← Back to C1 General contentsWorkbook · 4A. Making headlines
Home practice · inversion & media vocabulary · answer key included
1 · Inversion — choose the correct option
______ have I read a piece that misrepresented its own source so badly.
Not only ______ inaccurate, it was quietly retracted six hours later.
Under no circumstances ______ we run a headline we cannot verify.
Only after two more sources confirmed the story ______ willing to publish.
Hardly ______ the piece appeared online when three other papers copied it.
Little ______ that the anonymous source was in fact a rival minister.
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2 · Complete with a newsroom term from the box
- The paper issued a full drop on page three the following morning.
- Everyone knew the source was speaking strictly drop .
- Landing that interview first was a genuine drop for the paper.
- The piece has her drop but not her name in the headline.
- The headline over-promised — pure drop , if we're honest.
- The government tried to put a positive drop on the economic figures.
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3 · Rewrite using the inversion in brackets
The paper had never faced this much pressure before. (Never before…, with inversion)
The reporter did not know the meeting was already public. (Little did the reporter…)
The article was inaccurate and defamatory. (Not only…, but also…)
You must not name an anonymous source without a second confirmation. (Under no circumstances…)
We agreed to publish only when the source went on record. (Only when…)
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4 · Newsroom collocations
- to break a storydrop or tap here…
- to bury a storydrop or tap here…
- to spike a storydrop or tap here…
- a well-placed sourcedrop or tap here…
- on the recorddrop or tap here…
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5 · Podcast · Off The Record — a sub-editor's confession
Listen to Tom, a veteran sub-editor, talk about how headlines actually get written.
📄 Show transcript
Speaker: Welcome to 'Off The Record'. Today, I want to confess something about the dark art of headline writing. As a veteran sub-editor, I’ve seen it all. The truth is, **rarely does anyone read past the first paragraph these days**, let alone the whole article. This makes the headline supremely powerful, and potentially, dangerous. **Never in the history of journalism have readers been more headline-dependent**.
The fastest way to lose a reader for good? A headline that promises more than the article can deliver. Yet, you'd be surprised how often this happens. Typically, the headline is crafted by a sub-editor – me! – who never spoke to the reporter, working on deadline, from a rough desk brief. **Under no circumstances should it promise more than the article can deliver**, but the pressure to grab attention is immense.
**Little do most people realise** the tightrope we walk. So, my one request to you, the discerning reader: before you get outraged, before you share that article based solely on a provocative headline, please, **read the article before deciding whether the outrage over the headline is earned**. **Only then will you know** the full story, and truly understand the nuances.
- What does Tom claim is the fastest way to lose a reader for good?
- Who typically writes the headline, and under what conditions?
- What single habit does Tom ask his listeners to develop?
- What emphasis-through-inversion structures does Tom use in the monologue?
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6 · A short opinion piece (170–200 words)
Write a short opinion piece titled: "The headline is doing the reader's thinking for them — and we are letting it." Use at least four inversions from three different triggers, and at least four items of media vocabulary. End with a clear personal position.
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