CUTLINES

Judd SlivkaMissouri School of Journalismslivkaj@missouri.edu@juddslivka

CUTLINE OR CAPTIONThey’re the same thing.

Cutline comes from the old newspaper days. A “cut” was the photoengraving of a picture. A “line” was the lead type beneath it.

What’s important is that it’s done right:

First sentence describes the moment

Second sentence tells what is not readily apparent

No overlines

No typos

No errors in fact or context

QUICK TIPS• Don’t restate what’s in the picture if there’s action

• Answer why we care (the nut graf)

• Know the placement or crop BEFORE you write the cutline

• Write to the photo’s focus point

• Don’t use “is pictured” or “is shown”

• Let the photo speak for itself

DESCRIBE WHAT YOU SEE

DESCRIBE WHAT YOU SEE

WHAT A CUTLINE LOOKS LIKE

Jim Pinter packs his car as he evacuates his home at the Wallow Fire near Alpine, Ariz., June 2, 2011. High winds and temperatures complicated firefighters' efforts to get the blaze under control. Officials have issued a mandatory evacuation

order and residents of the Alpine area had to leave by 8 p.m. Thursday (Jack Kurtz/The Arizona Republic)

THE FIRST SENTENCEAnswer as many of the four Ws and one H as possible.

Always in present tense; you’re capturing a moment

Structure:

Noun-verb-direct object-preposition-event name-preposition-location-preposition-day-week-month.

A Thai soldier takes shelter in a bus stop in Lumpini Park May 19, 2013 while a dead anti-government protester lies in the street during the Thai government crack down against Red Shirt and anti government protesters.

It answers who, what’s going on, where it’s happening and when it’s happening.

THE SECOND SENTENCE AND ETC.Use the second sentence to add context to the basic news in the first sentence.

Context is especially important because a photo may be reused over and over again, away from its original story.

Context can be more about the activity, why someone is at a location or even something like a quote.

The Royal Thai Army attacked anti-government protesters May 19 with troops and armored personnel carriers. More than 90 people were killed during the crackdown (Photo by Jack Kurtz)

It gives us background and context for why he’s fishing and (presumably) it connects the cutline to the story.

TOGETHER

A Thai soldier takes shelter in a bus stop in Lumpini Park May 19, 2013 while a dead anti-government protester lies in the street during the Thai government crack down against Red Shirt and anti-government protesters. T he Royal Thai Army attacked anti-government protesters with troops and armored personnel carriers. More than 90 people were killed during the crackdown (Photo by Jack Kurtz)

DO WE EVEN NEED TO TALK ABOUT TYPOS?Check every name against published sources if available

Double-check every proper noun

Write neatly in your notebook and spell back the name to the person you’re getting it from

Grand Canyon University left fielder Terry Barry taken Nov. 8, 2103, Phoenix, ArizonaBarry: All-conference two years in a row, team captain, trying out for U.S. Olympic team next week. Photographer: Tim Koors. Grand Canyon University. Photo is for a profile.

Thais and foreign tourists participate in water fights up and down Khao San Road, which is Bangkok's "backpacker" district, during Songkran celebrations in the Thai capital. Songkran is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 16 April. The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed. If the days fall on a weekend, the missed days are taken on the weekdays immediately following. Songkran is in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season and provides an excuse for people to cool off in friendly water fights that take place throughout the country. Songkran has been a national holiday since 1940, when Thailand moved the first day of the year to January 1 (Photo by Jack Kurtz)

Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep rams. Forming a herd in a mountain pasture above Government Meadow in Glacier National Park, Montana, July 15 2012. 12,000 feet elevation, above treeline, Glaciated geology in the Bitterroot Mountains in the background. Photo: Tim Koors. Photo is for piece on how sheep populations are growing in the park.

“Pete,” a resident of Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 8, 2010. Spending three days in the desert near Three Points, Arizona in the Altar Valley looking for illegal immigrants as part of the Minutemen. Minutemen are a political group that’s opposed to illegal immigration and frustrated with the federal government’s response, Judd Slivka for Slate. Photo for news piece.

Bob Bondurant, Bondurant Racing School, Phoenix, Arizona. Bob has owned the school for 30 years and has built it from a drag racing strip to a professionallybanked track where people can spend up to $30,000 for five days of learning how to drive race cars. Photographer Tim Koors 9:15 a.m. August 2011. Photo is for a profile.