A lead-in is a short phrase, usually five words or less, that starts off a photo caption in a newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

, high school yearbook

Yearbook

A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...

, magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 or other publication.

Lead-ins (aka "kickers") are used to catch the reader's attention and "lead in" to the main caption. These phrases widely range from common phrases to song lyrics, and are written appropriate to the subject matter of the photograph.

Examples of lead-ins include the following: Piling it on... Makin' the rounds...

Editors and caption writers tend to avoid using cliché

Cliché

A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...

s and obvious lead-ins (e.g., "Two heads better than one," "Whistle while you work," etc.); and also prefer varying lead-ins throughout the publication.

See also

• 24-hour news cycle
  24-hour news cycle
  The 24-hour news cycle arrived with the advent of television channels dedicated to news, and brought about a much faster pace of news production with increased demand for stories that can be presented as news, as opposed to the day-by-day pace of the news cycle of printed daily newspapers...
  
  
• Breaking news
  Breaking news
  Breaking news, also known as a special report or news bulletin, is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report its details. Many times, breaking news is used after the news network has already reported on this story...
  
  
• Broadcast Journalism
  Broadcast journalism
  Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are "broadcast", that is, published by electrical methods, instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. Broadcast methods include radio , television , and, especially recently, the Internet generally...
  
  
• CNN effect
  CNN effect
  The CNN effect is a theory in political science and media studies that postulates that the development of the popular 24-hour international television news channel known as Cable News Network, or CNN, had a major impact on the conduct of states' foreign policy in the late Cold War period and that...
  
  
• Electronic journalism
  Electronic journalism
  Electronic journalism or electronic news-gathering is most associated with broadcast news where television producers, reporters and editors make use of electronic video production recording devices for gathering and presenting information in telecasts and radio transmissions reaching the public...
  
  
• Electronic news-gathering (ENG)
• Journalism
  Journalism
  Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
  
  
• Journalist
  Journalist
  A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
  
  
• Local news
  Local news
  In journalism, local news refers to news coverage of events in a local context which would not normally be of interest to those of other localities, or otherwise be of national or international scope.-Television:...
  
  
• Media event
  Media Event
  A media event, as loosely defined by evolving modern usage, is an occasion or happening, spontaneous or planned, that attracts prominent coverage by mass media organizations, particularly television news and newspapers in both print and Internet editions....
  
  
• News broadcasting
  News broadcasting
  News broadcasting is the broadcasting of various news events and other information via television, radio or internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or television studio newsroom, or by a broadcast network...
  
  
• News presenter
  News presenter
  A news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather...
  
  
• News program
  News program
  A news program, news programme, news show, or newscast is a regularly scheduled radio or television program that reports current events. News is typically reported in a series of individual stories that are presented by one or more anchors...
  
  
• Reporter
• Sports commentator
  Sports commentator
  In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
  
  
• Television news
• Television program
  Television program
  A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...