Science Writing

Science writing is the latest form of Philippine journalism. In this era of fast-moving discoveries,
inventions, and technical development, science reporting has become a must.

The science writer, therefore, should be able to communicate clearly and effectively so that he can
popularize and translate scientific reports into stories which Mr. Average Reader, or the layman,
understands.

A science reporter should be an all-around man, somewhat of a botanist, a zoologist, a chemist, an

electrician, a plumber, etc., who plays a vital role in the programs of the country not only be telling facts or
information, but also by interpreting them to be of relevance to the lives of the people.

Assuming that the science reporters were all these people, how can he bridge the gap between the
scientist and the layman? As previously stated, scientists normally write using technical terms which the
ordinary reader would not understand. The science reporter‟s mission therefore, is to know and
understand science so that he can translate what the scientists are talking about for the common man.

WRITING HEADLINES

The headline of the Number One story on Page 1 is called a banner. If it runs across the page it may also
be called a streamer.

Among the important functions of the headline are the following: 1) to tell in capsule form what the story is
all about, 2) to grade the news as to importance, and 3) to make the page look attractive.

While the lead summarizes the story, the headline, on the other hand, summarizes the lead.

Structure of Headlines

There are different kinds of headlines according to structure. However, for the sake of consistency, only
one kind should be adopted by a newspaper. Common among these are illustrated and briefly explained
as follows:

1. Flush left – Both lines are flushed to the left margin. This is also true with a one-line
headline. This has no exact count for the units in each line.

2. Dropline or Step Form - The first line is flushed left while the second is indented. It may consist
of two or three, and sometimes four lines of types of the same length, somewhat less than
a column in width, so that the first line is flushed to the left, the second centered, and the
third flushed to the right.

3. Inverted pyramid – This is self-explanatory. Each of the three or four lines in this head is
successively shorter than the line about it.

4. Hanging indention – The first line is flushed left. This is followed by two indented parallel lines.

5. Crossline or Barline – A one-line headline that runs across the column. The simplest form, it is
a single line across the allotted space. If it runs across the page, it is called a streamer.

Local students join CLEAN drive

6. Boxed headline – For emphasis or art‟s sake, some headlines are boxed:
a. Full box
b. Half box
c. Quarter box
 7. Jump story headline – A jump story (a story continued on another page) has a headline of its
own. This may be the same as the original headline or it may just be a word, a phrase or a
group of words followed by a series of dots.

Local students…
From page 1)

Dos and Don’ts in Writing Traditional Headlines

A. Do’s
1. Make your headline answer as many W‟s as possible.
2. The headline should summarize the news story. It should contain nothing that is not found
in the story.
3. Positive heads are preferable to negative ones: School physician allays flu fear is better and
shorter than Flu epidemic not rampant in city.
4. Put a verb expressed or implied in every deck.
5. Omit articles like a, an, and the and all forms of the verb to be (is, are, be etc.), unless
needed to make the meaning clear.

Reclaimed banks cause of recurrent flood

(Are before cause is not necessary)

Clinton is new US President

(Is is necessary to make the meaning cleaner.)

6. Use the strongest word in the first line as much as possible.

7. The active verb is better than the passive verb in headlines. Local Hi-Y aids flood victim is
stronger than – Flood victims aided by local Hi-Y. But, for variation, and especially when the
doer is unknown or not prominent, the passive verb may be used.

Food production drive intensified

RP‟s lost image abroad regained

8. Use the present tense for past stories and the infinitive form for future stories.

Archbishop Sin bats for national reconciliation

Lantern parade to cap X‟mas affairs

9. Write numbers in figures or spell them out depending upon your needs for your unit counts.
10. Use any of the following headline styles, but be consistent once you have adopted one.

a. All caps
CHARACTER, NATIONALISM VITAL COGS IN EDUCATION

b. Cap and lower case

Character, Nationalism Vital Cogs in Education

c. Down style
Character, nationalism vital cogs in education

B. What to Avoid in Writing Headlines

1. Avoid the following kinds of headlines:
 a. Fat head – A headline in which the letters or the words are so crowded that there
are no more spaces between them or that the spaces are so small that several
words read as one.

BSP LAUNCHES DRIVE

b. Thin head – the spaces between the letters of words, or the space after the words in
a line are so wide that the effect is ugly.

BSPLAUNCHESDRIVE

c. Label head – An incomplete headline, like the label of a product.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

d. Wooden head – A very weak headline that is devoid of meaning, sometimes due to
the absence of a subject or the lack of a verb.

TO HOLD EXCURSION

e. Mandatory head – It gives a command because it begins with a verb.

HOLD DIALOG WITH PRINCIPAL

f. Screaming head – It is a big and bold headline of a short and unimportant story. A
sensational head is another kind of screaming headline.

2. Don‟t tell the same thing even though you use a different word. Each succeeding deck
should contribute new information.
3. Don‟t comment directly or indirectly. Avoid editorializing even in headlines.
4. Unless the subject is implied or has been mentioned in the first deck, avoid beginning a
headline with a verb.
5. Don‟t end a line with a preposition. Neither should you separate a preposition from its
object. Don‟t confuse a hanging preposition with a two-word verb that ends with a
preposition.
Wrong: Students vote for
SSG officials
(“for” is a hanging preposition)
6. Don‟t break off abbreviations, names, and hyphenated words.

7. Avoid repeating principal words regardless of the number of decks.

8. Avoid heads that carry a double meaning.

9. Don‟t coin abbreviations of your own. Use only those that are common to the readers like
PNRC, DECS, DCS, etc.

10. Don‟t abbreviate days and months unless figures follow, as:

Mon., Jan. 23

Punctuating Headlines
A few pointers as regards punctuation of headlines should be observed. As a rule, headlines, just like
titles of editorials, features, and literary articles should not end with a period.
Other simple rules follow:
1. Use a comma in place of the conjunction and.
 Self-reliance, discipline us at Baguio confab

2. Two related thoughts should be separated with a semicolon. As much as possible this
should be at the end of the line if the headline is a two-line headline or a running head.

School joins Operasyon Linis;

P.E. – CAT boys drain estero

3. The dash may be used for smaller decks, but not for headlines in large types.

4. The single quotation marks, not the double quotation marks are used in headlines.
Cultural development:
„Linggo ng Wika‟ theme

5. Follow the other rules of punctuation.

Unit Counting in Headlines

(In Letterpress Printing)
Writing headlines is not as simple and easy as it seems. A headline should fit the allotted space by a
system of unit counts given to each letter, figure or space. This is done to avoid a thin head, a fat
head, or a bleeding headline (one that extends out of the column or page).

The corresponding unit counts are given as follows:

½ unit – jiltf and all punctuations except the em dash (–), and the question
mark (?)

1 unit – the question mark, space, all figures, capital JILTF, a lower case
letters except jiltf.

1½ units – the em dash, lower-case m and w, and all capital letters except
capital M and W and JILTF.

2 units – capital M, W

1½ ½ ½ 1, 1 1½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1
C i ty S c h oo l s f e t e = 15½

1½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1½ 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1
C h i e f E x e c u t i v e = 14

Preparing a Headline Schedule

(For Letterpress Printing)

Every student editor should be acquainted with the types used by the printing press where his school
paper is being printed. In this way, he can set up a headline schedule to be followed by the staff.
A headline schedule is a complete collection of headline types that a particular newspaper uses. This
collection should specify the unit counts for all the heads.

Here is an example:

HEADLINE SCHEDULE

Headline Unit Count Size/Family Type Columns

Osmeña High 12 48 Radiant 2

revives comedia 14½

Reclaimed banks cause of 21 36 Caslon 2

recurrent floods 17

Dope upsurge 12½ 30 Cheltenham

in community, 11½ 1

school noted 11½

Food production drive

intensified 29 24 Century 2

Science 7
journalism 9 1
caps NSTA 11
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