which are of
enough importance to command the
attention of the students generally,
should be accurately and completely
reported in the Daily Illini, but should
not be given as great prominence as
local news.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR REPORTERS

How To Cover an Assignment
Report to the managing editor as
early each afternoon as your class
schedule permits. If unable to work in
the afternoon for any reason, arrange
with the managing editor to cover
morning assignments or late stories.
Start out on each assignment with
the determination to get all the news
in the least possible time.
Never fail to complete a story assigned to you before time of going to
press. If possible, stories should be
handed in to the managing editor at
the day office, before 6 p. m. If you
cannot do that take your story to the
night office as soon as possible after
7 o'clock. If for any reason you are
unable to complete your assignment
before press time, phone the managing editor or the night editor immediately. They will hold space open for
your story until they hear from you.
Do not give up when persons you
interview say they have nothing for
you. It is human nature for one to forget things in the face of an interview.
Persistent, intelligent questioningalways courteous-will almost invariably uncover the information you desire. Plan your questions (mentally
or on paper) before you begin an inIf one source fails, don't
terview.
give up until every possible source of
information has been exhausted.

Don't make the mistake of gaining
information under false pretenses or
violating confidence in order to make
"a scoop." Cultivate the friendship of
those who can be useful to you. Never antagonize them; you may want
other stories from them.
If you happen to be on hand when
an accident, fire, murder, riot or other
sudden occurrence takes place, consider it your duty to be able to report
it in detail. If you encounter other
reporters there, divide up points of the
story with them, so that the account
may be as complete and above all as
accurate as possible.
When covering any story pick out
the features that will appeal most to
Try to place
the average reader.
yourself in the position of the reader
and determine what bit of information would mean most to you. Don't
overlook the element of "human interest." At the same time, don't cultivate "sob" style.
Work rapidly, but don't make that
an excuse for carelessness.
If you have a regular beat cover
it thoroughly every day. If you found
little news today, you will probably
find plenty tomorrow.
Always have a good black pencil and
plenty of copy paper with you.
Don't take notes during an interview
if you can help it, but take notes
rather than be inaccurate. Be especially careful not to misquote names,
titles, or addresses. If the subject of
your interview requests it, record ac13

curately your entire conversation with
him.
Acquaint yourself with the streets
and numbering system in Champaign
and Urbana, the location of public
buildings, and residences of important
characters.
Learn the location and name of
every building on the campus, and
the departments they house. Never
guess at the title or initials of an
official in the University. There is an
official directory of the faculty which
gives accurately all names, degrees
and titles of members of the faculty.
Don't write the name in your story
until you are sure.
Be Accurate.

Writing the Story
Write on one side of the paper only,
and use paper of the size and kind
furnished by the Daily Illini.
Always use a typewriter when possible. If you can't operate a typeYour chances of
writer, learn how.
making good on the paper will be
greatly diminished if you don't learn
how to use any make of typewriter
in any condition of repair. If your
machine gets out of repair learn how
to fix it. Most typewriter ills are
easily remedied.
If you write longhand, use a well
pointed soft black pencil, making not
14

more than six lines to the page.
Leave a space of an inch to an inch
and a half at the top of each page.
Write parallel to the long edge of the
copy paper. Double or triple space
typewritten copy.
Number each page in the upper
right hand corner. Write your name
and the abbreviated title of your assignment just below the number of
the page. If it is necessary to insert
pages, designate them with letters,
such as 3a, 3b.
At the end of your story place the
number thirty in a circle or a double
cross, signifying that nothing is to
follow.
The first sentence of your news
story should constitute the "lead,"
combining in concrete but vivid form
the features of the story. If the feature cannot be plainly stated in the
first sentence, make the first paraThe first
graph a "lead paragraph."
sentence should answer for the reader
the questions Who? What? How?
Why? Where? and When? subordinating the last two. The person affected
or the manner in which he is affected
can usually be given first place. Time
or place should never appear first.
Write concisely, avoiding all unThe simpler your
necessary words.
diction, the better it will be liked by
your readers. Remember that your
story must be absolutely clear to the
rapid reader. However, don't overlook opportunities to give life to your
story by the addition of necessary
details and the use of peculiarly expressive words.
15

Short paragraphs are usually best in
ordinary news writing.
They help
the news editor by being easily "cut"
or corrected.
The latter paragraphs of your story
should be so written that one or more
of them may be cut by the copy reader
or makeup man without injuring the
story. That fact should not encourage you to "pad" the story, but merely
to confine less important details to the
final paragraphs.
Significant statistics should be listed
on a separate sheet, to be boxed at
the head of the story or tabulated at
the end.
Never write over words or figures.
Scratch out and rewrite.
Do not divide words from line to line,
or from page to page. This practice
leads to errors on the linotype.
Do not begin a sentence with figures.
Always Read Over Your Story And
Make Corrections After It Is Finished.
Be Sure That Every Letter is Clear Before Handing It In To The Managing
Editor.
Do not give stories to the news editors, but hand them in to the managing editor, in order that he may check
off the assignment.
Read the Daily Illini carefully every
day, and try to improve your style by
an analysis of your own stories published.

16

SPECIAL FORMS TO BE OBSERVED
INTHE DAILY ILLINI

Punctuation
1. Do not punctuate too closely;
use commas sparingly. Over punctuuation is as bad as none at all.
2. In a series of words or groups of
words, use a'comma following each
unit except the last and the next to
the last, which should be separated by
the word "and"; for example, "Copy
reading, editing and head writing are
duties of the news editor."
3. When writing class numerals
-following names, use an apostrophe
preceding the numeral and a comma
following it; thus, Henry Jones '16,
not Henry Jones, '16.
4. In quoting a series of long clauses or sentences that already contain
commas, the units should be separated
by semi-colons. A quotation consisting of only one sentence is separated
from the main clause by a comma.
If the quotation consist of more than
one sentence a colon is used.
5. Do not use a comma in numbers
expressed in four figures; thus, 5328;
$9899.27.
6. Words, phrases or clauses out
of normal order in the sentence should
be set off by commas.
7. Follow the abbreviations "Jr.,"
and "Sr.," with a period and comma,
but do not precede them with a
comma; thus, "John Smith Jr., will
be----- ".
18

8. Use a comma after such words
as Whereas, Resolved, and Ordered,
followed by a lower case letter; for
example, "Resolved, that the members
."
of this organization
9. Use a semi-colon before as, viz.,
e. g., i. e., and similar words or abbreviations where examples or specification of particular subjects follow.
10. Omit the period after nicknames and after abbreviations in baseball, football and basketball lineups;
as, Ben Johnson, rf, Ed Smith, cf.
11. Use a colon following the salutation of a printed letter.
12. Avoid double punctuation; such
as, comma and dash, colon and dash
and the like
13. Use no period after percent.
14. Use no comma in 4 feet 6 inches tall; 8 years 4 months old.
15. Be careful to use an apostrophe
in such words as don't, haven't.
16. To denote the possessive of
words ending in -s, simply suffix an
apostrophe; thus, Jones' Ice.
17. Always use the form, "Dean T.
A. Clark and Mrs. Clark," not "Dean
and Mrs. T. A. Clark."
18. Do not use the apostrophe in
denoting the possessive of the personal pronouns ours, yours, theirs,
hers, its.
19. Run a list of officers according
to the following form: President, John
Jones; vice-president, Henry Smith;
secretary-treasurer, George Brown.
19

Capitalization
1. Capitalize all proper names,
names of the months, days of the
week, holidays, but not the names of
the seasons.
2. Nouns applied to certain races
should begin with a capital letter; as,
Caucas'an, Malay, Ethiopian and Indian. But nouns such as gypsy, negro,
o3toroon, which designate only a small
portion of a race, are never capitalized.
3. Capitalize words typifying definite regions, as Transatlantic, the
North, the South, Central Illinois, but
do not capitalize directions of the compass, north, south, northeast.
4. Capitalize the names of all religious sects and all political parties,
but not factions; such as, mugwump,
anarchist, nihilist, suffragist.
5. Official titles preceding a name
should always be capitalized; as President Wilson, Vice-President Sherman,
Mayor
Swigart.
Governor Dunne,
Nouns such as King, President, Emperor, Czar, referring to the ruler of a
nation, should always be capitalized
whether followed by a name or not.
6. When a person has been mentioned by name and title before, and
later is referred to by title only, except
in the case of the President of the
United States and the President of
the University of Illinois, the title
must not be capitalized. When the ti20

tie follows the name it must not be
capitalized; as, Edmund J. James,
president of the University.
7. Capitalize the distinctive part
of the names of legislative bodies of a
nation, state or province, and all the
departments at Washington which are
represented in the Cabinet; for instance, House of Representatives,
Reichstag, Department of Justice. Do
not capitalize city government, aldermen, council, board of review, special
committees
or
commissions
and
boards; such as, pension bureau, patent office, civil service commission.
8. Capitalize state only when it refers to the whole body politic or a
particular commonwealth, and church
only when it refers to the entire body
of Christian believers; for instance,
"Church and State must remain separated."
9. Capitalize
government
only
when it refers to the United States or
the sovereign power of a state.
10. Capitalize the distinctive but
not the generic part of names of regularly organized institutions, companies,
associations, clubs, railroads, banks,
blocks, churches, theaters, halls, business blocks, streets, parks, avenues,
etc.
11. Names from the foreign languages, preceded by a preposition without a Christian name; as Van in
Dutch, Von in German, de or d' in
French, or Da or Della in Italian-are
written with a capital for the preposition; as, Von Moltke, D'Alembert,
Della Crusca. However, when the title
21

is prefixed the preposition goes in lower case; as, Count von Buelow. Van
is always capitalized with or without
the title.
12. Always capitalize the names of
battles.
13. Capitalize the names of schools
and colleges making up the University
of Illinois, but do not capitalize the
names of departments; for example,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,
but the department of romance languages.
14. Do not capitalize
grees.

college

de-

15. The following is a list of miscellaneous words and classes of words
that should be capitalized:
a. Names of important organizations and important standing committees; such as, Young Mens' Christian
Association, Cosmopolitan Club, Tribe
of the Illini, Illinois Union, Illinois
Students' Council, Committee on Student Affairs.
b. Names of important dances and
social functions; such as, the Junior
Prom, Military Ball, Sophomore Cotillion, Senate Luncheon.
c. All references to the Deity and
the Bible.
d. Principal words in the titles of
books, plays and addresses.
e. Varsity when referring to the
Varsity team in any of the major
sports.
f. The names of all University
buildings; such as, Lincoln Hall, Li22

brary, Auditorium, Gymnasium Annex,
Law Building, Chemistry Laboratory.
g. Rivers, bays, creeks, inlets, islands, sounds when a part of the distinctive name; as, Illinois River, Staten Island, Boneyard Creek.
16. The following is a miscellaneous group of words that should not be
capitalized:
a. Names of classes; as, freshman,
sophomore, junior, senior, graduate.
b. Names of ordinary class functions; as, senior stag, junior smoker,
sophomore picnic.
c. The entire names of unimportant
committees.
d. Proper names that have obtained usage as common nouns; as, gatling gun, guillotine, plaster of paris,
brussels, wilton, axminster (carpet),
india rubber, india ink, canary bird,
paris green, italic and roman letters,
gothic, ionic; doric, romanesque, macadam, french roof, prussian blue, pullman car, rennaissance lace and breeds
of animals derived from proper names.
e. Homecoming is the style to be
followed on the Daily Illini, capitalized
when referring to the annual Homecoming of the University of Illinois.
In cases where there are exceptions
to the rules stated herein or words
which do not fall in any one of the
classes given, arbitrary style will be
set by the editor and posted on the
bulletin board. Such changes or additions should be recorded frdm time
to time on the blank pages of this
booklet.
23

Abbreviations and Titles
1. Abbreviate all faculty, military
and professional titles, when followed
by name and initials. If initials or
first name are not given, title should
be spelled out; for example, Dean K.
C. Babcock, Prof. E. C. Hayes, Professor Hayes, Maj. F. D. Webster,
Doctor Smith, the Rev. J. J. Wilson,
the Reverend Mr. Wilson. Always prefix "the" before Reverend, and prefix,
Mr. before the last name where initials
are lacking.
2. Abbreviate the names of states
and territories when preceded by the
name of a town or county, except
Alaska, Idaho and Utah.
3. Never abbreviate proper names;
as, George not Geo., St. Joseph not
St. Joe. St. may be used as an abbreviation for Saint.
4. Always spell out such words as
avenue, street, railroad, brothers, governor, president, superintendent, Republican, Democrat.
5. Never abbreviate the names of
days or months except in date lines.
6. Do not use abbreviations which
are not distinctive; such as, Co., which
may be considered to mean Company
or County.
7. Omit Mr. in referring to men
students of the University of Illinois,
thus, H. W. Smith '16, except in formal
writing in the society column; if there
are more than two initials run them
all; if only one, run the Christian name
in full; thus, Henry Smith '16.
24

8. Run the full Christian name together with the last name of women
students; thus, Mary Jones '16. After
the first mention she should be referred to as Miss Jones. The title
Miss should be placed before the
names of unmarried women on the
faculty of the University and those
not connected with the University at
all.
9. Place the title Mr. before names
of men in the faculty who have no degree or official title, and before the
names of men not connected with the
institution. In recording lists of married women it is permissible to use
Mesdames; Misses in a list of unmarried women. However, the titles just
mentioned should be avoided.
10. Never repeat titles; as, the
Reverend Smith, D. D., or Dr. H. J.
Jones, Ph. D.
11. Be careful to give people the
titles that are theirs. Never guess at
a title; make sure that it is correct
before you use it in, your story. If
a man has more than one title, use
the highest one, unless he prefer another.
12. Wherever possible in writing
lists of names, place the graduates
first, then seniors, juniors, sophomores
and freshmen. When both men and
women are mentioned run the men
first in each group.
13. Always spell out United States
except when it occurs as a part of a
title.
14. Abbreviate the word number
when followed by a numeral; No. 1.
25

Figures
1. Ordinarily spell out all definite
numbers under 100, and use figures for
numbers above that point. In case a
definite number under 100 and one
over 100 come close together, figures
should be used in both cases; as, 65
cities and 719 towns.
2. Spell out all approximate numbers.
3. Always use figures in denoting
the time of day; as, 6 o'clock.
4. Never begin a sentence'with figures. If absolutely necessary to place
the numbers first, spell out.
5. Use figures for all definite sums
of money.
6. Use figures in giving ages.
7. Use figures in all athletic records.
8. Use figures in all statistical or
tabular matter.
9.

Use figures for street numbers.

10. Use figures for dimensions,
votes, percents, calibres, dates, degrees of temperature, betting odds and
bond terms.
11.
not :

Say three quarters of 1 percent,
of 1 percent.

12.
Hall.

Write:

Room
26

108

University

13. Use following forms in reporting summaries of athletic events:
TRACK.
100 yard dash: Ward, Chicago, first;
Knight, Chicago, second; Hammitt,
Illinois, third. Time: 9 4-5.
Shot Put: Des Jardien, Chicago
first; Schobinger, Illinois, second;
Currier, Illinois, third. Distance: 41
feet, 3 inches.
Half-mile run: Campbell, Chicago,
first; Stegeman, Chicago, second;
Stout, Chicago, third. Time: 1:55 2-5.
ILLINOIS
Arbuckle cf.
Krebs 3b.

BASEBALL.
R H A
0 2
0
1 1
3

PO
0
2

E
0
0

FOOTBALL.
Lineup.
Illinois
Northwestern
Derby, Squier
le
Strader
Petty, Madsen
It
Kral
Chapman
Ig
Bartz
BASKETBALL,
Lineup.
Illinois (20)
Indiana (4)
Williford, Alwood rf POrter, Frenzel
Ralf Woods
If
Maxwell, Nafe

27

Division of Words
Use hyphen in figures when spelled
out; as, twenty-four.
Use hyphen in a compound adjective, but do not use a compound adjective if it can be avoided.
All prefixes ending in a vowel require a hyphen before words beginning
with a vowel.
Do not hyphenate today or tomorrow.
When two words are united to form
another they should be consolidated
without a hyphen; as, schoolhouse,
sailboat, newspapermen, smokestack,
taxpayer, postoffice, theatergoer, basketball, baseball, football.
In Case Of Doubt Consult The Office Dictionary.

28

Quotations
1. Enclose all extracts and quotations set in the same type as context
in quotes. If quoted matter is set in
different type or leaded differently
from the context, quotation marks
need not be used.
2. Do not enclose indirect quotations in quotes.
3. Enclose a quotation within a
quotation in single quotes. A quotation within that should be enclosed in
double quotes .
4. When a quotation runs through
several paragraphs, beginning quotation marks should be placed at the beginning of each paragraph, but final
quotes should not be used until the
quotation is finished.
5. Quote titles of books, plays,
paintings, songs, operas, lectures, sermons, but do not quote the names of
newspapers, periodicals, balloons, cars,
steamships, animals or characters in
plays or books.

29

INSTRUCTIONS TO COPY READERS
Remember that the best assets of
a copy reader are Accuracy and Speed.
Make your correction marks clearly
with a soft pencil. When you are
through with a story, mark it at the
end with your initals in a circle.
It is your duty to correct all errors
of grammar, punctuation or fact, and
present to the linotype operator a
piece of clean copy.
If a story is too poorly written to
permit intelligent correction, assign it
to the rewrite man.
If you wish to indicate that a word
or letter be capitalized underscore the
part to be capitalized with three lines.
A circle around figures or abbreviations indicates that they are to be
spelled out. A circle around a word
or number spelled out indicates that
it is to be abbreviated or that numerals are to be used.
A caret should be placed at the point
in a line or word where letters or
words are to be inserted.
Place a paragraph mark at the beginning of each paragraph.
A cross should be used to indicate
a period.
Quotation marks should be placed in
half circles to indicate clearly whether
they are beginning or ending marks.
30

Indicate words out of place with
transposition marks, but do not use
such
marks when letters ,in
a
word are out of place. Scratch out
the word and rewrite it.
Verify names,
dates and facts.

initials,

addresses,

If any part of a story is to be boxed
or set in black face, so indicate in
the upper right hand corner. Enclose
all directions to the compositor or
makeup man in a circle.
Bind together the pages of a story
at the upper left hand corner.
Read every word of copy carefully
and Read The Story Over ,After You
Have Finished Correcting It.
The duties of news editors shall be
what their name would imply. With
the managing editor they shall be held
responsible for keeping the assignment book well filled with suggestions
for news stories as well as for discharging the routine work of editing
and heading copy. Each day the news
editors shall be called on to furnish
They shall
news story suggestions.
also be required to cover certain important beats as directed by the managing editor.

31

PROOF READING
Read proof word by word.
Cover with a card all the lines below
the one you are reading.
Night editors should read proof
aloud to their assistants to catch errors in sense as well as typographical
errors.
Compare with copy all names, figures, tables, athletic scores or summaries, Campus Scout, and other unusual material.
Use proof reading marks as indicated on the chart in the office.
Make marks absolutely clear. Never
cross out a word to be changed; simply
draw a line around it, indicating the
correction on the margin.
Watch for errors in punctuation.
If necessary to cut out a word fill
in with others of the same length, so
that it will be unnecessary to reset
more than one line.
Make only such changes in proof
as are absolutely necessary. You are
not expected to read copy in the proof
but rather than let bad mistakes in
diction or fact slip by correct them
in the proof. The copy reader will
then be held responsible for the errors.
Above All Things Read Proof Accurately.
32

SUGGESTIONS TO HEAD WRITERS
Get the important facts of the story
clearly and accurately in mind before
attempting to write the head.
Place on the story a head of the
size indicated by the managing editor.
Have the tone of the head in keeping with that of the story.
Tell nothing in the head that is not
told in the story. Do not make the
head comment upon the news.
Make the statement in each deck
clear, concise and specific.
Make the
connection between different decks
logical.
Put the significant fact into the
first deck, using short, specific words
to express it.
Never use weak words to fill out a
line that is short.
Do not use abbreviations in a head
that you would not use in the story.
Punctuate only when clearness requires it.
Avoid libelous statements.
Capitalize all words of three or more
letters, except but, the, for, and. Also
capitalize Be, Do, Go, He, Is, It, My,
No, Up. Capitalize the last word of
every clause and each word in compounds.
33

At, for, in, of, on, to, are
only when attached to or
with verbs; as, "He Was
by the Crowd." "They Were
by Us."

capitalized
connected
Stared At
Voted For

Do not capitalize all, and, as, by,
if, the, but.
Use single quote in heads, full or
sub, when quotation is indicated.
Avoid the use of numerals under
10 in the headlines, except in giving
athletic scores.
Avoid the use of trite words that
appear often in the headlines of any
paper.
Do not use "here" in headlines referring to the Twin Cities or the University of Illinois.
Never repeat a word or phrase in
different decks of the same headline,
unless absolutely unavoidable.
Seldom use articles in headlines.
"The", "a" and "an" are poor space
fillers.
Never use a semi-colon in the first
deck of a large head. Such broken
heads should be used sparingly in
small heads and lower decks of large
heads.
Write your heads so that it is never
necessary to break a word from one
line to the next, even in machine set
decks.
Count the units in your headlines
carefully.
M's and W's should be
counted as a unit and a half, while I's
and the figure 1 constitute one half
34

unit only. Never allow a difference
of more than one half unit between
droplines of the first deck of a 24
point head, and no more than one unit
in smaller heads.
Ordinarily write your headline from
the facts contained in the first paragraph of the news story.
Avoid the use of past tense verbs
in headlines, but do not use a present
tense of the verb with an adverb or
modifier indicating the past tense; for
example, do not say "John Smith Dies
Yesterday," but "John Smith Died
Yesterday" or "John Smith is Dead."
The following is a list of words that
are not to be. used in copy or headlines: Frat, grad, classy, U. of I., girl
(use women when referring to students), phone, very, over, (use "more
than"), prof, suffragette (use suffragist).
Following are the heads which are
to be used in the Daily Ilini. The
style of any of these heads must not
-be changed without the consent of the
editor. Mark copy with the number of
the head as indicated below.

35

NEWS

HEADS.

No. l.-(24 point).

00

cfc c

V-

o

00

S0
LLI

L4

LA.

LLJ
L

C0DLL

=

ai.

306

0

CL

NEWS

HEADS.

No. 2-(16 point).

000(:
Cq Cl1
C9

*0C
0C

=

j

f)0

cm~ act
=
LJ

400

0u-

0
coo
0)

W

=

C= C
z

CD>
Em.

37

NEWS HEADS.
No. 3--(12 point).

|

COI
I-

M

C=
4-J

0L

Cvj, Uo~
0

Mc

r

+
4J

J

"i
oO

S

38

NEWS HEADS.
No. 4.-(12.,point split line).

PRELIMINARY TRYOUTS FOR (22-24).
DEBATE TEAM HELD TONIGHT
No. 5.-(8 point split line).
ANNUAL MASONIC SMOKE-FEST
TO BE BIGGEST AND BEST EVER
(22-26).
No. 6.-(8 point sub.)
Many on Sick List.
(less than 28).
No.

7.-Head.
C12

0

>-J

__

U)

C-

BIG NEWS HEAD.
No. 10 (36 point).

M

*0>

GU)

0

C cu
0

U
C+

Con

40

>

c

BIG NEWS HEAD.
No. 11 (36 point.)

w

*M

r~CIA

.

r

O .<
COO!)

OMM4

~

qdef

41

FEATURE

HEADS.

.lN

(18 pt. Italic, caps and 1. c.)
42

FEATURE

lo

000

.,43

HEADS.

FEATURE

HEAD.

00
00

cz
Q

C)

Lr

0;jW

0

0-4

44

FEATURE HEAD.

"No Bunch Like Illinois
Students", Says Damerel
(22-26).
(10 pt. caps and 1. c.)

ARE YOU ONE ?

(less than 25).
(Editorial Head).

IN A CRITICAL VEIN
By Scott McNulta
(16-22).
(10 pt. caps).
(8 pt. blk fc.)

Turn Off The Heat! Frosh!
(24-28).
(11 pt. machine, italics).

Tin Taxi On Front Lawn
Perplexes Thetas Until
Police Remove Intruder
(10 point)
24 letters in each line.
FOLLOW HEAD.

Further German Progress
in Serbia, Berlin Reports
22-25 letters in each line.
45

This book is a preservation facsimile produced for
the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
It is made in compliance with copyright law
and produced on acid-free archival
60# book weight paper
which meets the requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (permanence of paper).
Preservation facsimile printing and binding
by
Northern Micrographics
Brookhaven Bindery
La Crosse, Wisconsin
2012