COPYREADING

AND HEADLINE
WRITING
 COPYREADING
 Ismuch like the work of a
language teacher correcting
composition.
 A copyreader uses
appropriate copyreading
symbols universally known by
printers.
 Copy editor
 Is the man who “cleans” a reporter’s
story which is also called copy.
 He has different titles and designations
depending on the newspaper
organization that he works for; chief,
copyreader, slotman, senior deskman, or
editor.
 Sometimes he is just the anonymous
figure in what is simply called “the desk”.
 Whatever his title or designation may be,
his dual functions are to check errors of
facts and grammar and to evaluate the
story.
 Duties of a copyreader
1. Straighten out grammatical
construction.
2. Shorten sentences and tighten
paragraphs.
3. See that the paper’s style
requirements are strictly followed.
4. Rewrite the story completely if it is
poorly written.
5. Rewrite lead on the first few
paragraphs whenever necessary, but
must never tamper with the facts
unless he is sure of his corrections.
6. Delete all opinion, speculations and
statements on news which are without
attributions or sources.
7. Watch for slanting or any attempt to
present the story in a subtly biased way.
8. Watch out for libelous statements.
9. Recheck figures and totals.
10. Cross out adjectives in news which tend
to make a story sound over-written.
11. Cut a story to size or to the required
length if necessary.
12. Check attributions and see to it that
they are properly identified.
13. Challenge facts, claims, or reports
when they sound anomalous,
illogical and incredible.
14. Check sluglines and paging
sequences.
15. Write headlines.
Characteristics of a Good
Copyreader
He must good in English
Have a mastery of
copyreading symbols
Know the paper’s policy
Tools a copyreader should have:
 A dictionary to be used to check the
spelling and meaning of words
 Newspaper’s stylebook
 A file of all newspapers
 An atlas for checking geographical
names locations
 Telephone directory
 A listing of news personalities
 Copy reading symbols

 SYMBOL MEANING
-Professor Juan Masipag Abbreviate
-Prof. Masipag Spell out word
- Bought ten cans Set in numerals

- 8 participants Spell out

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  SYMBOL  MEANING
- Local govermnent Transpose letters
- Administration school Transpose words
- Manila, philippines Set in capitals
- She Edited the Set in lower case
- occassion Delete letter
- The new recruits Delete & close up
- Pretty girl Insert word
- occurence Insert letter
CRHW prepared by
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 SYMBOL  MEANING

…over. He said Begin a new

paragraph

anew dress separate

Gentle man Close up

Species Homo Set in italics

sapiens
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 SYMBOL  MEANING

Dr Juan Flavier
‘ Put period

Mary s book “ Insert apostrophe

“I don’t believe it, Insert quotation

she said mark

,
Los Angeles California Insert comma
- -
six year old boy Insert hyphen
CRHW prepared by
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To insert punctuation
Period .
Colon
Semicolon
Exclamatory point
Comma
Questions mark
Opening quote
Closing quote
Apostrophe
Parentheses
Hyphen
dash
 Use of figures
1. Spell out figures from
one to nine; ten and
above should be
written in full.
 Use of figures
2. Never begin a sentence with a
figure. If the number is the most
important element in the
sentence, then begin the sentence
with the number , but spell it out.
Example:
Ninety-three persons were
drowned.
In the flood, 93 person were
drowned.
3. Spell out numbers less than 10
except:
In giving the hour of the day:
Write 8 o’clock, or 8 p.m. 7:30
a.m. Do not write eight o’clock
(except at the beginning of a
sentence). Never use ciphers when
giving an exact hour. Do not write
8:00 o’clock. Instead, write 8
o’clock or 8 p.m. or 8 a.m.
4. When numbers are
put together, use figure:
The score was 7 to 15.
The hen laid 3 eggs; the
goose, 12.
Use figures for:
a. Time – 8 a.m., 4:05 p.m. Do
not capitalize a.m. or p.m.
b. Date – Dec. 25, 2004. Omit the
st, nd, rd, etc after dates. Use
figures for centuries, such as
15th century, in decades of
year, this form ‘70s.
c. Money – P10 (not P10.00).The
letter M may be used to signify
million in headlines.
i.e. P1M lost in typhoon Ising
d. Weights and measure – 30 kilos, 5
cavans, 50 cc.
e. Street numbers 015 P. Santos St.
f. Ratio – the exchange rate is 5 to
10,
g. Scores – Redbull, 90, Purefoods, 75
 h. Sports record 5.3 sec.
i. Dimensions and stations 4 x 5 ft;
36 – 26 – 36
j. Age - 45 years old, 3-year old baby.
If use in other forms, spell out the
figure. Zthis is his second term.
k. Diagnose of temperature – 85F,
32C
5. Express a series of two or more years:
2000 – 2004.
6. Spell out figures up to nine if they are
part of compound adjectives: five-year
development plan, one-act play
7. Fractions should be spelled out in
ordinary reading matter: one quarter,
two- thirds.
8.When using figures about hundreds or
thousands: P1-million budget.
9. In sentence requiring more than one
numerical, one below and the other
above ten: storm signal number 5
arriving the country at 12 miles per 30
seconds.
Capitalization
1. As a general rule, proper noun and
proper adjectives are capitalized:
compound nouns are not.
2. Capitalize the names of days of the
week.
3. The names of months.
4. The names of centuries: Tenth Century
5. All titles when they precede the name:
Superintendent Juan Caballero.
6. The names of streets, avenues and
boulevards: Acacia Street.
 7.The first word of a sentence, the first
word of a complete line of poetry and
generally the first word after a colon if
the material that follows the colon is an
independent clause.
8. The principal words in the titles of
books, plays, lectures, stories etc, and the
first word in such titles. Capitalize in
such titles repositions of more than four
letters: “The Man Without a Country”,
“The Man with a Hoe”.
9.The exact name of any club, association,
fraternity, sorority, organization, school
bureau, library , school, church.
10. References to one of the four
classes of students, when the
word “class” is used. Do not
capitalize when the word
“class” is not used.
Example:
“The Sophomore Class will hold
a picnic.”
“The sophomores will hold a
picnic.”
11. References to school
buildings or other
buildings or other
buildings is used.
Examples:
Claro M. Recto Building,
PUP
12. References to
administrative
offices:
Principal’s Office,
Superintendent’s
Office
13. In general, do not
capitalize references to
the rooms within the
school building: high
school: high school
auditorium, cafeteria,
assembly hall, locker
room.
14. References to
particular
departments:
Manual Training
Department,
Commercial
Department.
15. Names of
holidays and
special weeks:
Independence Day,
Good Friday,
eucation Week.
16. Names of
races and
nationalists:
Indian, Chinese
17. Names of
basketball team
and other
athletic clubs:
Shell, San Miguel
18. References
to the Bible or
books of the
Bible
19. References to
sessions of Congress
or the Legislature,
to military bodies,
and the political
divisions.
 Use of Punctuation
comma
1.To set off identification:
(wrong) Mrs. Eleanor E.Virtusio –
Principal II, Palahanan National
High School
(Right) Mrs. Eleanor E.Virtusio,
Principal II, Palahanan National
High School
2. Do not use a comma
if the identification is
preceded by of:
(wrong) Tina
Panganiban, of GMA 7.
(Right) Tina Panganiban
of GMA 7.
3. Do not use comma between a
man’s name and Jr, Sr, III, etc.
(Wrong)
Bernardino R. Reyes, Sr.
Pope John Paul, III
William I. Rivera, Jr.

(Right)
Bernardino R. Reyes Sr.
Pope John Paul III
William I. Rivera Jr.
4. Do not use a comma in ages,
time, distances, measurement,
etc.
(Wrong)
15 years, 5 months, 10 days
1 hour, 10 minutes, 30 seconds
10 kilos, 3 grams
(Right)
15 years 5 months 10 days
1 hour 10 minutes 30 seconds
10 kilos and 3 grams
5. Do not use comma between two
nouns, one of which identifies the
other as in:
(Wrong)
The famous writer, Gina Marissa
Tagasa is the director of School of
St. Bartholomeo.
(Right)
The famous writer Gina Marissa
Tagasa is the director of School of
St. Bartholomeo.
 Use of the colon
1. Introduce a series of names,
statements, etc
Winners of SCUAA game
are: Lourdes College of
Bulaca, Schoo of San
Benildo and Baliuag
University.
2. Do not use the
colon together
with dash.
Elected were: -
Use of semicolon
To separate a series of names,
addresses or identification.
Mario delos Reyes, director;
Ryan Cayabyab, musical
director; Ricky Lee,
sccriptwriter and Ogie
Alcasid, Interpreter.
Steps in copyreading
 Initial check each copy read
 Get an overview of the story
 Correct the grammar, punctuation
and spelling
 Check if every aspect confirms
with your stylebook
 Verify the accuracy of facts, proper
subordination of details,
paragraphing
 Look out for editorializing,
biases and possible grounds for
libel
 Read the story to check if it
reads smoothly and that are
corrections have been made
 Write the headline
 Write the printer’s directions
 The Headline

 Displaying windows of
newspaper
 Title of a news story
 Is a summary of the news
 It is printed in big, bold
letters to attract interest
and attention
Qualities of a good headline
1. It attracts the reader’s eye and directs
its attention to the story beneath it.
2. It is concisely constructed to save
space. Articles and other unnecessary
words are omitted
3. It must be positive and active. Active
verb in the present or future tense is
used aside from being short word, it is
also the tense of immediacy and it is
more vivid.
4. It is adjusted to a predetermined
typographical style of paper.
Steps in headline writing
1. Read the whole story to
understand its message.
2. Underline the key words from
its lead, for headline writing.
3. Using the key words from the
lead, write a short telegraphic
sentence summary of the news.
4. Use the shortest words possible.
Substitute simple effective
synonyms to fit the headline within
the allotted space.
5. Divide it according to unit of
thoughts into the number of
required lines or decks.
6. Use colorful noun and vigorous
and active verb.
7. Start with noun followed by a
verb.
Kinds of headline
1. Flushleft – two or more
lines of headline are aligned
at the left edge of the
column.
Example:
Malacanang considers
Abat adventure over
2. Flush right – two or
more lines of headline
are aligned at the right
edge of the column.
Example:
Malacanang considers
Abat adventure over
3. Dropline – two or more
lines of headline, usually of
the same length and
arranged diagonally.
Example:
DOLE Philippines
donates
arm chairs to Sarangani
4. Hanging Indention- usually three
or more lines of headline, the first
line set flush to both margins and
the succeeding lines re indented or
beginning several spaces in from
the left margin, thus hanging as it
from the first.
Example:
Military ready to step in
if anti-gov’t protest
turn violent
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
7. Flushline or full line –
consists of two or more
liens of the same length.
Example:
Garci names solons
who also called him
8. Streamer –
striking boldface
head extending
across the top of
the page.
 Umbrella – a
9.

streamer that is placed

at the very to of the
page above the
nameplate of the
newspaper.
10. Boxed head – the headline is
boxed either for prominence
or to avoid tombstoning.
a. Full box – ICT to generate 1M
jobs
b. Half box - ICT to generate
1M jobs
c. Quarter box - ICT to generate
1M jobs
11. Jump Head (run-over
head) – headline of
news story, which is cut
and continued on the
inside page; it is
followed by the words
column width.
from page – or the like
12.Tagline, kicker or
teaser – a short
single line placed
above main head,
may be smaller type,
underlined and set
flush left or
centered.
 Guidelines for writing headlines
1. The head should tell the gist of the
story simply and accurately.
2. It should contain a verb, but not
start with one.
3. Be in the active voice.
4. Be in the present, the historical
present or the future tense.
5. Avoid the use of articles to begin a
headline.
6. Use no abbreviations except those
generally known ones.
7.The first line of two –line or three-
line headline should not end with
preposition, conjunction, articles or
any form of the verb to be, unless
the preposition goes with the verb,
as in the word call up.
8. Be specific. Avoid generalities.
Wrong: Student wins contest
Right: Metrian scribe wins nat’l essay
writing tilt
9. Avoid label head
Wrong: Auctioned
Right: Imelda jewelry auctioned
10. Do not editorialize your
headline.
Wrong: Metrian shows great
performance in DSPC
Right: Metrian wins 6 out 7 in
DSPC writing contest
11. Do not use the same word
twice in the headline or
kicker.
Example:
Gun haul
GenSan cops seize 24 guns
from suspected bandits
12. Never use the word “may”.
It denotes the uncertain
elements of the story.
13. 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.
Ex. Truth commission repugnant –
Mirriam
b. Using the colon
Ex. Sto.Tomas:Brain drain just a
prescription
c. Using narrative form
Ex. Garci is back, says wife
14. Do not be in negative.
Wrong: Metrian festival won’t be held
Right: Metrian festival cancelled
15.The first letter of the word and
proper nouns are generally
capitalized.
16. Avoid awkward verbal breaks.
Example:
Wrong: GenSan SPED debaters to
join nat’l tilt in Manila
Right: GenSan SPED debaters
to join nat’l tilt in Manila
17.Mention only the name of person,
who is prominent.
Wrong: Jacoba wins Microsoft global
award
Right: Filipino wins Microsoft global
award
18. Use M for million and B for billion
Example: Philhealth lost P520M to
farudulent claims, says chief
19. Use comma instead of and.
Example: GMA, Bush skip rape issue in
Busan meet
20. Separate double headline by a
semicolon.
Example: Bomb explodes at GenSan
market; 13 killed, 53 hurt
21. Do not end the headline with a period.
22. Use the infinitive for future events.
Example: GMA to visit Saudi on way to
NY
23. Avoid splitting compound word
Wrong: GMA to award taxi
driver for honesty
Right: GMA to award taxi driver for
honesty
24. Avoid splitting words that
naturally go together
Wrong:
Metrians celebrates Buwan
ng Wika with beauty tilt
Right:
Metrians hold Buwan ng Wika
with beauty contest
Unit counting in headline
½ - small letters j,i,l,t,f,
Capital letter I
all punctuation marks except? -
1 - all small letters except j, i, l, t,
f,m,w
dash, question mark, dollar,
peso, %
all number figures from 0 to
9(Excpt 1)
all spaces
1½- all capital letters
except I, M & W
small letters m and w
2 - capital letter M and W
Headline Vocabulary
Accord – agreement
Allay – calm
Allot – apportion, set aside
Anew – again
Assail – attack
Ax – dismiss
Bare – reveal, expose
Bat – defend
Bid – request
Blast - criticize
Headline Vocabulary
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 – former
To eye – consider
Feud – quarrel, dispute
Foil – thwart, reject
Gab – conference
Gird – brace, prepare
Go – try
Grill - question, interrogate
Hail – welcome
Headline Vocabulary
Hike – increase
Hit – attack
Inquiry – investigation
Ink - to sign a contract
Junk - to throw away, decline
kin – family
Kit – package
Let up – temporary easing up
Link – connect
Lull - calm
 Use the present tense

 Bohol food crisis feared

vs
 Bohol dads fear food crisis

 Microcredit access for Agri sector backed

vs
 Agri Party-list backs microcredit access
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Use the present tense

 Clark Airport Dev’t Fund sought

vs
 Solons bat for airport fund

 Misuari trial transferred to Taguig

vs
 SC rmoves Misuari trial to Taguig
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Use the present tense

Services resumed
vs
 DFA reopens services

 Ukay-Ukay traders charged

vs
 Customs charge Ukay-Ukay traders
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 Use the Present Tense

 20 were hurt  20 are hurt

as trains crash as trains crash

 ASEAN, US special ASEAN, US hold

meeting held special meeting

 3 drug pushers Drug sting nets 3

arrested
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Use active voice

 Polls decided by coin toss

vs
 Coin toss break poll ties

 Whistle-blowers are sued by solon

vs
 Bong sues whistle-blowers
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 Use active voice
 President’s DAP stand is backed by allies
vs
 Allies back Noy on DAP stand

 Top police officials

are sent back to school by NCRPO
vs
 NCRPO sends top police officials
back to school
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 Use active voice
 Man with P25-M shabu is arrested by police
vs
 Makati sting nets man with P25-M shabu

 1 dead, 7 hurt in Zambo blast

vs
 Zambo blast kills 1, hurts 7
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 Use active voice

 Bank manager  Masked men

is shot by masked shoot bank
men manager
 Grocery robbed  Children rob

by children grocer
 Chief fires
 Two jail guards
gambling jail
caught gambling
guards
fired
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 Future event – use infinitive ‘to’

 P8 billion to solve Bataan flooding

 Surigao to boost seaweed industry
 DOJ panel to pursue raps vs Misuari et al.
 CamSur power rates to increase in December
 Japan to spend $500 million to fix Fukushima
leaks

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 Is, are, the & a

 The mayor’s wife  Mayor’s wife

is hurt in a car hurt in car crash
crash
 The forensic  Forensic experts
experts are in arrive in Manila
Manila
 An American  Psycho slays
tourist is slain American tourist
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Is, are, the & a
 The cop in a lawyer’s slay surrenders
 Cop in lawyer’s slay surrenders

 The meteor showers are visible over PH

 Meteor showers visible over PH

 5 soldiers are hurt in a clash with the NPA rebels

 5 soldiers hurt in clash with NPA rebels

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 Is, are, the & a
 A suspected bomb-maker is gunned down
 Cops kill suspected bomb-maker

 The Comelec is urged to uphold the ouster of party-

list groups
 Poll watchdog urges Comelec to uphold ouster of
party-list groups

 A barangay captain is slain in Abra

 Hired guns slay village chief in Abra

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Omission that leads to ambiguity

President says good education

is way to the top

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 Labels

 Tourism potentials
 P210 million to boost Davao tourism

 Auxiliary services
 Civilian groups beef up Coast Guard

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 Labels

 Day-care upgrading
 Sarangani allots P2.5 million for day-care
centers

 Tagum port
 P3 billion int’l port construction to start in
2014
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 Use verbs that paint a picture
 Typhoon Pablo hits  Typhoon Pablo
Northern lashes Northern
Mindanao Mindanao

•Tubbataha mgmt: Chinese boat wrecked 4,000 sq

m of reef
•‘Yolanda’ roars toward Visayas
•Cyclone wreaks havoc in India

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 Avoid words that add nothing to
the power of the headline

 Valuable jewelry  Thieves grab

stolen 15,000 gems
 Big reduction in  Beer tax cut by
tax on beer 20 percent
 President’s SONA  President
speech pledges better
conditions for
labor
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 Avoid words that add nothing to
the power of the headline

 PLDT to expand fiber network investment in

Bohol
 PLDT to invest P1 billion
in Bohol fiber network

 6 administration senators DAP recipients

 6 senators get P100 million each from DAP

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 Avoid words that add nothing to
the power of the headline

 Salcedo heads UN’s climate change body

 Albay governor leads UN agency
with $100 billion climate fund

 Teachers say no to poll work

 700 teachers shun poll duty

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 Abbreviations
 Government – gov’t
 Department – dep’t
 Intramurals – intrams

 FED for the police means Firearms and

Explosives Division
 FED for economists mean Foreign
Exchange Division of banks or the US
Federal Reserve
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 Punctuations
 Commas  Dash
Ridiculous We will stay in power—
Councilor president
Calls rates rise Wife tried to stab me—
court told
 FOR

Ridiculous,
Councilor CRHW prepared by
Calls rates rise Ana Marie Contreras-Calapit
Quotation marks:
To indicate doubt
- ‘Dead’ man attends own funeral
- ‘Lost’ boy safe in bed
- Show ‘proof’ of corruption, senator urges
critics

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Simplicity is the key

 Witnessed – saw
 Depart – go
 Consultations – talks
 Commence – start
 Purchase – buy
 Line-up – slate
 Recommend – urge
 Appropriate – due CRHW prepared by
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 Verbal deadwood
 for the reason that - because
 a large proportion - many
 at the present time - now
 succumbed to injuries - died
 at an early date - soon
 is of the opinion that - believes
 In the neighborhood of - near
 In the event of - in case
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 Verbal deadwood

 In spite of the fact that- although

 Draw attention of - remind
 Tendered his resignation - resigned
 Affixed his signature - signed
 United in holy matrimony - married
 Held a conference - met
 Told his listeners - said
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 Printers direction
Example for the Headline:
25 - 32 – TNRB – 2 DS, FL
2 (32.5 u.c)

pica ems
Font size
Font style

number of lines
Example for the lead:
25 – 12 TNRB
2

Example for the body:

12 – 12 TNRN
1
 Thank you!

Have a happy writing!