COPYREADING

It 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 grammar
To correct errors in spelling
To correct errors in punctuation
To 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 tilts
4. 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. Youre 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 head
Wrong: 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 colon
Example: 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 wont 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 Makers
13. Avoid awkward verbal breaks
Wrong: Noynoy dreads isolated life in
Malacanang
Right: 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 word
Wrong: Aquino to award taxi
driver for honesty
Right: 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 UN
Correct: Ten student delegates visit UN
22. Avoid splitting words that naturally go
together
Wrong: Garcians celebrate Buwan
ng Wika with beauty tilt
Right: 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 M
Correct: 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 Letters
Macau Approves New Labor Law

2. Combination of Cap and lower cases (CLC)
US scribes honor Pacquiao as years 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-govt 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 -pressure
areas spotted
8. Streamer striking boldface head
extending across the top of the page
9. 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
tombstoning
12. 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 like
13. 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 former
to eye consider
feud quarrel, dispute
foil thwart, reject
gab conference
gird brace, prepare
go try
grill question, interrogate
hail welcome

hike increase
hit attack
inquiry investigation
ink to sign a contract
junk to throw way, decline
kin family
kit package
letup temporary easing up
link connect
lull calm

HEADLINE VOCABULARY
meet conference, to
convene
memo memorandum
mull plan, to think of
mum silent
nab arrest
nix reject
okay approve, accept
peg to fix at a certain
amount or level
pit oppose
post position, to assign

power electricity
probe to investigate
prod prick
quit resign
quiz question
ratify approve
raze destroy
revamp to change,
reshuffle
rift disagreement
row dispute, disagreement

HEADLINE VOCABULARY
HEADLINE VOCABULARY
rule decide, decision
sans without
scan examine
scribe newspaperman
shakeup reshuffle
skip avoid
slay kill, assassinate
solon lawmaker
try 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, t
Small letters m and w
All capital letter (except I, M and W)
Capital letters J I L T F
Capital letters M and W


= 1 unit
= unit
= 1 unit

= 1 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
= 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 Philippines worst
political massacre, the countrys 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.