COPYREADIN

GAND

HEADLINE

WRIT

ING

COPYREADINGIt means editing written copy

for publication

It requires serious and comprehensive revision of an article using Copyreading marks based on the standards of publication.

WHAT DOES A COPYREADER DO?

He takes the story as it comes from the reporter and puts it through a refining process.

He uses a heavy black or blue pencil for corrections.

He does not erase the original writing when he edits

WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF A COPYREADER?

He has good command of a language and comprehensive knowledge of rules of grammar.He must be wide reader and always updated on current information.As watchman of newspaper he must know well the policies of newspaper.

WHAT ARE THE DUTIES OF A COPYREADER?

A. Errors in form

To correct errors in grammarTo correct errors in spellingTo correct errors in punctuationTo correct errors in usage

WHAT ARE THE DUTIES OF A COPYREADER?

B. Errors in content

To correct errors in fact

To improve news value

To guard against criticism

To expand copy

To reduce copy

To write headlines of news and check heads or titles of editorials, features and literary articles

WHAT ARE THE DUTIES OF A COPYREADER?

To delete unnecessary adjectives and opinion in news

To delete libelous, seditious, and rebellious matter and all those contrary to laws, and good taste

To correct redundancy and rewrite sentences with verbal deadwood.

To rewrite sentences or paragraphs that violate the principles of unity, coherence, and emphasis

To correct errors in style and structure

EXERCISES:

A. Identify the error, then tell whether it is in form or in content. Explain your answer.

1. The guard did not saw all the students coming in.2. The agenda for the meeting is quite long.3. The Core luckily tops prestigious press tilts4. Floods destroy field house- clean- up to take

three weeks.5. In a news story-The most efficient and

knowledgeable principal represented the school in the well known national schools press conference.

EXERCISES:

6. The final conclusion revealed that the dead corpse was a victim of fatal murder.

7. You’re the one whose going to be promoted.

8. President Aquino has been encountering rough sailing with the philippine media.

9. The old man was brought to the hospital.

10. Grenade blast killed 2 kids

EXERCISES:

B. Copyread the following leads.

1. President Aquino yesterday said graduates off the philippine military academy (PMA) this year were embarking on a military Carreer not to enrich themselves but to serve the nation.

EXERCISES:

2. The nexxt administration will have no one to blaming but itself should the countrys economic growth sputter after growing 7.3 percentage during the first quarter of the year, Malacanang yesterday Said.

EXERCISES:

3. philippine- Chartered ship has making a second rescue mission in LIBYA, evacuating more than 1,000 Filipinos including dependents of Filipino diplomats, from the besieged capital of tripoli, officials said Yesterday,

HEADLINE WRITING

HEADLINE is the title of a newspaper story. It serves as a quick source of information. It is written to tell the story what is it all about, to attract readers, and to grade the news on its importance. It is always short and simple.

Headline writing requires skill and concentration .It must give the essence of the story. While explaining the story accurately, your headline also must fit into a limited space.

STEPS IN WRITING HEADLINE

Step 1- Read the article, especially the lead (first) paragraph. The headline must convey a brief synopsis of the article and must be accurate, so knowledge of the information in the article is imperative.

STEPS IN WRITING HEADLINE

Step 2-Decide on the most important information to be conveyed in the headline: what will grab the attention of the most readers? In news articles, the most significant information should be in the very first couple of sentences. The headline has to fit within the space available for it. If the amount of space available is unknown, be prepared to edit down the headline as needed in order to fit.

STEPS IN WRITING HEADLINE

Step 3-Check guidelines: each publication has different guidelines regarding what to include in the headline. Some allow certain forms of punctuation, such as a colon, while others do not. Verify with the publication what their guidelines require.

STEPS IN WRITING HEADLINE

Step 4-Consider the appearance of the headline. The font size of the letters used often convey to the reader the article's importance. Major world events are typically one or two words in very large font size across the entire top of the newspaper, while smaller local stories or news that isn't that unusual are printed in a smaller font size that only takes up a column or two in the paper.

STEPS IN WRITING HEADLINE

Step 5- Write the headline. There are several things to consider while writing the headline

Step 6-Confirm that there are no more errors in form and in content.

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

1. Use specific words. Make the information as exact as you can in the limited space of the headline

Wrong: Politician wins election.

Correct: Noynoy wins presidential post.

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

2. State facts, avoid opinion Ex. Fact: The Core first in press tilts

With opinion: The Core luckily tops prestigious press tilts

3. Use Active voice. The doer of the action must be in the subject position. However, use the passive voice when the action is more significant than the doer. Example: SC postpones general meeting

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

4. Use the historical present (the present form of the verb for the past events, and the infinitive form for the future events.

Wrong: The Core copped 5 trophies at NSSPC

Correct: The Core cops 5 trophies at NSSPC

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

5. Omit all articles a, an, the and other unnecessary words.Wrong: The 7 cops hurt in ambush Correct: 7 cops hurt in ambush

6. Avoid label headWrong: Auctioned Correct: Imelda jewelry auctioned

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

7. Do not editorialize your headline.

Wrong: Ang Alab shows great performance in DSSPC.

Correct: Ang Alab wins 6 out of 7 in DSSPC writing contests

8. Do not use the same word twice in the headline or kicker

Gun haul

Manila cops seize 25 guns

from suspected bandits

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

9. Never use the word “may”. It denotes the uncertain element of the story.

Wrong: Sayyaf may demand P1M for release of 3 captives

Correct: Sayyaf demands P1M for release of 3 captives.

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

10. To use direct quotation as head, use any of the following forms instead of the traditional quotation marks:

A. Using the dash instead of the quotation mark.Example: Truth commission repugnant – Miriam

B. Using the colonExample: Joker: Cut debates, fast-track canvass

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

C. Using narrative form

Example: No poverty reduction, says Briones

11. Do not be in the negative.

Poor: Summer Training in Journalism won’t be held

Better: Summer Training in Journalism cancelled

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

12. The first letter of the word and proper nouns are generally capitalized.Example: Bell saves Tigers from Coffee Makers13. Avoid awkward verbal breaksWrong: Noynoy dreads ‘isolated’ life in

MalacanangRight: Noynoy dreads ‘isolated’ life

in Malacanang

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

14. Mention only the name of person, who is prominent

Wrong: Jacoba wins Microsoft global award

Right: Filipino wins Microsoft Global award

15. Use M for million and B for billion

Example: West Visayas gets P 600 M for typhoon victims

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

16. Use comma instead of and.Example: No goodbyes for Jamby, Nene, Mar, Noy at Senate

17. Separate double headline by a semicolon.Example: Bomb explodes at Koronadal market; 13 killed, 53 hurt

18. Do not end the headline with a period.

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

19. Use infinitive for future events.Example: Aquino to visit Saudi on way to NY

20. Avoid splitting compound wordWrong: Aquino to award taxi

driver for honestyRight: Aquino to award taxi driver for honesty

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

21. Avoid wooden heads or headlines without a verb.Wrong: Ten student delegates at UNCorrect: Ten student delegates visit UN22. Avoid splitting words that naturally go togetherWrong: Garcians celebrate Buwan

ng Wika with beauty tiltRight: Garcians hold Buwan ng Wika with beauty contest

GUIDELINES IN WRITING HEADLINE

23. Do not start the headline with a verb.

Wrong: Destroy crops worth P 50 MCorrect: P 50M worth crops destroyed

TYPES OF HEADLINE

A. According to Purpose

1. Informative or conventional headlines. They are designed to inform. These are the ones the public usually reads in broadsheet and tabloids

a. Palace dares Aquino to sustain economic growth

b. Manual audit shows ‘no vote tampering’

TYPES OF HEADLINE

2. Intriguing or feature headlines. Their main purpose is to intrigue readers and elicit responses. They often do not give the summary of the story. Feature heads are made more arresting by using different style of writing and attractive font types.

a. What Happened to Tax Evaders?b. Is there a need for Sex

Education?

TYPES OF HEADLINE

B. According to Style

1. All Caps LettersMacau Approves New Labor Law

2. Combination of Cap and lower cases (CLC)US scribes honor Pacquiao as year’s best

3. Sentence Case or Down Style (Only the first letter of the first word is capitalized)

Macau approves new labor law

TYPES OF HEADLINE

C. According to Structure

1. Flush left – two or more lines of headline are aligned at the left edge the column

Example:

Lions, Archers

reach quarters

2. Flush right – two or more lines of headline are aligned at the right edge of the column

Example:

US urges free access

to South China Sea

TYPES OF HEADLINE

3. Dropline – two or three lines of headline, usually of the same length and arranged diagonally

Example:

Female cop cited

For poll heroism

TYPES OF HEADLINE

4. Hanging indention – usually three or more lines of headline, the first line set flush to both margins and the succeeding lines are indented or beginning several spaces in from the left margin, thus hanging as if from the first

Example:

Military ready to step in

if anti-gov’t protests

turn violent

TYPES OF HEADLINE

5. Crossline or barline – a single line of headline running over two or more columns

Example:Grenade blast kills 2 kids

6. Inverted pyramid – two or more lines of headline with the first line flushed to both margin and the succeeding lines getting shorter and centered

Example:DepEd sets new guidelines For teacher-applicants

TYPES OF HEADLINE

7. Flushline of full line- consists of two or more lines of the same length

Example:2 low -pressureareas spotted

8. Streamer – striking boldface head extending across the top of the page9. Umbrella – a streamer that is placed at the very top of the page above the nameplate of the newspaper

TYPES OF HEADLINE

10. Binder – a streamer at the top of an inside page

11. Boxed head – the headline is boxed either for prominence or to avoid tombstoning12. Jump head (run-over head) – headline of a news story, which is cut and continued on the inside page; it is followed by the words from page __ or the like13. Tagline, kicker or teaser – a short single line placed above the main head, may be of smaller type, underlined and set flush left or centered.

accord – agreement

allay – calm

allot – apportion, set a side

anew – again

assail – attack

ax – dismiss

bare – reveal, expose

bat – defend

bid – request

blast – criticize

cite – enumerate, mention

confab – conference

cop – police

cow- frighten

crown – win

curb – control, stop

cut – decrease

dip – decrease, decline

draw fire – to be criticized

dry run – rehearsal

HEADLINE VOCABULARY

due – deadline, scheduled

ex – formerto eye – considerfeud – quarrel, disputefoil – thwart, rejectgab – conferencegird – brace, preparego – trygrill – question,

interrogatehail – welcome

hike – increasehit – attackinquiry – investigationink – to sign a contractjunk – to throw way,

declinekin – familykit – packageletup – temporary easing

uplink – connectlull – calm

HEADLINE VOCABULARY

meet – conference, to convene

memo – memorandummull – plan, to think ofmum – silentnab – arrestnix – rejectokay – approve, acceptpeg – to fix at a certain

amount or levelpit – opposepost – position, to assign

power – electricityprobe – to investigateprod – prickquit – resignquiz – questionratify – approveraze – destroyrevamp – to change,

reshufflerift – disagreementrow – dispute,

disagreement

HEADLINE VOCABULARY

HEADLINE VOCABULARY

rule – decide, decisionsans – withoutscan – examinescribe – newspapermanshakeup – reshuffleskip – avoidslay – kill, assassinatesolon – lawmakertry – attempt

MECHANICS OF HEADLINE WRITING

The next job of the copy editor after developing the headline is to see to it that it fits on the allotted space on the page. He now gives the necessary technical instruction to the layout man on what font type and size to be used and how it should be presented on the page.

Example:2-20TNRB W/ KICKER

MECHANICS OF HEADLINE WRITING

Number 2 means that head will run across two columns of the page. Number 20 stands for the font size to be used. TNRB refers to the font type Times New Roman Bold and KICKER means a preliminary head. The line below refers to the number of line or deck the headline will have.

The final headline will look like this:National Press Conference

NCR braces for top slot

All small letters (except j, l, i, f, t, m and w)Small letters j, l, i, f, tSmall letters m and wAll capital letter (except I, M and W)Capital letters J I L T F Capital letters M and W

= 1 unit= ½ unit= 1 ½ unit

= 1 ½ unit= 1 unit = 2 unit

UNIT COUNT IN HEADLINE

All punctuation marks (except the dash, question mark, dollar, peso and percent sign)

Dash, question mark, dollar, peso and percent sign

All number figures from 0 to 9 (except 1)

Number 1

All spaces

= 1 unit

= 1 unit

= 1 unit

= ½ unit

= 1 unit

UNIT COUNT IN HEADLINE

EXERCISES

Write headline from the following leads:

1. Investigators have found two apparent murder victims at properties owned by a Muslim clan accused of the Philippine’s worst political massacre, the country’s justice secretary said.Forensic experts found the skeketons in shallow graves at a grassy field and a corn plantation owned by the Ampatuan family in Southern Maguindanao province, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.

EXERCISES

2. Starting April, the Quezon City government will not allow construction of new buildings in the city without complying with “green building standards.”

EXERCISES

3. A United Nations independent expert has urged the Philippines to adopt the necessary measures to guarantee the protection and safety of journalists.