A major casualty of design changes that were introduced in the 1980s and 1990s in Indian newspapers were crossheads and sideheads. To give pages a clean look, design editors removed crossheads and sideheads from newspaper pages.
Interestingly, bloggers and web writers turned to crossheads and sideheads because they realised that these two typographic tools can arrest the eye movement of the reader and keep them longer on the web page.
What are Crossheads
Crossheads are small headlines generally placed after five paragraphs. Each crosshead introduces a new or a different point in the story. The eye of the reader stops when it hits the crosshead, and may encourage the reader to browse the paragraphs right beneath the crosshead. The crossheads are set in a bigger point size than body copy so that they stand out on the page.
In the newspapers you see them on the edit page, op ed page and feature pages where writers are not constrained for space, and the story length is more than hard news stories. This leaves the Design Editors with no choice but to use crossheads to break the monotony of grey columns of running text.
Crossheads are also used as headlines for “garland” pieces that comprise of five or six items, such as those used in a political diary.
On the web, you can see them on blog posts and web pages. Besides holding readers’ attention, crossheads are used as a search engine optimisation tool. Web writers place keywords in crossheads to improve search engine ranking.
Interestingly, crossheads on the web are also known as H2 headlines. They are written in a point size that is smaller than the main headline, referred to as H1 headline, but still is several points bigger than body text.
Characteristics of Crossheads
Crossheads play an important role in improving readability. Their four key characteristics are:
- They are written in a point size that is generally bigger than the body type so that they can be easily noticed.
- They are placed between large masses of grey text to break monotony. The positioning may be flush left or centred.
- Generally, Crossheads are positioned after five paragraphs or so, depending upon story display and the style followed by a publication or a website.
- They highlight the most important news point mentioned in the paragraph or paragraphs over which they are positioned.
The purpose of crossheads
Crossheads serve two important purposes:
- One, they break the greyness of text especially if the story is quite deep.
- Two, they give the readers an idea of what to expect in the paragraphs that follow.
Reuters in its Handbook of Journalism gives a good explanation as to how to use crossheads:
“Cross-headings are used in all stories of 500 or more words to break the mass of copy into more digestible morsels. Cross-heads are sub-headlines of two to four words, all in upper case. Aim for something simple, informative and unbiased. … One or two cross-heads are enough in a 500-600 word piece. Three or four will do in an 800-word story. Make sure the cross-heads don’t break the flow of the story, for instance by breaking up a speaker’s quotes.”
What are Sideheads
Sideheads are words that introduce a new point. Newspapers publish them in bold at the start of a paragraph to catch the eye of the readers. In newspapers, sideheads are set in the same point size in which the body copy is composed.
On the web page, sideheads are set in a slightly bigger point size than the web copy. They are also referred to as H3 headlines.
Characteristics of Sideheads
- The sideheads are positioned at the start of a paragraph.
- They are set in a bold type in a point size that is generally the same as the body text in newspapers but in a slightly bigger point size on the web pages.
- They are used to introduce a new point in a running story or a web page.
- They are used as headlines for a new item in reports like city briefs or crime briefs.
The purpose of sideheads
The Sideheads perform the same functions as Crossheads. These are:
- One, they break the greyness of the text.
- Two, they inform the reader of a new news point.
Summary: Don’t treat crossheads and sideheads as poor cousins of headlines. They improve readability and visual appeal both in newspapers and web pages, and give reasons to readers to stay longer on the web page.
(This article has been updated to make it more relevant)
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