COPY EDITING AND
HEADLINE WRITING
Things to be discussed:
1. Duties of copyreader
2. Symbols
3. Copyreader’s concern
4. Headline Writing
5. Headline Vocabulary
6. Types of headline (overview)
7. Tips on how to write an effective headline
Duties of a Copyreader
1. Copyreaders edit newspaper copy, whose work is all about
improving- improving a version of a text, improving the quality of
the writing.
2. They edit copies for spelling, grammar, usage, and punctuation.
3. They ensure that copies conform to house style
4. They check copies for missing or inaccurate details
5. They tighten stories as necessary
6. They write headlines`
Symbols
Symbols
Symbols
Symbols
Symbols
Symbols
Symbols
Symbols
Copyreaders’ Concerns
1. Grammar: subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent, tenses of
the verbs, gerunds, infinitives, participles, parts of the speech
2. Spelling
3. Punctuation
4. Facts
5. Capitalization
6. Redundancies and wordiness
7. Opinionated statements
8. Unnecessary word
Copyreaders’ Concerns and Symbols
GRAMMAR
Participants where given a chance to asks
the two guest speaker for clarification and
ask strategies in rendering service and
leadership effectively.
Copyreaders’ Concerns and Symbols
• SPELLING
Studennt E xecutive Council took charge in
running the two-part program that included the pledge
and seminar for incoming student leaders from
different departments foor their local council and sub-
organizations in the morning and a team building
actyivity in the afternoon.
Copyreaders’ Concerns and Symbols
• Punctuations
The PAASCU” Accreditors evaluated the Liberal
Arts, Teacher Education Business Education, and
Criminal Justice Education program
Copyreaders’ Concerns and Symbols
• FACTS
Vice- President Ferdinand Marcoss Jr. on Friday said fiscal
measures, such as adjusting tariff levels, may be implemented to
mitigate the effects of bullying.
Copyreaders’ Concerns and Symbols
•CAPITALIZATION
A.y. 2018-2019 SEC President,
jemerson Eugenio discussed about
“VUCA” world whicH means that the
world is volatile, uncertain, complex, And
ambiguous.
Copyreaders’ Concerns and Symbols
• Editorializing or one’s own value judgement
Amazing Salletinian leaders partook in the once in
a lifetime Integrated Student Council Officers
Leadership And Reorientation (ISCOLAR) with the
unique theme “ELEVATER”: Leading Beyond Limits in
the 11th year of ISCOLAR last September 2, 2023 at the
best New Gymnasium of the University of La Salette,
Inc.
Copyreaders’ Concerns and Symbols
Redundancies and wordiness
LONG VERSION SHORT VERSION
Advance planning Planning
Armed gunmen Gunmen
At this point in time Now
At that point in time Then
Canceled out Cancelled
Completely unnecessary Unnecessary
Complimentary free gift Gift
Cooperate together cooperate
Copyreaders’ Concerns and Symbols
Redundancies and wordiness
LONG VERSION SHORT VERSION
Due to the fact that Because
Exactly identical Identical
Few in number Few
General consensus of opinion Consensus
In reference to About
In the near future Soon
Traveling at a high rate of speed Speeding
Copyreaders’ Concerns and Symbols
• Unnecessary Words
Words that add nothing to the meaning
Examples: Really Very Actually
(Exemption: If used in quotation)
Let’s try this
MANILA, Philippines — the goovernment is r esorting to
fiscal measures, including possible tariff adjustments, to
ensure that remains food affordable during El Niño, President
Marcos said yesterday
The PresidEnt gave assurance
that aid would be provided to amazing farmers and others
whose livelihoods will be affected by El Niño.
Headline Writing
Qualities of a Good Headline
Party (LP) presidential candidate Manuel "Mar" Roxas II has assailed Vice
President Jejomar Binay for saying that there might be cheating in the 2016 polls
and for implying that administration bets would violate the law on election
spending.
Roxas claimed Binay is just trying to divert attention away from the
corruption allegations against him.
a. Roxas hits Binay over electoral fraud claims
b. Mar assails VP Binay
c. Binay slammed by Mar for cheating in 2016 polls
d. Binay tries to divert attention - Mar
Qualities of a Good Headline
• Attracts the reader’s attention
• Summarizes the story
• Helps the reader index the contents of the
page
• Depicts the mood of the story
• Helps set the tone of the newspapers.
General Principle That Headline Writers Must
Follow
1. Accuracy- Headlines must give accurate
information about the gist of the story.
2. Logic- Headlines on themselves should make
sense.
3. Specificity- A headline should be as specific as
possible in presenting information to the reader.
4. Word Precision- Saying exactly what we mean to
say.
Headline Format
• Subject + Verb + Object
Example:
Israel begins deporting ‘overstaying’ Filipinos
• Subject + Verb + Object + Why
Example:
Duterte orders PCSO lotteries closure over ‘massive corruption’
3 Types of Headline
1. Active
SC affirms Imelda acquittal in dollar salting cases
2. Passive
Honest students commended
3. Quotation
Leni Robredo to Duterte: We need leadership, unity
Fireworks-related injuries lower in last 10 years— PNP
Identify the type of headline
1. Martial law rallies peaceful— NCRPO
2. Benigno Aquino III slams Juan Ponce Enrile’s
revision of Martial Law
3. Tropical depression to affect Northern Luzon
Some Tips on Headline Writing
1. Headlines should be based on the main idea of the story, which should be found in the
lead or introduction.
2. If facts are not in the story, do not use them in a headline.
3. Avoid repetition. Don't repeat keywords in the same headline; don't repeat the exact
wording of the story in the headline.
4. Avoid ambiguity, insinuations, and double meanings.
5. Headline writers should understand a story completely before they write the headline.
6. Use present-tense verbs for headlines that refer to past or present events.
7. For the future tense, use the infinitive form of the verb (such as to go, to
8. run, etc.) rather than the verb will.
9. To-be verbs, such as is, are, was, and were, should be omitted.
10. Do not use articles a, an, and the. These take up space that could be put to better use
in informing the reader.
Some Tips on Headline Writing
1. Do not use the conjunction; use a comma or semicolon instead
2. Personalize where you can (avoid he, she, or they).
3. Attribution is best shown with the word says, but it is often shown with a colon instead.
4. Avoid using unclear or little-known names, phrases, and abbreviations in headlines.
5. Use punctuation sparingly.
6. Use single quotation marks instead of double quotation marks.
7. Drop end punctuation. Avoid using periods, question marks, or exclamation points.
8. Never begin a headline with a verb.
9. Never split names between lines of a headline
10. Headlines should be complete sentences or should imply complete sentences.
11. When a linking verb is used, it can be implied rather than spelled out.
12. Do not use pronouns alone and unidentified.
13. Only well-known abbreviations should be used.
14. Do not abbreviate days of the week and months, unless followed by a date. In a multi-line headline, a noun
and its modifier should be on the same line.
Let’s try to improve the following headlines
1. Republic of the Philippines tap two science fields
Phl taps 2 science fields
2. Two Cabinet members faced graft investigation
2 Cabinet members face graft probe
3. The Senate will investigate Department of Education’s poor performance
Senate to probe DepEd’s poor performance
4. Palace of Malacañang: Defecating incident in Boracay beach is offensive,
tourists may face cases
Palace: Pooping incident in Boracay ‘offensive’; tourists may face raps
Tips in Writing Headline
Headline Terms
• Downstyle and upstyle
These terms refer to capitalization in headlines/heads.
Downstyle heads are treated like sentences, with only the first word and proper nouns
capitalized.
Example: Marcos says gov’t eyeing fiscal measures to mitigate El Niño impact
Upstyle heads capitalize the first letter of all major words. All capital letters in heads is
also called upstyle.
Example: Philippines Drops Foreign Ownership Case Against Ressa
PHILIPPINES DROPS FOREIGN OWNERSHIP CASE AGAINST RESSA
Headline Terms
• Kicker
A label head above a main head, typically up to five words.
Usually half the point size of the main head.
• Flush left, centered
Two ways of positioning a headline to its story.
Flush left begins at the left margin.
Centered heads are equidistant between the left and the right margins.
Headline Terms
• Columns
Vertical strips of text
The thin white spaces between columns are called gutters.
Broadsheets carry 6-7 columns; tabloid and magazines, 4-5
columns
• Headline Count
Count or length in units of each line.
Let’s try to count
DOT: Over 5 million foreign tourists so far this year
JPB
