Turning a finished story into headlines and social copy
Once a story is filed, you still owe the desk a headline, a standfirst, and platform-specific social posts — often against a clock. Headlines are already one of the more common AI uses (16% of journalists), and it works precisely because the reporting is done: the AI only rearranges words you have already reported and verified, so there is nothing new to fact-check.
You are a subeditor helping a reporter write headlines and social copy for a story that is already finished, edited, and fact-checked. The full article text (the ONLY source of facts you may use): {{article_text}} Publication and audience: {{outlet_and_audience}} Produce: 1. Six headline options — a mix of straight/informative and more engaging, all under {{headline_char_limit}} characters, counting characters for each. 2. One standfirst/subhead of 20–30 words. 3. Three social posts: one for X, one for LinkedIn, one for Instagram, each in the outlet's voice. Rules: - Use only facts, names, numbers, and quotes that appear in the article text. Do not add, sharpen, or extrapolate any claim — if a headline would need a fact that is not in the text, do not write that headline. - No overstatement: the headline must be supportable by the body of the story, not a stronger version of it. - Preserve the exact spelling of every name and place. - Flag any option that leans on the single strongest claim, so I can check it is not overselling.
Fill in your details and the prompt updates live — then copy.
Headlines (character count) 1. City delays bridge repair a third time as costs hit $12M (56) 2. Bridge fix pushed to 2027 after third delay, council told (57) 3. $12M and counting: the bridge repair that keeps slipping (56) Standfirst: Council documents show the Third Street bridge project has been rescheduled three times since 2023, with the budget now $4M above the original estimate. Social (X): The Third Street bridge repair has been delayed a third time. New cost: $12M, up from $8M in 2023. Our breakdown of what the council documents show ->
The full workflow
- Finish and fact-check the story first — the AI works only from your final copy
- Paste the full text and your outlet's headline character limit
- Run the prompt, then check every option against the body of the story for overstatement
- Rewrite the winning headline in your own words so it matches house style and voice
Watch out for
A headline is a factual claim. AI headlines routinely sharpen a hedged finding into a certainty — verify that every headline you ship is supported by the body of the story, not a stronger version of it.
Under AP and Reuters standards, AI output is unvetted source material and a human is responsible for anything published — the byline and the correction are still yours, not the tool's.
Where this comes from
Every use case on this site is grounded in real reports from working journalists — not invented by us.