1. COPYREADING AND
HEADLINE WRITING:
More than Just Marks and Words
“Youcannotcorrectunless youknowthatthereis somethingwrong.”
RUEL C.FERNANDEZ
Resource Speaker

2. Eagle’s Eyes Ready
40 Filipino pieacekeepers are battling heavily
armed Syrian rebels who are trying to overran UN
encampment on the Golan Heights, Defense
Secretary VOLTAIRE GAzmin says yesterday.
They have high morale Gazmin told reporters,
referring to the group of Filipino peacekeepers
defending Area Position 68 of the United Nations
Disengagement Observer Force (Undof) on the
Golan Heights

3. gazmin said the rebels attacked Area Position 68,
about 4 kilometers from Area 69, after noon but
was repulsed by the Filipinos
Palace spokeswoman Abigail Valte said on the
government-run Radyo ng Bayan that even
without having to take the challenge thrown by
Netizens for the President and Cabinet members to
try using the MRT themselves, government officials
were cognizant of the problems hounding the MRT.

4. The fire fight was going on bet ween the Filipino
peacekeepers and the rebels as of 5 p.m. in Manila
gazmine said the filipinos had reported no
casualties. He praised the elite troops’ courage and
“high morale”.
A military officiasl who asked not to be identify said the
filipino troops manning Area Positions 68 and 69
belonged to the Philippine
Army’s elite Scout Rangers and Special Forces
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Aug. 31 2014

5. Shades of Green Looms Dark in the Paper
 Jose M. Almario was elected Pubic Information
Officer…
 Your penis wonderful. I enjoyed using it last night.
 He eats, shoots, and leaves.
 Political orgasm

6. What is COPYREADING AND HEADLINE WRITING?
 It is the way of improving a story and making
an appropriate headline for the article.
 The ROLE of Copy Fixers
Good copy fixers keep the spirit and
substance of the story. He/She basically
brightens and polishes the article. He makes the
story better by organizing it better than when it
was submitted.

7. Tasks of a Copy Editor
1. Read thoroughly the news or reports.
2. Think of ways to best improve the
news.
3. Check and correct errors in news
context, grammar, punctuations,
spelling, usage, and others.
4. Present the best lead for the news.

8. 5. Remove editorials from news and
check for any libelous statements in
the reports.
6. Simplify words and check for any
redundancy.
7. Organize sequence or order of
paragraphs of the news.
8. Write effective headlines.
Tasks of a Copy Editor

9. Tasks of a Copy Editor
9. Suggest font and font sizes to the
typesetter.
10. Determine columns and decks of
headlines.
11. Correct the copies by using
copyreading symbols.

10. Writing Headlines
Headlines are display windows of
newspapers. It is a quick source of
information about the story.
 Well-written headlines
grab the reader's attention
convey clear, concise thoughts
 Poorly written headlines
mislead
and confuse a reader

11. Headline / head
The headline or head is
the title of a news story.
While the lead
summarizes the story, the
headline summarizes the
lead. The headline of the
biggest or Number One
story on page 1 of the
newspaper is called a
banner head.

12. Functions of
Headlines
•To tell in capsule
form what the story
is all about
•To grade the news
as to importance
•To make the page
look attractive

13. Try giving this lead a headline:
Education Secretary Armin Luistro yesterday said his
agency had not abandoned its development of “God-loving
learners” as he denied having been pressured by any group into
removing the phrase “God-loving” from the DepEd’s vision
statement.
Luistro: DepEd developing God-loving learners
DepEd hones God-loving learners, says Luistro
Luistro says, Deped is honing God-loving learners

14. The Catholic Church has denied
the sacrament of marriage to a
Quezon City councilor because
of his stance advocating birth
control.
Pro-birth control councilor
denied of marriage rites

15. Do’s in Writing Traditional
Heads
Make the head
answer as many
W’s as possible
Scribes win in
Presscon (?)
Gulayan sa
Paaralan,
sinuportahan (?)
Cat’nes places 2nd
overall in reg’l confab
 Gulayan sa Paaralan,
sinuportahan ng PTA

16. Do’s in Writing Traditional
Heads
 Write numbers in figures or
spell them out
 Eighty percent
of del Pilarians
approve CyberEd
(x)
80% of del Pilarians
approve CyberEd
9 golds up for
grabs in Division
Athletic Meet (x)
Nine golds up
for grabs in
Division Athletic
Meet

17. Do’s in Writing Traditional
Heads
Positive heads are
preferable to
negative ones.
Hog cholera not
in Bulacan (x)
ARMM polls,
hindi tuloy
 Bulacan gov’t allays
hog cholera fear
 ARMM polls,
ipinagpaliban

18. Do’s in Writing Traditional
Heads
 Be specific.
 Put a verb
expressed or
implied.
 The Seminar on
English proficiency
(x)
Mentors join
seminar on
English proficiency
(improve)
 Mentors join seminar
on English proficiency
English Olympics
up in October

19. Do’s in Writing Traditional
Heads
 Omit articles ( a, an, the).
 Do not use all caps. The
trend is down style (
lower case except for first
word and proper nouns)
and flush left
 THE ENROLMENT
DIPS (x)
 The Kids to Receive
Measles, Polio, Rubella
shots (x)
 Kids to receive measles,
polio, rubella shots
Enrolment dips
by 2.5 %

20. Do’s in Writing Traditional
Heads
The active verb is
preferable than the
passive, but when
the doer is not
prominent, use the
passive head .
 Enrile wants new book
published only after
death
 Overseas job seekers
warned vs Web offers

21. Do’s in Writing Traditional
Heads
Use the
present tense
for past stories;
the infinitive for
future stories.
Ukraine seeks to join
Nato to counter Russia
Ukraine to join Nato
to counter Russia

22. Don’t’s in Headline Writing
 Avoid label,
wooden and
mandatory heads.
 Avoid editorializing
.
 Journalism training (X)
 Join Journalism training(X)
 SPAs perk up skills
in division journalism training
 Kind Principal bats for moral
values (X)
 SPA training, a success (X)

23. Don’t’s in Headline Writing
 Don’t end a line with a preposition, but don’t
confuse a hanging prep. with a two-word verb.
 RP sweeps Asian titles in
Petron Asian Karting Open
RP sweeps Asian titles
in Petron Asian Karting Open
• Guest Speaker bats for
moral values

24. Don’t’s in Headline Writing
Don’t break off
words, verb
phrase,
preposition and
object
School Choir to per-
form in NAMCYA in
Nov. (x)
Choir to perform
in NAMCYA
in November

25. Don’t’s in Headline Writing
Don’t abbreviate
months/ days
unless figures
follow.
 SG election slated
in October
 SG election slated
on Oct. 31

26. Punctuating Headlines
 Use a comma in place of the conjunction and.
 In a two-line head, separate two independent clauses with a
semi-colon (;)
Palace apologizes for sorry state of MRT,
shuns ‘rush hour ride’ challenge
Ebola outbreak spreads to Senegal;
riots break out in Guinea

27. Punctuating Headlines
 In using direct quotation
as head, use dash,
colon, and comma
instead of the traditional
quotation marks.
 SC didn’t ask for e-court
funding–Palace
 Luistro: DepEd developing
God-loving learners
 No worries, says MILF
on Bangsamoro Law delay
 MILF says, no worries
on Bangsamoro Law delay

28. Vocabulary Headline
What do the words in bold mean?
Farmers group
scores gov’t on
unemployment
Director Ramirez
keynotes Reg’l
Journalism confab
Transport groups
buck high oil price
hike
Literary contests cap
Buwan ng Wika
Scribes in libel row

29. Vocabulary Headline
Replace the italicized words
with apt head lingo
 Campaign against pornographic
literature going on
Drive vs smut on
 Math winners announced
Math winners bared

30. Vocabulary Headline
Replace the italicized words
with apt head lingo
 Campus writers will join
regional journalism conference
 Scribes to join
reg’l presscon

31. Vocabulary Headline
Replace the italicized words
with apt head lingo
 Principal approves
Student Gov’t election
 Principal okays
Student Gov’t polls

32. Vocabulary Headline
Replace the italicized words
with apt head lingo
 First year student wins first place
in poster making contest
 Freshman cops gold
in poster making tilt

33. Pagsulat ng Ulo ng Balita
Ano ang mali sa ss. na ulo ng balita?
Iwasto.
 Mag-aaral, kahanga-hangang nagwagi
 REG’L SCHOOLS PRESSCON
Editor ng Malaya, nanguna sa pagsulat ng balita
 Aklasan sa DAR, nalutas nagsipag-aklas,
bumalik
 Aklasan sa DAR, nalutas; manggagawa,
bumalik

34. Mechanics of Headline Writing
A Technical Instruction or The Printer’s Directions
3-30 Arial Black-Inverted Pyramid
body text: Arial Narrow
Meaning:
The first number means that the headline will run across three columns
of the page.
The second number stands for the font size to be used.
AB (Arial Black) indicates the font type.
Inverted Pyramid is the headline pattern to be used.
The two lines below means that make a two-line headline.
Putin ready to invade Ukraine;
Kiev warns a war

35. Counting the Headline
1.All small letters except jilft and mw are counted as 1.
2. Small letters jilft are counted as ½.
3. Small letters m and w are counted as 1½.
4. All capital letters except MW are counted as 1½.
5. Capital letters M and W are counted as 2.
6. Capital letters J, I, L, F, T are counted as 1.

36. 8. All punctuation marks except the –?, $ and % are
counted as ½.
9. Dash, question mark, dollar and percent sign are
counted as 1.
10. All figures, except 1, and spaces are counted as 1.
11. Number 1 is counted as ½.

37. Putin ready to invade Ukraine;
Kiev warns a war (43 units)
Pnoy urges Senate to hasten
PDAF scam probe
(44 ½ units)

38. Headline Patterns
 Crossline or barline – a single line of headline running
over two or more columns
Indonesian turns forest into ‘school of life’
Ombudsman, kulang sa abogado
 Dropline – two or three lines of headline, usually of the
same length and are arranged diagonally
Dole Philippines donates
armchairs to Sarangani

39. Headline Patterns
 Flush Left – two or more headlines are aligned at the left
edge of the column
Malacañang muling nagpaalala
sa OFWs sa pagdadala ng droga
PH cagers take Croatia
to overtime before losing

40. Headline Patterns
 Hanging Indention – usually three or more lines of headline, the first
set flushed to both margins and the succeeding lines are indented
several spaces from the left margin, thus hanging as if from the first
Military ready to step in
if anti-gov’t protest
turn violent
 Inverted Pyramid – two or more lines of headline with the first line
flushed to both margin and the succeeding lines getting shorter and
centered
Pinoys escape massacre
in another UN camp

41. Headline Patterns
 Flush Right – two or more lines of headline are aligned at the
right edge of the column
Ordinansa sa riding in tandem,
ipatutupad na sa Manila
 Flushline or full line – consists of two or more lines of the same
length
FDA: Don’t buy
these eye drops

42. Other Kinds of Headline
 1. Streamer – striking bold-faced head extending across
the top of the page
 2. Umbrella – a streamer that is placed at the very top of
the page above the nameplate of the
newspaper
 3. Binder – a streamer at the top of an inside page
 4. Boxed head – the headline is boxed either for
prominence of to avoid tombstoning

43. Other Kinds of Headline
 5. Jump head (run-over head) – headline of a news story,
which is cut and continued on the inside page; it is
followed by the word from page – or the like
 6. Subhead – a short title of a portion of news story to break
the monotony of gray text; set in boldface and
occupies more than half the column width
 7. 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
 8. Hammer – if the tagline or kicker is bigger than the
headline

44. Umbrella
headline
Banner head,
Streamer

45. 4-line,
1-column
head 2-line,
4-column
head
3-column
crossline

46. Heads
are
flushed
left
like
this

47. The writer whose work cannot be improved
by a constructive editor does not exist.