A Dek is a Subhed in Journalism

A Dek is a Subhed in Journalism A Dek is a Subhed in Journalism A dek is a journalism term for the summary that appears below the headline of a story on a printed page, usually in a smaller font (but in a larger font than the main body of the article). Dek, like other slang terms editors and copy editors use when they are referring to stories they are working on, is a word you might hear spoken or written on a story during the editing process but is seldom seen in a printed sentence. In journalism jargon, the terms subhed or dek may be used interchangeably, but it is also referred to as a subhead, subheading, slug, subtitle or deck. Why 'Dek' Is Spelled Oddly Why the misspelling? The same reason the word lede, referring to an articles opening paragraph (or graf) is spelled wrong: Copy editors write such notations directly on printed proofs of newspaper pages, and by misspelling the terms, make it clear that it was an instruction or reference for the page layout editor or typesetter, not a missing word to be inserted into the copy itself.