Copyreading

* Every piece of copy has to pass through the copyreader or copyeditor before it is sent to the press.

Duties of the Copyreader

* Check content
1. Check facts.
2. Delete irrelevant or improper material.
3. Improve news value.
4. Expand or reduce copy.
5. Guard against criticism on ethics and good taste.
6. Write or check headlines.
7. Correct instances of “editorializing.”

* Check the form.

1. Correct errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, usage, organization.
2. Make copy simple and clear.
3. Make copy conform to the paper’s style book.
4. Polish and improve the style of writing.

Guides to Becoming a Good Copyreader

* Be accurate.
1. Eliminate doubtful facts that cannot be verified.
2. Check facts against each other to ensure consistency.
3. Confirm facts and verify names.
4. Check figures. See that the totals tally.
5. Check dates and time.

* Be a master of detail.

* Have a broad knowledge.

1. Be acquainted with important events and tendencies.
2. Know your paper and its policies.
3. Be alert.
4. Know books, plays, magazines, reviews.
5. Know names, localities, history, human nature.
6. Know your environment.

* Be able to write correctly and effectively.

1. Be skilful in the use of sentences and paragraphs.
2. Master the use of words.
3. Write concisely.
4. Edit copy consistently with the style book.

* Distinguish sound inference from editorializing.

* Be a super-reporter.

* Be neat and clean in marking copy. Write legibly.

* Consult references.

* Be careful and patient.

A Copyreader’s Tools

1. Heavy black pencil for correction and eraser.

2. Style book or style sheet.
3. References.
4. Dictionary, encyclopedia.

Copyreading Procedure

* Place your name or initials on each piece of copy, usually on the upper right hand corner.
* Encircle the slug.
* Read through for a general understanding of the whole story.
* Correct mechanical errors and obvious errors in fact.
* Verify other facts.
* Read to determine whether any essential information is omitted or any irrelevant or improper details are
included.
* Read again to improve upon the construction.
* Improve the general writing.
* Check the length.
* Reread if it reads smoothly and for corrections.
* Write the headline.

Style Sheet

* Individual writers have their own styles and their own preferences or habits in spelling and punctuation.
While originality is to be encouraged in a writer, a certain consistency in basic usage is necessary for the
staff. It may set up rules in the form of a style book or style sheet.

Use of the period

* Omit the period in the abbreviation of offices and organizations.

* Use the period instead of parenthesis with numerals or letters accompanying an enumeration.

Use of the comma

* Use commas to set off identification. (Gremil Naz, journalism department head.)
* Do not use commas if the identification is preceded by “of.” (Gremil Naz of Legazpi City.)
* Do not use comma between a man’s name and Jr., Sr., III, etc.
* Omit commas in age, time, distances, measurements, etc. (23 years 1 month 12 days)

Use of the colon

* Use the colon to introduce a series of names, statements, etc.

Use of the semicolon

* Use the semicolon to separate a series of names, addresses or identifications containing commas.

Use of the dash

* Dashes are used to set off parenthetical expressions.

Use of hyphen

* Omit the hyphen titles starting with “vice.”

* Use the hyphen in compound titles.
* Use a hyphen in writing figures or fractions.
* Use the hyphen in prefixes to proper names. (un-Filipino)
* Use the hyphen in compound adjectives. (10-year-old boy)
* Use a hyphen between two figures to indicate the inclusion of all intervening figures. (August 15-23)

Use of parentheses

* Use parentheses to insert a word within a title. (Daraga [Albay] Lions)

* Use parentheses in a direct quotation to insert words which are not the speaker’s.

Use of the quotation marks

* Do not use quotation marks in names of newspapers, magazines, motion pictures, books, plays and
paintings.
* Use quotation marks in the titles of speeches and discussion subjects.
* Use quotation marks to set off coined words or unusual words or expressions the first time such words or
expressions are used in the story.
* Close quotation marks always come after period and commas.
* Use close quotation marks after the question mark, colon, semicolon, and dash if such punctuation marks
are a part of the quoted matter. Otherwise, the close quotation mark precedes the punctuation marks.
* When the full name is used, use quotation marks to set off nicknames.

Use of the apostrophe

* Do not use the apostrophe to form the plural of capital letters or the plural of figures, but plurals of lower-
case letters need apostrophes.

Countries, Provinces, Places

* The names of some countries may be abbreviated. (RP, US, UK, USSR)

* Names of provinces are not generally abbreviated in body matter, except the ones ending in Oriental or
Occidental.

* Abbreviate Saint, Santo, Santa, Fort and Mount in names.

Headlines

* Allowances are made for abbreviations or contractions in headlines. Some words which should not be
used in body matter may be used in headlines, such as X’mas or gov’t.

Streets, avenues

* Abbreviate streets, avenue, boulevard, drive, road, after a name.

Symbols

* Use “percent” not the symbol “%” in body matter. The symbol may be used only in tabulations and
headlines.
* Use “and” not the symbol “&” except when part of a name.
* Use “each” instead of the symbol “@.”

Time

* Abbreviate names of months when followed by a date. Spell out when do definite date follows. Do not
use comma between month and year.
Titles

* Titles are abbreviated when used before a person’s full name or before his first name’s initial and his
surname. Titles are spelled out only when the surname follows.

Spelling

* Our fundamental rule is to use the simpler, shorter form when a word has more than one spelling.
(judgment, enrolment, honor, organize)

The Headline

* It refers to the title of any newspaper or magazine article. The headline serves several functions, namely:
to give the gist of the news, to present the news for rapid survey reading, to indicate the relative importance
of the news by the amount of display, and to give a pleasing appearance to the news pages.

Classes of Headlines

* Headlines designed to inform. Example, “US okays $350M aid to RP.”

* Headlines designed to intrigue. Example, “Ping for President?”

How to Construct Headlines

* Informative headlines are usually taken from the lead.

Steps in writing the headline

1. Underline the key words.

2. Using the key words, write a short telegraphic summary of the news.
3. Substitute simple, effective synonyms to reduce the width within the limits of space allotted.

Rules in writing headlines

1. Write a headline that is easy to read.

2. Avoid heads that can have double meanings.
3. Write nothing in the headline that isn’t in the story.
4. Don’t use names unless persons are well-known.
5. Don’t editorialize. State facts; avoid opinions.
6. Avoid using negative verb.
7. Use present tense for past events.
8. Use short familiar words.
9. Don’t begin a headline with a verb; it may sound imperative.
10. Use only commonly accepted abbreviations.
11. Don’t use the articles a, an, the.
12. Use numbers only if important; write numbers in figures. Write them out in words if the figure will
occupy more space and will be difficult to read. Use B and M for billion and million.
13. Minimize punctuations.