COPYREADING and HEADLINE Writing

COPYREADING and HEADLINE
WRITING
Ma. Aiza O. Pentecostes

What is Copyreading?
 It is the art of arranging, correcting, and selecting the quality and type of
news
 It is also called copyediting.
MORE THAN JUST MARKS

AND WORDS
What is a Copy?
 A copy is a material sent to the typist to be typeset

 It may be a news story, a feature article, an editorial, or a literary piece,
etc.
What is a Copyreader?
 One who edits copies is called a copyreader or copyeditor

 The copyreader goes over the story and makes the necessary corrections
and revisions in the copy to improve it
What to copy read?
 Errors in fact
 Errors in Grammar
 Mechanics
 Errors in Structures
 Seditious/ Rebellious materials
 Opinionating/ Editorializing statements
 Libelous and derogatory statements
 Verbal deadwoods / Redundant words / Wasteful words
Verbal deadwoods / Redundant words
 1. The board is currently having a conference at the moment.

 2. The store opens its doors at 8 AM in the morning.
 3. Sen. Enrile wrote a biography of his life five years ago.
 4. The Malaylay Pottery Association holds an annual seminar in the Sitio of Malaylay.
 5. Tita Helen promised to give me a free gift when she comes home in the month of
December.
Wasteful Words
 1. She was absent yesterday for the reason that she suffered from influenza .
 2. A larger proportion of the students voted for him.
 3. The class is in the AVR at the present time.
 4. Many of the Filipinos who have not attended school are not aware of their rights.
 5. She came ahead of the scheduled time to make sure that everything was in order
before the session.
Responsibilities of a Copy Editor
 Edits errors on grammar (spelling, tenses, agreement, etc.)

 Edits errors of fact (accuracy check)
 Edits verbose copy
 Deletes opinion or slant and libelous statements
 Writes the headline
Copy Preparation Guidelines
 Type an end sign, “-30-” at the end of each story

 Always use a pencil to edit copy, never a pen
 Writers and editors use standard copyreading marks to make corrections
 Proofreaders and typesetters use standard proofreading symbols
Pointers in Copyediting
NUMBERS
The numbers 1 – 9 are written in words while the numbers 10 and above are
written in figures.
Example: nine students
13 children
EXCEPTIONS:
dates, address: always in figures.
proper nouns: may be written in figures/words
beginning of sentence: always in words
events: 1st – 9th is allowed
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
CAPITALIZATION
 Small letters are usually used for title or position.

Ex: Mrs. Cecilia Burayag, the Principal of BCIS, delivered the opening remarks.
 Capitalized titles: Governor Umali

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

Ex: singer Regine Velasquez
ABBREVIATIONS
 Spell out Dept., gov’t, and other abbreviations.
 The abbreviations Jr. and Sr. are allowed in names.
 Remember: Engr. Emmanuel Delgado; Engineer Delgado

12 Dimagiba St.; Dimagiba Street
ABBREVIATIONS
 A title or position of a person may be abbreviated if it appears before the

name but not if simply used in the sentence:
 Examples:
 Sen. Recto filed another taxation bill yesterday.
 The senator filed another taxation bill yesterday.
ACRONYMS
 Acronyms are usually written in capital letters.
Example: BCIS
 Check if the letters of the acronym are in the correct order.

PARAGRAPH
 The first sentence of a paragraph is indented.

 In news stories, the rule is one paragraph, one sentence only.
LEAD
 There should be no names of unknown persons in the lead.
 Check for buried leads.
 The standard lead answers the 5 Ws and 1 H.

GRAMMAR
 Check for errors in:

 Tenses of Verbs
 Subject-Verb Agreement
 Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement (agreement in gender and number) 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.
PUNCTUATION: 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.
PUNCTUATION: COMMA
Use commas:
 to separate the month and day from the year.
 to separate the street, barangay, town and province in an address
 to separate facts concerning victims and suspects.
Ex: Jolas Burayag, 17, of Barangay San Fernando Norte
Do not use commas:
 to separate the abbreviation Jr., Sr., or III from the name.
Ex: Emmanuel Delgado Jr.
PUNCTUATION: HYPHEN
Use hyphen:
 in most compound nouns
Ex: editor-in-chief, officer-in-charge
 in fractions
Ex: two-thirds, three-fourths
 in numerals
Ex: twenty-two, fifty-nine
PUNCTUATION: 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 titles of events, shows, movies, books, etc.
Ex. We watched “The Titanic.”
 Quotation marks are used to set off an alias or nickname.
Ex. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. Juan Chua a.k.a. “Boy Singkit”
PUNCTUATION: APOSTRPHES
 Apostrophes are used in the possessive form of the noun.

Ex. the teacher’s table the teachers’ meeting
 In contractions
Ex. I’m (I am) you’re (you are)
Other 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
redundant terms).
Ex. the concert the concert ended
 REMEMBER: After editing the news story, write 30 at the end of the article. If the
article is not yet finished, write more at the bottom of the page.
“YOU CANNOT
CORRECT UNLESS
YOU KNOW THAT
THERE IS
SOMETHING
WRONG.”
HEADLINE WRITING
THE HEADLINES
 Headlines are display windows of newspapers.
 A headline is the title of the a news story
 It summarizes the whole news story

FUNCTIONS OF HEADLINES
 To tell in capsule form what the story is all about
 To make the page look attractive

TIPS IN HEADLINE WRITING
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 if happen?
3. Use the shortest words possible.

Examples include:
cop – policeman
nab – arrest
mishap – accident
up – increase
down – decrease
thief - 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 guidelines

Correct: Central Bank revises money mart guidelines
5. Use the historical present tense if the verb is in the active voice.
Wrong: Delgado topped editorial tilt

Correct: 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 nabbed

Correct: Drug pushers nabbed
7. Use the infinitive for future events.
Wrong: City Hall will punish anti squatting drive

Correct: City Hall to punish anti squatting drive
8. Do not use a period at the end of the headline.
9. Omit articles (a, an, the).

Wrong: A fire hits Tondo slum area
Correct: Fire hits Tondo slum area
10. Use a comma instead of “and” in writing headlines.

Delays, confusion bug Asiad
Lacson, Trillanes no show at SONA
11. Use semicolon to separate sentences.

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
needed, a dash or a colon will serve the purpose.
Crackdown on errant bus firms – Enrile
Enrile: Crackdown on errant bus 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 widely known abbreviations.
Wrong: JEE to play Santa this Christmas
17. Don‟t use names unless the person is well known, use common
nouns instead.
Wrong: Santos electrocuted Correct: Carpenter electrocuted
18. Use specific terms instead of generalities
Example: Trader killed
Better: 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
headlines but also the stories.
TRY GIVING THIS A HEADLINE
Education Secretary Armin Luistro yesterday said his agency had not
abandoned its development of “God-loving learners” as he denied having
been pressured by any group into removing the phrase “God-loving” from
the DepEd’s vision statement.
Luistro: DepEd developing God-loving learners

DepEd hones God-loving learners, says Luistro
Luistro says, Deped is honing God-loving learners
TRY GIVING THIS A HEADLINE
 The Catholic Church has denied the sacrament of marriage to a Quezon

City councilor because of his stance advocating birth control.
Pro-birth control councilor denied of marriage rites

“ They say, “Don’t judge a
book by its cover”…. “I JUDGE
THE NEWS BY ITS HEADLINE.”
”
“
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING…

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COPYREADING and HEADLINE

Ma. Aiza O. Pentecostes

MORE THAN JUST MARKS

 A copy is a material sent to the typist to be typeset

 One who edits copies is called a copyreader or copyeditor

 1. The board is currently having a conference at the moment.

 Edits errors on grammar (spelling, tenses, agreement, etc.)

 Type an end sign, “-30-” at the end of each story

 Look for misspelled words.

 Small letters are usually used for title or position.

 Capitalized titles: Governor Umali

 The first letter of the sentence is always capitalized.

 Proper nouns are capitalized, common nouns are not.

 Spell out Dept., gov’t, and other abbreviations.

 The abbreviations Jr. and Sr. are allowed in names.

 Remember: Engr. Emmanuel Delgado; Engineer Delgado

 A title or position of a person may be abbreviated if it appears before the

 Acronyms are usually written in capital letters.

 Check if the letters of the acronym are in the correct order.

 The first sentence of a paragraph is indented.

 There should be no names of unknown persons in the lead.

 Check for buried leads.

 The standard lead answers the 5 Ws and 1 H.

 Check for errors in:

 It is used at the end of declarative and imperative sentences.

 Apostrophes are used in the possessive form of the noun.

 Watch out for jumbled letters, words and paragraphs.

 Headlines are display windows of newspapers.

 A headline is the title of the a news story

 It summarizes the whole news story

 To tell in capsule form what the story is all about

 To make the page look attractive

1. First, read the story for general meaning.

3. Use the shortest words possible.

Wrong: Revise money mart guidelines

Wrong: Delgado topped editorial tilt

Wrong: Drug pushers are nabbed

7. Use the infinitive for future events.

Wrong: City Hall will punish anti squatting drive

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

9. Omit articles (a, an, the).

10. Use a comma instead of “and” in writing headlines.

11. Use semicolon to separate sentences.

19. Just report the facts; do not editorialize.

Luistro: DepEd developing God-loving learners

 The Catholic Church has denied the sacrament of marriage to a Quezon

Pro-birth control councilor denied of marriage rites

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