1. Check facts.
2. Correct errors in grammar,
spelling, punctuation, usage,
organization and others.
3. Improve news value.
4. Write effective lead.
5. Cut or delete irrelevant
materials.
6. Delete “editorializing
materials” in a news.
7. Guard against libelous
statement.
8. Write headlines and decide
its typography.
9. Make copy simple and
clear.
10.Make copy conform to
newspaper style sheets.
11.Give instruction to the
typesetter regarding font
type and fonts size to be
used and the number of
columns and ems
12.Indicate corrections by
using copyreading marks.
1. Use pencil when editing
2. Use slug line
3. Use paragraph marks
4. Indicate “more” and end
marks
5. Write pagination in
subsequent pages
6. Indicate printers’ specs
7. Avoid breaking words at the
end of the line
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
Change small
letter to capital a
Change capital
to small letter A or A
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
Change form
in numerals
or abbreviations:
3 to three 3
three to 3 three
Street to St. Street
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
St. to Saint St.
To indent
a paragraph Now is the
To put space
between words Nowis
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
To close up
(remove space) home town
To delete
a letter
and close up judgement
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
To delete words
or two or more
letters to fully receive
To delete one
letter and i
substitute another beleeve
To delete two
or more letters
and close up accommododate
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
To insert letters feeling
or words not well
To transpose
letters or words
if adjacent recieve
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
To insert punctuation:
comma colon apostrophe
Period exclamation
opening quote “ question mark ?
Hyphen - closing quote ”
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
Semicolon , dash - parentheses ( )
To center material ] News Notes [
To indent material All the lines
are indented
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
Set in boldface The news today
type
Set in italic The news today
type
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
Run in The Muslims prayed at
yesterdays start of the
holy fasting month
To delete several
lines or paragraphs,
box in the material
and X it out
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
Run in The Muslims prayed at
yesterdays start of the
holy fasting month
To delete several
The Muslims prayed at
lines or paragraphs,
yesterdays
start of the
holy fasting
month.
box in the material kill
and X it out or write
the word kill
DESIRED SYMBOL
CORRECTION TO USE
To signal the end 30 or #
of the article
Ryan Cruz won…
university of Sto. Tomas…
UniVersity of Sto. Tomas…
r
Univesity of Sto. Tomas…
the
University of Philippines…
-Benjie Reyes director; James Koh,
principal; Kim Tan, designer…
-See you tomorrow
-NCAAchampion…
-Representatives came from UUSA…
-Never again and and again…
-Three million pesos was donated…
-Two winners came from Region 1…
-GMA ar rives from Basilan with….
stet
-Rizal division delegates won…
-Dela Cruz being the most
diligent student in the class…
-Ang Gayang was awarded the…
The division training held in Tanauan
was very successful. Participants
commended the training director for
this success.
News has no titles but
headlines.
Headlines are windows
of the newspapers as
they serve as the quick
source of information
for busy readers.
1. To attract the readers.
2. To tell the readers what the
news is all about.
3. To persuade the readers to
read as many individual
stories as possible.
4. To add variety and
attractiveness to the page.
5. To create distinction or
personality of the newspaper.
1. It attracts the readers.
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 because
aside from being a short word,
it is also the tense of
immediacy and is more vivid.
4. It is adjusted to a predetermined
typographical style of paper.
1. Read the whole story
to understand its
message.
2. Underline key words
from its lead, for
headline writing.
3. Using key words from 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 number
of required lines or decks.
6. Use colorful noun and
vigorous and active verb.
7. Start with noun followed
by a verb.
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
a 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: Gayang scribe wins
nat’l essay writing tilt
9. Avoid label head
Wrong: Auctioned
Right: Imelda jewelry auctioned
10. Do not editorialize your
headline.
Wrong: Gayang shows great
performance in DSPC
Right: Gayang wins 6 out of 7
in DSPC writing contest
11. Do not use the same word
twice in the headline or kicker.
Example: Gun haul
Quezon cops seize 24 guns
from suspected bandits
12. Never use the word “may”. It
denotes the uncertain
element 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.
Example: Truth commission
repugnant - Miriam
b. Using the colon
Example: Sto. Tomas: Brain
drain just a prescription
c. Using narrative form
Example: Garci is back, says wife
14. Do not be in the negative.
Wrong: Gayang festival
won’t be held
Right: Gayang festival cancelled
15. The first letter of the word and
proper nouns are generally
capitalized.
16. Avoid awkward verbal breaks.
Wrong: Quezon SPED debaters
to join nat’l tilt in Manila
Right: Quezon 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
fraudulent 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;
1 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 New York.
23. Avoid splitting compound words.
Wrong: GMA to award taxi
driver for honesty
Right:
GMA to award taxi driver for honesty
24. Splitting compound word
Wrong: GES celebrate Buwan
ng Wika with beauty tilt
Right: GES hold Buwan ng Wika
with beauty contest
25. Do not mix up typefaces in making
headlines to avoid clutter. Do not use
four to eight kinds of fonts of headlines
on a page. The maximum font that you
can use on a page is two unrelated
fonts except for feature stories.
All small letters
(except j,i,l,f,t, m and w) =1
Small letters j,i,l,f,t =½
Small letters m,w = 1½
All capital letters
(except J, I, L, F, T, M and W) = 1½
Capital letters J, I, L, F, T =1
Capital letters M, W =2
All spaces =1
All number figures
(0-9 except 1) =1
Number 1 =½
All punctuation marks
(except the dash,
question mark, dollar,
peso, and per cent sign) =½
dash, question mark, dollar,
peso, and per cent sign =1
Example:
1½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1½½½1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1
Grenade blast kills 2 kids
- 23 ½ u.c
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 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.
WRITING PRINTER’S DIRECTION
Example 2: _3-48 TNRB__
2 ds, fl, (41.5 u.c.)
where:
3 – means the head will run across 3 columns
48 – stands for the font size to be used
TNR – refers to the font type (Times New Roman)
B - refers to typeface (bold)
2 – refers to number of line or deck
ds – refers to manner of writing the words in
the head (down style)
fl – way of leveling the deck or head lines
(flush left)
42 – total number of unit counts used in
the headline
u.c. – stands for unit count
The final headline will look like
this:
Passage of BBL urged 21
ahead of election fever 20.5
3-48 TNRB
2 ds, fl, (41.5 u.c.)
