# Are their of a pre-existing set of guidlines for headline size in NYT? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2001, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-their-of-a-pre-existing-set-of-guidlines-for-headline-size-in-nyt/81412 "2001-09-13T19:02:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-their-of-a-pre-existing-set-of-guidlines-for-headline-size-in-nyt/81412/1 "2001-09-13T19:02:42Z")
I was surprised at the size of the font in the New York Times for the day of the attack. Would have thought it would have been at least another %50 larger if not more. Hope this doesn’t seem like im making light of the situation. Anyway, anyone know if the New York Times or other large newspapers have a set of general guidelines for the size of the headline i.e. something for an official declaration of war, presidential assassination etc.? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-their-of-a-pre-existing-set-of-guidlines-for-headline-size-in-nyt/81412/2 "2001-09-13T19:15:28Z")
I’m sure the NYT has a set standard in their stylebook. They (and especially the Wall Street Journal) don’t want to get their styles confused with “newspapers” like the New York Post that frequently use 50-million point size headlines. ---
**Author:** ![maralinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@maralinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maralinn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-their-of-a-pre-existing-set-of-guidlines-for-headline-size-in-nyt/81412/3 "2001-09-13T19:17:24Z")
I suspect that an editor keeps a record of headline sizes used in the past, for particular events; and then weighs each new event against the past events, gauging their relative importance. I don’t think they say “this size for assassinations” and “that size for shipwrecks.” Perhaps there’s an editor out there who can relate his personal experience. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-their-of-a-pre-existing-set-of-guidlines-for-headline-size-in-nyt/81412/4 "2001-09-13T19:43:52Z")
I have a copy of the Wednesday Times right here. The headline “U.S. ATTACKED” is 66-point type, which is a good 10 points (there are 72 points in an inch) larger than the actual Times masthead. There’s no requirement that a headline by X size. However, when laying out the page you have to take several elements into considertion. First, you don’t want to split a word at the end of a headline. By that measure, the headline could have been bigger. Second, if you have a dramatic photo, you want to get it as high on the page as possible. That’s a hell of a photo, and you don’t want to fight with it for the reader’s attention. I was more struck by the headline in the Wall Street Journal, which, for the first time I can ever remember, stretched across more than two columns. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-their-of-a-pre-existing-set-of-guidlines-for-headline-size-in-nyt/81412/5 "2001-09-13T21:25:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kunilou \* > \*\*I was more struck by the headline in the Wall Street Journal, which, for the first time I can ever remember, stretched across more than two columns. \*\* Me too. For the record, the type the WSJ used appears to be about 32-point, and the two-line headline read > [@](#): > > _TERRORISTS DESTROY WORLD TRADE CENTER, > HIT PENTAGON IN RAID WITH HIJACKED JETS_ ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-their-of-a-pre-existing-set-of-guidlines-for-headline-size-in-nyt/81412/6 "2001-09-14T00:32:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kunilou \* > First, you don’t want to split a word at the end of a headline. By that measure, the headline could have been bigger. Reminds me of the Onion headline for Dec. 8, 1941: **WA-** (headline continued on page 2)