Don’t Clip the Wings of Your News Release

News Release Headlines & Subheadlines

News‑aggregation services like Bloomberg, FactSet, and Refinitiv provide critical communication channels to the financial community. However, how they treat news release headlines & subheadlines will likely surprise you. Most news aggregation services will truncate headlines if they are too long, and will omit subheadlines entirely. Unfortunately, the loss of key messages in the headline and subheadlines can clip the wings of an otherwise newsworthy release. It can also lead to profound market misperceptions.

Truncated Headlines and Missing Subheadlines

Every IR and PR professional should understand the technical limits financial news aggregators impose on news releases. Although modern newswire services allow for very long headlines, news aggregators impose much more stringent limitations.

As a best practice, wire services recommend keeping headlines concise (under 60–65 characters) to avoid truncation on various platforms. Many news aggregators omit sub‑headlines entirely from their feeds. This has significant implications for writers who routinely place key messages in sub‑headlines.

Source: PR Newswire/Cision 2024 State of the Press Release Report

Headline character limits and subheadline handling:

Platform (Aggregator)	Headline Character Limit	Subheadline Display
Bloomberg Terminal	~63 characters max (one line). Longer titles are truncated.	No separate subheadline; Bloomberg’s feed only includes the main headline. Any subhead content is typically not shown in the headline field.
Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters)	No fixed public limit (headlines can run ~100+ chars). However, extremely long titles may be cut off in some views. Best to keep under ~80–100 chars for safety.	No separate subheadline field in feed; subheads are generally not displayed as a second line. Important info should be in the main title or first paragraph.
FactSet	No strict limit noted; FactSet displays full headlines, but overly long titles may appear clipped in the interface (user may need to hover or open to see full text). Recommended < ~75 chars for clarity.	No separate subheadline shown. FactSet’s newswire feed focuses on the headline and body text. Subheads from the original release are usually omitted or merged into the article text.
Factiva – Dow Jones Newswires	No strict limit; often shows full headline up to ~100 chars. But long headlines can span multiple lines or be truncated in some displays.	No subheadline support in newswire feed. Subhead information would only appear within the story text if at all.

Note: Character limits include spaces. Sources: Bloomberg’s one-line terminal limit; PR Newswire/Cision guidelines on headline length; Business Wire guidance on first-line visibility.

Best Practices for IR/PR Professionals

1. Keep Headlines Concise: Aim for ~65 characters or less for your main headline to avoid truncation

2. Don’t Rely on the Subhead: Use a subheadline for the benefit of readers on the wire’s website or for added SEO keywords, but don’t put any mission-critical info there from an IR perspective. Assume that Bloomberg and FactSet users will not see the subhead at all.

3. Front-Load Important Words: The company name and core message should go upfront so that even if an aggregator truncates the headline, the essential meaning remains.

4. Test How Your Release Appears: Review your release on major platforms. If you have access to a Bloomberg terminal or a FactSet workstation, check one of your recent releases: Is the headline intact or cut off? Is the subhead visible? This can inform your strategy.

5. Mind Formatting and Links: Stick to plain, simple formatting in the body to ensure it translates well. Numbered or bulleted lists might not retain their structure, so consider phrasing important points as short sentences or use dashes/semicolons that will survive as plain text.

Conclusion

By understanding these platform constraints, you can craft press releases that deliver your full message wherever they appear. In summary: keep the headline short with only the most essential information, and assume zero visibility for subheadlines. This way, you ensure that investors and journalists catch the key elements of your news while they scan aggregators like Bloomberg and FactSet.

MCI‘s Ongoing Investor Relations services can help you ensure that your company delivers news releases with maximum impact with their key messages intact.