Copyreading and Headline Writing - San Antonio District Press Conference 2012

Mr. Antonio Delgado August 15, 2012 San Antonio Central School

It

is the art of arranging, correcting, and selecting the quality and type of news It is also called copyediting. One who edits copies is called a copyreader or copyeditor

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

edits errors on grammar edits errors of fact edits verbose copy deletes opinion/slant and libelous statements makes sure articles follow the newspaper style writes the headline

In

journalism, it refers to the fact that every time a certain term appears in a newspaper, they are spelled the same way. It also covers the use of abbreviations, titles, punctuations and how time is mentioned.

The

numbers 1 – 9 are written in words while the numbers 10 and above are written in figures. Example: nine students 13 children

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

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

The

first letter of the sentence is always capitalized. Proper nouns are capitalized, common nouns are not. Ex: singer Regine Velasquez

Small

letters are usually used for title or position. Ex: Mrs. Cecilia Burayag, the principal of BCIS, delivered the opening remarks. Capitalized titles: Governor Umali

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.

Remember:

Engr. Emmanuel Delgado; Engineer Delgado Remember: 12 Dimagiba St. Dimagiba Street

Acronyms

are usually written in capital letters. Example: DSWD 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)

The

first sentence of a paragraph is indented. In news stories, the rule is one paragraph, one sentence only.

There

should be no names of unknown persons in the lead. Check for buried leads. The standard lead answers the 5 Ws and 1 H.

Check for errors in: Tenses of Verbs Subject-Verb Agreement Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement (agreement in gender and number) Articles (a, an, the)

Remember:

he said and not said he; Aquino said and not said Aquino

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., Rep., Gov., Gen., Capt., Dr., Fr., Atty., Corp., and Inc. Acronyms of schools, organizations and offices do not need periods.

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

Do not use commas: to separate the abbreviations Jr., Sr., or III from the name. Ex: Emmanuel Delgado Jr.

(Filipino)

Gumamit ng kuwit sa paghihiwalay ng mga pananalitang pasalungat na pinangungunahan ng ngunit, datapwat, hindi, atbp. Hal: Mayaman sila, ngunit hindi sila maligaya.

Use colons when presenting a series of information and use semicolons to separate components of the series. 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.

Use hyphen: in most compound nouns Ex: editor-in-chief, officer-in-charge in fractions Ex: two-thirds, three-fourths (English) in numerals Ex: twenty-two, fifty-nine

(Filipino)

Gumamit ng gitling kapag ang isang tanging ngalan ay inuunlapian. Hal: maka-Estrada taga-Cabanatuan pam-Bagong Taon

(Filipino)

Gumamit ng gitling sa pagitan ng unlaping ika- at tambilang o oras. Hal: Ika-7 ng Agosto Ika-3:35 ng madaling araw (Filipino) Sa mga salitang ang kayarian ay inuulit. Hal: kabi-kabila

Use

a dash between two figures to indicate inclusion of all intervening figures. Avoid: from Aug. 15 to 30 Better: Aug. 15 — 30

Quotation

marks are used in direct quotations. Indirect quotations do not need them. Ex: “I forgot it,” he said. He said he forgot it. Periods and commas are written first before closing quotation marks. Ex: “Let‟s go to SM,” the boy said.

 Quotation

marks are used to set off an alias or nickname. Ex: Ramon ―Bong‖ Revilla Jr. Juan Chua alias ―Boy Singkit‖  Do not use quotation marks to set off titles of events, shows, movies, books, etc. Ex: We watched The Titanic. But: We watched ―Walang Hanggan‖.

(English)

Apostrophes are used in the possessive form of the noun. Ex: the teacher’s table the teachers’ meeting Apostrophes are used in contractions. Ex: I’m (I am) you’re (you are)

Symbol

Instruction

Example

Delete

editorializing words/phrases. Ex: The very beautiful and intelligent principal… The cops were right in arresting…

Check

for redundancies Ex: the concert the concert ended at the back of the rear advance planning asked a question repeat again

REMEMBER:

After editing the news story, write 30 at the end of the article. REMEMBER: If the article is not yet finished, write more at the bottom of the page.

 Wastong

paglalapi ng pandiwa Mali: Nagdala ang mga bangkay ng mga biktima sa Gospel Memorial Homes.  Wastong gamit ng dito at rito, din at rin, atbp.  Wastong gamit ng sa at kay  Wastong gamit ng ang, si at ni  Wastong gamit ng nang at ng

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

1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

to attract readers to tell the story (in a summary) to add variety of type to identify personality of newspaper to index/grade the news

1. 2.

First, read the story for general meaning. Clues to the headline are usually in the lead. What happened? Who did what? How did if happen?

Use the shortest words possible. Examples include: cop – policeman nab – arrest mishap – accident up – increase down – decrease thief - robber 3.

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 4.

Use the historical present tense if the verb is in the active voice. Wrong: Reyes topped editorial tilt Correct: Reyes tops editorial tilt 5.

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 6.

Use the infinitive for future events. Wrong: City Hall will punish antisquatting drive Correct: City Hall to punish antisquatting drive 7.

Do not use a period at the end of the headline. 9. Omit articles (a, an, the). Wrong: A fire hits Tondo slum area Correct: Fire hits Tondo slum area 8.

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 12. Use the punctuation marks (especially the exclamation point) sparingly. 11.

Use single quotes („) in headlines instead of double quotes (“). 14. Always give the source of a quote. Quotation marks are not necessary, a dash or a colon will serve the purpose. Crackdown on errant bus firms – Enrile Enrile: Crackdown on errant bus firms 13.

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. Ex: Faculty honors Nuñez 15.

Use only widely known abbreviations. Wrong: JEE to play Santa this Christmas

16.

Don‟t use names unless the person is well known, use common nouns instead. Wrong: Santos electrocuted Correct: Carpenter electrocuted 17.

Use specific terms instead of generalities Example: Trader killed Better: Trader stabbed to death 18.

Just report the facts; do not editorialize. Wrong: Noy gives inspiring talks (The word “inspiring” is just your opinion.) 20. Be positive. Don't use negatives in headlines. They weaken not only the headlines but also the stories. 19.

Enrolment ups by 18% (20 units)

1 – number of columns 18 – font size or points TNR – font or type B – font style 1 – number of lines

1/18/TNR-B/1 FL/DS

1/18/TNR-B/1 Enrolment ups by 18% (20 units) FL/DS

FL – headline pattern DS – downstyle (20 units) – unit counts

1/11/TNR-N

1 – line spacing 11 – font size or points TNR – font or type N – font style { - text to which the direction will apply

A

count system considers differences in the widths of letters. Capital letters: Small letters: M, W – 2 units m, w – 1 ½ units JLIFT – 1 unit jlift – ½ unit Others – 1 ½ units others – 1unit

Punctuation marks: dash (–) – 1 ½ units question mark (?) – 1 unit others - ½ unit Number digits: 0 to 9 – 1 unit Space – 1 unit

BCIS bags medals in NEPPESA quiz bee B C I S b a g s 1½+1½+1+1½+1+1+1+1+1+1

(11 ½ units)

m

e d a l

s

i

n

1½+1+1+1+1+1+1+½+1+1 (10 units)

BCIS bags medals in NEPPESA quiz bee N E P P E S A 1½+1½+1½+1½+1½+1½+1½+1 (11 ½ units)

q u i

z

b e e

1+1+½+1+1+1+1+1 (7 ½ units) TOTAL = 11 ½ + 10 + 11 ½ + 7 ½ = 40 ½ units

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