Copy Reading and Headline Writing

Copy Reading and
Headline Writing
The Copy
Material for a newspaper or magazine article
The text as written by the author
Copyreading
It is the art of arranging, correcting, and selecting the quality and
type of news
It is also called copy editing
One who edits copies is called a copyreader or copyeditor
Responsibilities of a Copyeditor
1. Edits errors on grammar (spelling, tenses, agreement, etc)
2. Edits errors of fact (accuracy check)
3. Deletes opinion or slant and libelous statements
4. Writes the headline
The Edited Copy
Copyediting Symbols
Copyediting Symbols
Copyediting Symbols
Copyediting Symbols
Copyediting Symbols
Pointers in Copyediting
Numbers
The number 1-9 are written in words while the numbers 10 and above are
written in figures.
Examples:
nine students
13 children
Numbers
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.
Example: color not colour
If a word has more than one accepted spelling, the shortest one is preffered
Example: judgment, instead of judgement
Capitalization
The first letter of the sentence is always capitalized.
Proper nouns are capitalized, common nouns are not.
Example: singer, Regine Velasquez
Capitalization
Small letters are usually used for title or position.
Example: Mrs. Cecilia Burayag, the principal of BCIS, delivered the
opening remarks.
Capitalized titles: Goverbor Umali

Abbreviations
Spell out Dept., gov’t, and other abbreviations.
The abbreviations Jt. And Sr. are allowed in names.
Remember
Engr. Emmanuel Delgado;
Engineer Delgado
12 Dimagiba St., Dimagiba Street
Abbreviations
A little 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 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.
Acronyms
When an acronym appears for the first time in a news story, it is
written after its meaning and it is enclosed in parentheses
Ex: University of the Philippines (UP)
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
The standard lead answers the 5 W’s and 1 H
Grammar
Check for errors in:
Tenses of Verbs
Subject-Verb Agreement
Articles (a, an, the)
Grammar
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., Atty.,
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
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
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…
Reminders
Check for redundancies (recurring words/phrases/paragraphs, synonymous or
redundant terms)
Ex: the concert the concert ended
After editing the news story, write at the end of the article. If
the article is not yer finished, write at the
bottom of the page 30
more
Headline Writing
Headline
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 Headline
1. To attract readers
2. To tell the story (in summary)
3. To add variety of type (to break monotony in a sea of type)
4. To index/grade the news (big type for important news; small type
for less important)
Tips for Headline Writing
First, read the story for general meaning
Clues to the headline are usually in the lead.
What happened?
Who did what?
How did it happen
Use the shortest word possible.
Examples include:
◦ cop – policeman
◦ Nab – arrest
◦ Mishap – accident
◦ Up – increase
◦ Down – decrease
◦ Thief - robber
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
Use historical present tense if the verb is in active voice
Wrong: Delgado topped editorial tilt

Correct: Delgado tops editorial tilt
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
Use the infinitive for future events.
Wrong: City Hall will punish anti-squatting drive
Correct: City Hall to punish anti-squatting drive
Do not use a period at the end of the headline
Omit articles (a, an, the).
Wrong: A fire hits Tondo slum area
Correct: Fire hits Tondo slum area
Use a comma, instead of “and” in writing headlines.
Delays, confucion bug Asiad

Lacson, Trillanes no show at SONA
Use semicolon to separate sentences.
Gina Lopez heads Pasig body; Noy swears in 35 other
execs
Use the punctuation marks (especially the exclamation
point) sparingly.
Use specific terms instead of generalities
Ex: Trade killed

Better: trade stabbed to death
Justr report the facts; do not editorialize.
Wrong: Noy gives inspiring talks
(The word “inspiring” is just your opinion.)
Be positive. Don’t use negatives in headline.
Unit Counts
A count system considers differences in the widths of letters.
Capital letters: Small Letter:

M, W – 2 units m, w – 1 ½ units
JLIFT – 1 unit jlift – ½ unit
OTHERS – 1 ½ units others – 1 unit
Unit Counts
Punctuation marks
Dash (-) – 1 ½ units
Question Mark (?) – 1 unit
Others – ½ unit
Number digits
0-9 – 1 unit
Space – 1 unit
Sample
Thank
you!

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Copy Reading and

Capitalized titles: Goverbor Umali

Ex: Sen. Recto filed another taxation bill yesterday.

Wrong: Delgado topped editorial tilt

Wrong: Drug pushers are nabbed

Delays, confucion bug Asiad

Ex: Trade killed

Capital letters: Small Letter:

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