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COPYREADING/HEADLINE WRITING
COPYREADING – is the art of arranging, correcting, and selecting the quality and type of news that are within
the acceptable journalistic standards in terms of style and editorial policy.

COPYREADER/COPYEDITOR – specialist in this field

Responsibilities of a Copyreader

1. edits errors on grammar (spelling, tenses, agreement, etc.)

2. edits errors of fact (accuracy check)
3. judges news value (grading of news)
4. edits verbose copy (keeps the copy tight and not wordy)
5. deletes opinion or slant
6. makes sure that news is free from libelous statements
7. writes the headline

Pointers in Copyreading

1. Numbers
 The numbers 1 – 9 are written in words while the numbers 10 and above are written in
figures.
EXCEPTIONS: dates, age, address: always in figures.
proper nouns: may be written in figures/words
beginning of sentence: always in words
events: 1st – 9th is allowed
2. 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
3. Capitalization
 The first letter of the sentence is always capitalized.
 Proper nouns are capitalized, common nouns are not.
 Lower case is usually used for title or position.
Ex: Mrs. Cecilia Burayag, the principal of BCIS, delivered the opening remarks.
Capitalized titles: Sen. Enrile, Gov. Umali, Chief Supt. Abueg, Maj. Gen. Reyes
4. Abbreviations
 Spell out Dept., gov’t, and other abbreviations.
 The abbreviations Jr. and Sr. are allowed in names.
 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 filed another taxation bill yesterday.
The senator filed another taxation bill yesterday.
5. Acronyms
 Acronyms are usually written in capital letters.
 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 parentheses.
Ex: University of the Philippines (UP)
6. Paragraph
 The first sentence of a paragraph is indented.
 In news stories, the rule is one paragraph, one sentence only.
7. Lead
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 There should be no names of unknown persons in the lead.

 The standard lead answers the 5 Ws and 1 H.
 The lead is composed of only one sentence.
 Check for buried leads.
8. Grammar
Check for errors in:
a. Tenses of Verbs
b. Subject-Verb Agreement
c. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement (agreement in gender and number)
d. Articles (a, an, the)
e. Remember: he said and not said he; Aquino said and not said Aquino.
f. Remember: elected president and not elected as president.
g. Remember: three-day training and not three-days training. (used as adjective)
Trained for three days and not trained for three-day. (day is used separately as noun)
9. Punctuation Marks
a. Period
1. It is used at the end of declarative and imperative sentences.
2. 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.
3. Acronyms of schools, organizations and offices do not need periods.
4. Remove period if the amount is less than one peso (except in tabulations).
Ex. P1.50 (not one peso and fifty centavos)
99 centavos (not P0.99)
5. Use periods, not parentheses, after numbers when enumerating.
b. Comma
Use commas:
1. to separate the month and day from the year.
2. to separate the street, barangay, town and province from each other in an address.
3. to separate facts concerning victims and suspects.
Ex: Jolas Burayag, 16, of Barangay San Fernando Norte
4. before and after the appositive to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
Do not use commas:
1. to separate the abbreviation Jr., Sr., or III from the name.
Ex: Emmanuel Delgado Jr.
2. in measurements of time, distance, size, etc.
Ex: 66 years 5 months 18 days
99 km 503 m
3. between two nouns if the first noun introduces the next.]
Ex: The famed novelist Nick Joaquin won this year’s Palanca Award.
c. Colon and Semicolon
Use colons when presenting a series of information and use semicolons to separate
components of the series, when the components are lengthy or already contain commas.
Ex. Elected officers of the Board of Elders are: Dr. Arturo Guina, President; Atty.
Ferdinand Dumlao, Vice President; Dr. Narciso V. Matienzo, Secretary; and Dr.
Poyen Pini, Treasurer.
d. Hyphen
Use hyphens:
1. in most compound nouns. (Ex: editor-in-chief, officer-in-charge)
2. in fractions. (Ex: two-thirds, three-fourths)
3. in numerals (Ex: twenty-two, fifty-nine)
4. in using prefixes before proper nouns. (Ex: pro-Estrada, anti-Gloria)
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e. Dash
1. Use dashes in sentences with commas to separate parenthetical expressions.
Ex: We attended the hearing, but Mr. Dumlao – the man who could verify what really
happened – was not present.
2. Use a dash to indicate extent or coverage.
Ex: March 2 – 15
f. Parenthesis
Use parentheses
1. to insert words in titles and proper nouns.
Ex: Santa Cruz (Laguna) Chamber of Commerce
2. to indicate the political party and province of a government official.
Ex: Rep. Rodolfo Antonino (Lakas-Kampi, Nueva Ecija)
3. when inserting words not spoken by the source in direct quotations.
Ex. “(It’s) very clear (that Malacañang had a hand in this),” Camarines Sur Rep. Luis
Villafuerte told reporters.
4. to specify the antecedent of a pronoun.
Ex: He (Pres. Benigno Aquino III) ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to
continue the military operations against the terrorist group.
5. to clarify unfamiliar terms.
Ex: The DOH warned the public against buying puffer fish (butete).
g. Quotation marks
1. Quotation marks are used in direct quotations. Indirect quotations do not need them.
2. Note: In news stories, the use of direct and indirect quotations are alternated.
3. Periods and commas are written first before closing quotation marks.
4. Quotation marks are used to set off titles of events, shows, movies, books, etc.
5. Quotation marks are used to set off an alias or nickname.
h. Apostrophe
Apostrophes are used in the possessive form of the noun.
i. Ellipsis
Ellipsis is used when omitting words in direct quotations.
Ex. “Seven councilors… voted against the resolution,” Mayor Congco said.
10. Other reminders:
a. Use the copyreading mark stet to restore text.
b. Watch out for jumbled letters, words and paragraphs.
c. Check for joined/disjoined words.
d. Delete editorializing words/phrases.
e. Check for redundancies (recurring words/phrases/paragraphs, synonymous or redundant
terms).
f. REMEMBER: After copyreading the news story, write 30 , #, or XXX at the end of the article. If
the article is not yet finished, write more or at the bottom of the page.

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 also known as head, but it is not a title.

Functions of Headline

1. to attract readers (advertisement)

2. to tell the story (in a gist or 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)
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Tips in Headline Writing

1. First, read the story for general meaning.

2. Search for the key words on which to base your headline.
The Philippines proposed yesterday immediate adoption of an emergency program that will
have an effective impact on the ruinously low world market price of sugar.
3. Clues to the headline are usually in the lead.
What happened?
Who did what?
How did if happen?
4. Use the shortest words possible (use “headlinese” )
5. Use colorful nouns; vigorous, active verbs.
Curbs on borrowing urged
Revenue bureau to purge misfits
Cebu grape industry perks up
6. Have a subject (active voice) or direct object (passive voice) and a verb. Avoid starting with a verb;
the headline might sound as if it were giving orders.
Wrong: Revise money mart guidelines
Correct: CB revises money mart guidelines
7. Do not use a period at the end of the headline.
8. Omit articles (a, an, the).
Wrong: A fire hits Tondo slum area
Correct: Fire hits Tondo slum area
9. Use a comma instead of “and” in writing headlines.
Delays, confusion bug Asiad
Lacson, Trillanes no show at SONA
10. Use semicolon to separate sentences.
Gina Lopez heads Pasig body;
Noy swears in 35 other execs
11. Use the punctuation marks (especially the exclamation point) sparingly. Use single quotes (‘) in
headlines instead of double quotes (“).
12. 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
13. Use the historical present tense if the verb is in the active voice.
Wrong: Reyes topped editorial tilt
Correct: Reyes tops editorial tilt
14. 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
15. Use the infinitive for future events.
Wrong: City Hall will punish anti-squatting drive
Correct: City Hall to punish anti-squatting drive
16. In multi-decked headlines, never split words that naturally go together.
Wrong: VHS observes Linggo
ng Wika with tilts
Correct: VHS holds Linggo ng Wika with tilts
17. Don't leave a preposition at the end of the line.
Mentors call
for reform
of schools
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18. 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.
Faculty honors Nunez
19. Use only widely known abbreviations.
Wrong: SCA to play Santa this Christmas
Wrong: Hagan named superintendent of DCS for Boys, Girls Week
20. Don’t use names unless the person is well known.
Wrong: Santos electrocuted
Correct: Carpenter electrocuted
21. Avoid labels or titles.
Example: Crackdown on errant bus firms – Sen. Enrile
Better: Crackdown on errant bus firms – Enrile
22. Use specific terms instead of generalities
Example: Trader killed
Better: Trader stabbed to death
23. Avoid gaps in multi-decked headlines but don’t fill them with unnecessary words.
Example: Concepcion Better: Concepcion
hits RP assails RP
tariff laws tariff laws
24. Just report the facts; do not editorialize.
Wrong: Noy gives inspiring talks
(The word “inspiring” is just your opinion.)
25. Never use the word “may” because it highlights the uncertain element of the story.
26. Do not use the same word twice in the headline or kicker.
27. Be positive. Don't use negatives in headlines. They weaken not only the headlines but also the
stories.

HEADLINE PATTERNS

Among the more accepted headline patterns are as follows:

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

XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
2. Dropline (or Stepline)
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
3. Flush left
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
4. Flush right
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
5. Hanging indention
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
6. Inverted Pyramid
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
7. Block (flush left and right, from margin to margin)
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HEADLINE SCHEDULE

After developing an idea for the head, the next job is how to make it fit into the space on a page. To be
able to do this, the copyreader gives the necessary headline schedule or technical instruction which include the
following:
1. Number of Columns
It tells the number of columns that the headline will run across the page.
2. Number of Decks
This refers to the number of lines your headline will have.
3. Font, Font Style and Font Size
These refer to the type to be used, and its corresponding weight (how thick and black the letters
will appear on the page) and size.
4. Unit Counts
A count system that automatically considers differences in the widths of letters goes like this:
Uppercase letters Numbers
M, W 2 units 1 0.5 unit
I 0.5 unit other numbers 1 unit
OTHER LETTERS 1.5 units
Other marks
Lowercase letters space 1 (in other books, 0.5) unit
m, w 1.5 units .,::‘-!/ 0.5 unit
l, I, f, t, j 0.5 unit –?$% 1 unit
other letters 1 unit

Maximum unit count of characters to guide the copyreader in headline writing

Maximum unit count/column*
Font Size 1 column 2 columns 3 columns 4 columns
18 18 -- -- --
24 12 24 31.5 43
30 10.5 19 28.5 35
36 9.5 16 24 30
42 -- 14 21 28
48 -- -- 15 20
60 -- -- 12 16
72 -- -- 9 12
*For a headline with kicker, deduct two points from the maximum unit count per deck

PRINTER’S MARKS

Example: Cap-lower case headline, flush left – 3/30/1 Times New Roman (24.5 unit counts)

3/30/TNR-B/1
(24 units)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
FL/CLC
___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________.

___________________________________________________________________________
1/12/TNR-N/1 _________________________________________________________.

___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________.

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‘HEADLINESE’

In writing headlines, shorter words are used whenever possible. Some of the shorter word substitutes
are as follows:
accord – agreement
allay – to calm
assail – to attack with arguments
balk – impede, thwart
bare – expose, reveal