COPYREADING AND HEADLINE WRITING

WHAT IS COPYREADING?Copyreading is the art of arranging, correcting, and selecting the quality and type of a

news. It is also called copyediting. One who edits copies is called copyreader or copyeditor. The copy is the material for a newspaper or magazine article. It is called as the text

written by an author.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF A COPYREADER/COPYEDITOR:1. Edits errors on grammar (spelling, tenses, agreement, etc.)2. Edits errors on fact (accuracy and check)3. Edits verbose copy 4. Deletes opinion/slant and libelous statements5. Makes sure articles follow the newspaper style6. Writes the headline

WHAT IS A STYLE?In journalism, style refers to the fact that every time a certain term appears in a

newspaper, they are spelled the same way. It covers the used of abbreviations, titles, punctuations, and how time is mentioned.

BASICS OF NEWSPAPER STYLE (POINTERS IN COPYEDITING)A. Numbers

The numbers 1 – 9 are written in words while the numbers 10 and above are written in figures.

Ex.: nine students13 children

Exceptions: dates, address: always in figures proper nouns may be written in figures or words beginning of sentence: always begin in words. events: 1st to 9th is allowed

B. Spelling Look for misspelled words. Here in the Philippines, American English is used, not British English.

Ex.: color, not colour If a word has more than one accepted spelling, the shortest one is preferred.

Ex.: judgment, instead of judgement

C. Capitalization The first letter of the sentence is always capitalized. Proper nouns are capitalized, common nouns are not.

Ex.: singerRegine Velasquez

Small letters are usually used for title or position.Ex.: Mrs. Cecilia Buragay, the principal of BCIS, delivered the opening

remarks. Capitalized titles: Governor Umali

D. Abbreviations Spell out Dept., gov’t, and other abbreviations The abbreviations Jr. and Sr. are allowed in names

Remember: Engr. Emmanuel DelgadoEngineer Delgado

Remember: 12 Dimagiba St.Dimagiba Street

A title or position of a person may be abbreviated if it appears before the name but not if simply used in the sentence.

Ex.: Sen. Recto filled another taxation bill yesterday.The senator filled another taxation bill yesterday.

E. Acronyms Acronyms are usually written in capital letters.

Ex.: BCIS Check if the letters of the acronym are in the correct order. When an acronym appears for the first time in a news story, it is written after its

meaning and it is enclosed in a parenthesis.Ex.: University of the Philippines (UP)

F. Paragraph The first sentence of a paragraph is indented. In news stories, the rule is one paragraph, one sentence only.

G. Lead There should be no names of unknown persons in the leads Check for buried leads The standard lead answers the 5Ws and 1H.

H. Grammar Check for errors in:

1. Tenses of Verbs2. Subject-Verb Agreement3. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement (agreement in gender and number)4. Articles (a, an, the)

Remember:he said and not said he;Aquino said and not said Aquino

Remember:three-day training and not three-days training;trained for three days and not trained for three-day

I. Punctuation1. Period

It is used at the end of declarative and imperative sentences It is used in abbreviations such as p.m., a.m., Jr., Sr., Pres., Sen., Rep., Gov., Gen.,

Capt., Dr., Fr., Atty., Corp., and Inc. Acronyms of schools, organizations, and offices do not need periods.

2. Comma It is used to separate the month and day from the year. It is used to separate the street, barangay, town and province in an address. It is used to separate facts concerning victims and suspects.

Ex.: Jolas Burayag, 17, of Barangay San Fernando Norte Do not use commas to separate abbreviation Jr., Sr., or III from the name.

Ex.: Emanuel Delgado Jr.

(Filipino) Gumamit ng kuwit sa paghihiwalay ng mga pananalitang pasalungat na pinangungunahan ng ngunit, datapwat, hindi, atbp.

Hal.: Mayaman sila, ngunit hindi sila maligaya.

3. Colon and Semicolon Use colons when presenting a series of information and use semicolons to separate

components of series.Ex.: Elected Officers of the Board of Elders: Dr. Arturo Guina, President; Atty.

Ferdinand Dumlao, Vice President; Dr. Narciso V. Matienzo, Secretary; and Dr. Poyen Pini, Treasurer.

4. Hyphen Use hyphen in most compound nouns

Ex.: editor-in-chief, officer-in-charge Use hyphen in fractions

Ex.: two-thirds, three fourths Use hyphen in English numerals

Ex.: twenty-two, fifty-nine

(Filipino) Gumamit ng gitling kapag ang isang tanging ngalan ay inuunlapian.Hal.: maka-Estrada, taga-Cabanatuan, pam-Bagong Taon

(Filipino) Gumamit ng gitling sa pagitan ng unlaping ika- at tambilang o oras.Hal.: ika-7 ng Agosto, ika-3:35 ng madaling araw

(Filipino) Sa salitang ang kayarian ay inuulitHal.: kabi-kabila

5. Dash Use dash between two figures to indicate inclusion of all intervening figures.

Avoid: from Aug. 15 to 30 Better: Aug. 15 – 30

6. Quotation Marks Quotation marks are used in direct quotations. Indirect quotations do not need

them.Ex.: “I forgot it,” he said.

He said he forgot it. Periods and commas are written first before closing quotation marks.

Ex.: “Let’s go to SM,” the boy said. Quotation marks are used to set off an alias or nickname.

Ex.: Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr.Juan Chua alias “Boy Singkit”

Do not used quotation marks to set off titles of events, shows, movies, books, etc.Ex.: We watched The Titanic.But: We watched “Walang Hanggan”

7. Apostrophe (English) Apostrophes are used in the possessive form of the noun.

Ex.: The teacher’s tableThe teacher’s meeting

Apostrophes are used in contractionsEx.: I’m (I am)

You’re (you are)

J. SOME REMINDERS Watch out for jumbled letters, words and paragraphs.

Check for joined/disjoined words.Ex.: class room, newteacher

Delete editorializing words/phrases.Ex.: The very beautiful and intelligent principal…

The cops were right in arresting…

Check for redundancies (recurring words/ phrases/ paragraphs, synonymous or reduntant terms) Ex.: the concert the concert ended

at the back of the rearadvance planningasked a questionrepeat again

REMEMBER: After editing the news write 30 at the end of the article.

REMEMBER: if the article is not yet finished, write more at the bottom of the page.

MGA PAALALA (FILIPINO)1. Wastong paglalapi ng pandiwa

Hal.: Nagdala ang mga bangkay ng mga biktima sa Gospel Memorial Homes.2. Wastong gamit ng dito at rito, din at rin, atbp.3. Wastong gamit ng sa at kay4. Wastong gamit ng ang, si, at ni5. Wastong gamit ng nang at ng

WHAT IS HEADLINE WRITING?Headline writing is an assemblage of words written in bigger, bolder letters than the usual

page text at the beginning of the news. It is not a title.

FUNCTIONS OF HEADLINE1. To attract readers2. To tell a story (in summary)3. To add variety of type (to break monotony in a sea of type)4. To identify personality of newspaper (use of font/style of letters)5. To index/grade the news (big type for important news; small type for less important)

POINTERS IN HEADLINE WRITING (TIPS IN WRITING HEADLINE)1. First, read the story for general meaning

2. Clues to the headline are usually in the lead What happened? Who did what? How did it happen?

3. Use the shortest words possible.Examples include:

cop – policemannab – arrestmishap – accidentup – increasedown – decreasethief – robber

4. Have a subject and a verb. Avoid starting with a verb; the headline might sound as if it were giving orders.Wrong: Revise money mart guidelinesCorrect: Central Bank revises money mart guidelines

5. Use the historical present tense if the verb is in the active voice.Wrong: Delgado topped editorial tiltCorrect: Delgado tops editorial tilt

6. Omit the helping verb if the verb is in the passive voice. Only the past participle is retained.Wrong: Drug pushers are nabbedCorrect: Drug pushers nabbed

7. Use the infinitive for future events.Wrong: City Hall will punish anti-squatting driveCorrect: City Hall to punish anti-squatting drive

8. Do not use a period at the end of a headline.

9. Omit articles (a, an, the).Wrong: A fire hits Tondo slum areaCorrect: Fire hits Tondo slum area

10.Use comma instead of writing “and” in headlines.Ex.: Delays, confusion bug Asiad

Lacson, Trillanes no show at SONA

11.Use semicolon to separate sentences.Ex.: Gina Lopez heads Pasig body;

Noy swears in 35 other execs

12.Use the punctuation marks (especially the exclamation point) sparingly.

13.Use single quotes (‘) in headlines instead of double quotes (“).

14.Always give the source of a quote. Quotation marks are not necessary, a dash or colon will serve the purpose.Ex.: Crackdown on errant bust firms – Enrile

Enrile: Crackdown on errant bust firms

15.Use the down-style – only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized, unless otherwise indicated. This is more readable because people are used to reading sentences this way. Ex.: Faculty honors Nuñez

16.Use only known abbreviationsWrong: JEE to play Santa this Christmas

17.Don’t use names unless the person is well-known, use common nouns instead.Wrong: Santos electrocutedCorrect: Carpenter electrocuted

18.Use specific names instead of generalitiesExample: Trader killedBetter: Trader stabbed to death

19.Just report the facts, do not editorialize.Wrong: Noy gives inspiring talks (The word “inspiring” is just your opinion.)

20.Be positive. Don’t use negatives in headlines. They weaken not only the headline but also the stories.

HEADLINE PATTERNS1. Crossline (one line) and two-part crossline (two lines)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

2. Dropline (or Stepline)

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XXXXXXXXXX

3. Flush left

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4. Flush right

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5. Hanging Indention

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6. Inverted Pyramid

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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7. Block (flush left and right from margin to margin)XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

DIRECTIONS TO THE PRINTER

1 – number of columns FL – headline pattern18 – font size or points DS – downstyleTNR – font or type (20 units) – unit countsB – font style1 – number of lines

1 – line spacing11 – font size or pointsTNR – font or typeN – font style

– text to which the direction will apply

DECKDeck is the number of lines your headline will have.Example:

BCIS bags medals in NEPEESA quiz bee(1 deck)

10 more cops wantedfor Maguindanao massacre

(2 decks)

UNIT COUNTS

A count system considers differences in the widths of letters.

Capital Letters:M, W – 2 unitsJLIFT – 1 unitOthers – 1 ½ units

Small Letters:m, w – 1 ½ unitsjlift – ½ unitothers – 1 unit

Punctuation Marksdash (–) – 1 ½ unitsquestion mark (?) – 1 unitothers – ½ unit

Number digits0 to 9 – 1 unit

Space – 1 unit