C

and
PYREADING
headline writing

ALVIN HIZON MEDIA ANALYST, iSentia PH

MEMBER, newspagedesigner.org
EDITOR, Kicker Daily News – Manila (kickerdaily.com)
President, CEO and Owner, Aloha PH (Aloha Events and Marketing Solutions)
Creator, Best-Designed Campus Papers in the Philippines - BDCP™
COPYREADING
The art of arranging, correcting, and selecting the
quality and type of news that are within acceptable
journalistic standards in terms of style and editorial
policy.

Copyreading gives the article the final touch

before it goes to the printer.

Copyreading, editing, correcting the article are

synonymous terms.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF A COPYREADER
Edits errors on grammar (spelling, tenses,etc.)
Edits errors of fact (accuracy check)
Judges news value (grading of news)
Edits verbose copy (keeps the copy tight)
Writes the headline
QUALITIES OF A COPYREADER

Must possess certain qualities not everybody in

the staff may have.

Must have a good command of the language.

Must have at his fingertips a good working

knowledge of the rules of grammar.
QUALITIES OF A COPYREADER

Must have a wide vocabulary.

Must be well-read and must have a storage of

general and current information.

Must be well aware of libel news.

COPYREADER’S MARKS / SYMBOLS
Connect letters ( cea se fire won’t be an issue )

Transpose letters ( time si glod)

Transpose words (if you happen know to the

rules)
Delete letters/words
(to prevent the plounder / reached a final
conclusion)
COPYREADER’S MARKS / SYMBOLS
Spell out (nos,) ( 10 human rights victims)

Spell out (words) (VP Noli de Castro)

Abbreviate (nos.) ( one-hundred per cent of the

respondents)

Abbreviate (words) (President Barack Obama)

Insert letters/words
( the trimph of Pcquiao dela Hoya)
COPYREADER’S MARKS / SYMBOLS
Separate words theissue on CharterChange
Capitalize letters gen. jovito Palparan
Make letter lowercase Two solons
Period mark The seamen were freed
Restore The kidnap victim was released)
Insert space andthey live happily everafter)
Bold face the pauper
Paragraph Villar called for an entrepreneurial
revolution
Do not paragraph Villar called for an
entrepreneurial
PROCEDURES ON COPYREADING

Whenever the copyreader sits down to work, he has the intention of making the copy
free of errors.

It is the goal of copyreader, therefore, to do his work systematically and efficiently.

It would be good to follow the following steps:

1. Read the whole article first to determine what kind of story it is.
2. Having determined the type of story, read the article again.
3. This time, determine which is the lead paragraph.
PROCEDURES ON COPYREADING
4. Read the story again and mark all paragraph beginnings. Then
correct errors in grammar, spelling, punctuations and style
using copyreading symbols.

5. Improve the organization of the story. Make sure the lead features
the lead fact.

6. Go over the whole story again. Remove all unnecessary and

irrelevant materials.
PROCEDURES ON COPYREADING
7. Check the length of the story, then prepare the clean copy.

8. Write a very catchy and fitting headline for the story.

9.Give the printer’s mark for the body text and the headline.
Encircle the slug line.

10. The article is now ready for printing.

THE HEADLINE

An assemblage of words written in bigger, bolder letters

than the usual page text at the beginning of the news, also
known as the head, but not a title.
THE HEADLINE

The word “headline” is understood by many people to

mean the biggest story of the day. In journalism, however,
“headline” is the title of a news story big or small.
GUIDELINES ON HEADLINE WRITING
There’s no doubt headlines are one of the most important
things to get right, unfortunately they can also be the most
problematic too.

A good headline grabs the readers attention, and compels

them to read on.
GUIDELINES ON HEADLINE WRITING

A well-written story will go unread if the headline does not

grab the reader.

Headlines also serve as a graphic element on the page.

GUIDELINES ON HEADLINE WRITING
Good headlines capture the readers’ attention and make
them want to explore the story.

Bad headlines confuse readers, turn them off, invite

criticism, invoke laughter (for the wrong reasons), or are
just moronic.
TYPES OF HEADLINES

News Headline – deals with hard facts and summary

Ex.: Business leaders tackle global crisis

Feature Headline – deals with novelty, human interest

element
Ex.: The sea is on red alert! (pertains to red tide menace)
SOME GOOD EXAMPLES
Jaycees do windows

Gates
admits
mistake

U.S. rips Ryder Cup

from Europeans' grasp
SOME GOOD EXAMPLES
Dr. Seuss, man of rhyme and reason, dies at 87

SCARLET FEVER
World ready for 'Gone with the Wind' sequel

Halloween scares up snow

across much of Kansas

Excuse me, myth,

but men aren't
really like that
SOME GOOD EXAMPLES

Pianist keeps
city's singers
in good tune
PROBLEMATIC HEADLINES

Police chase winds

through three towns

Potential witness
to murder drunk

Professor of Greek thought dead at 59

PROBLEMATIC HEADLINES

Pope plans headache

Shooting cats to study

head wounds called cruel
 Headline
HEADLINE formats
FORMATS
HEADLINE FORMATS
Headline formats
HEADLINE FORMATS
Headline formats
TRY THIS
Loss shocks many
Counselors help grieving students

AIDS: Discrimination unwarranted

Bayside upsets top-ranked Campo

Tight end game
leads Bay Eagles
to 98-95 victory

Ignorance
What you don’t know could kill you
FEATURE HEADLINES
Feature Headline
• Use opposites such as up/down, rich/poor

PGMA: In power and out of control

FEATURE HEADLINES
Feature Headline
• Change word in a well-known phrase.

They’re only young twice

FEATURE HEADLINES
Feature Headline

•Rhyme words

Saucy Aussie
FEATURE HEADLINES
Feature Headline
• Slightly alter spelling and pronunciation

The musician with sax appeal

FEATURE HEADLINES
Feature Headline
• Turn an expression into a catchy head by switching
words.

Sculptor has stones of heart

FUNCTIONS OF A HEADLINE

Headline summarizes the story. It highlights

the main elements of the story. It is not label. It
tells readers what kind of story it is as
well as what the story is about.
FUNCTIONS OF A HEADLINE
FUNCTIONS OF A HEADLINE

It allows the hurried reader to get a quick

glimpse of the news. Later in the day, when he
has the time, he will read the story in its entirety.
FUNCTIONS OF A HEADLINE

Headline helps organize the news for readers.

It shows where one story ends and the next
one begins, serving as a visual cut off rule.
FUNCTIONS OF A HEADLINE

It contributes to the physical

attractiveness of the paper.
FUNCTIONS OF A HEADLINE

• to attract readers (come-on element of headline)

• to tell the story (in a gist/summary)
• to add variety of type (break the monotony of sea of type)
• to identify personality of newspaper (use of font/style of
letters)
• to index/grade the news (big type for important news than
less important)
FUNCTIONS OF A HEADLINE

Headline sells the story to the readers. It is like bait in

that it should lure readers into the lead. The lead should
then hook the reader into finishing the story.

As they say in advertsing,“ Sell the sizzle, not the

steak. ”
FUNCTIONS OF A HEADLINE

Headline prioritizes the news for readers. Stories with

big headlines are generally more important
than stories with smaller headlines.

Stories which go across one or two columns are less

important than those which go across three, four, five or
six columns.
FUNCTIONS OF A HEADLINE

Headlines reflect the style and personality of the

newspaper. Style is reflected in the publication’s standing
heads and logos, the type style used and the way
headlines are displayed.

Personality is reflected in the way editors and writers look

at the news and how they employ humor, wit and
cleverness.
REQUISITES OF A GOOD HEADLINE

1. The headline presents the news in capsule, thus it

is telegraphic.

2. It must contain the most important, the most

intriguing, the most unusual fact of the story. It
is not the place for details.
REQUISITES OF A GOOD HEADLINE

3. It must be constructed as to catch the reader’s attention

and make him read the story.

4. Size and length of the headline must be proportional to

the length of the story and its importance.

5. The headline is based on the lead.

REQUISITES OF A GOOD HEADLINE

6. The head is an advertisement, and like all good advertisements

it should be honest, holding out no promise that the story does
not fulfill. It should be based on the facts as set forth in
the story and nothing else.
REQUISITES OF A GOOD HEADLINE

7. The headline makes use of special vocabulary which

is not suitable for ordinary communication situations.

For example: the word “stude” is headline equivalent for

“student” as in

“Four studes win in quiz bee” However, it is not

acceptable to say there are 2,000 studes in our school.
RULES IN WRITING HEADLINES

1. The headline must have a verb and it must be in the

present tense.

Wrong: Cuadra topped editorial tilt

Correct: Cuadra tops editorial tilt

2. Do not use period.

RULES IN WRITING HEADLINES

3. Minimize punctuation marks. Use single quotation

marks. Use a comma in place of “and” and a
semicolon to separate sentences.

Wrong: Rolling stores to sell rice and groceries

Correct: Rolling stores to sell rice, groceries
RULES IN WRITING HEADLINES

4. Don’t use the articles- a, an, the

Wrong: A fire hits the squatters’

Correct: Fire hits squatters’ area

5. Don’t use names unless the person is well-known.

Wrong: Simon electrocuted
Correct: Electrician electrocuted
RULES IN WRITING HEADLINES

6. Use the infinitive for future events.

Wrong: City Hall will push anti-squatting drive

Correct: City Hall to push anti-squatting drive

7. Use specific terms instead of generalities

Wrong: School official gets scholarship

Correct: Principal gets US scholarship
QUALITIES OF A GOOD HEADLINE

1. Always in active voice / use action word

2. use the present tense, historical present
and future tense
3. Prioritize use of subject / direct object
4. Must not hang prepositions
5. Never repeat words
6. Use familiar abbreviations only
QUALITIES OF A GOOD HEADLINE

7. No typographical errors/ grammar errors

8. Reflect the tone of the story
9. Avoid labels / titles
10. Do not editorialize
11. Do not use negative construction
except when necessary
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Put an action verb, expressed or implied, in every headline:

HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Do not begin with a verb, preposition, article or conjunction.

Beginning with a verb turns the headline into a command, which
usually results in an unintended meaning:

Eat right before surgery or

Kill bill, says Newt
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Avoid the verb form to be. In most cases, a more suitable verb can
be substituted.

Weak: Matson to be at D.C. conference

Better: Matson to speak in D.C. next week
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Use present tense verbs in writing headlines describing past events.

Past tense is appropriate on occasion, but a majority of headlines
are written in present tense because it is easier to understand and it
uses fewer words:
USE THE PRESENT TENSE
Bohol food crisis feared vs Bohol dads fear food crisis

Microcredit access for Agri sector backed vs Agri Party-list backs

microcredit access

Clara airport dev’t fund sought vs Solons bat for airport fund

Misuari trial transferred to Taguig vs SC moves Misuari trial to

Taguig
USE THE PRESENT TENSE
Services resumed vs DFA reopens services

Ukay-Ukay traders charged vs Customs charge Ukay-Ukay traders

ASEAN, US special meeting held vs ASEAN, US hold special

meeting

3 drug pushers arrested vs Drug sting nets 3

HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Use future tense verbs to write headlines about future events:

USE THE INFINITIVE ‘TO’

P8 billion to solve Bataan flooding

Surigao to boost seaweed industry

DOJ panel to pursue raps vs Misuari et al.

CamSur power rates to increase in December

Japan to spend $500 million to fix Fukushima leaks

PANGHINAHARAP

2 LPA pa nagbabanta

Jinggoy hindi pa suspendido

DAP ng PNP, pinasisiyasat ng VACC

DAP gagawing legal

Pope Francis bibisita sa Pinas

‘Inday’ lalabas sa Biyernes • ‘Inday’ palabas na

HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Use the –ing verb form to write headlines about events that are
happening at the time the newspaper is distributed:

Bank of America merging

With Nation Bank
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Use numbers in headlines only if they are important. Avoid starting a

headline with a number. When numbers appear in a headline, they
should be written as figures:

12 Americans killed
in embassy bombings
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Abbreviate the month only when a specific date follows it:

October time for ancient rites

Halloween dance on Oct. 31

HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Substitute a comma for the conjunction and:

Gang member tells

of violence, killing
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Use single quote marks in place of double quote marks in a

headline:

Sims, Venables land

‘Wizard of Oz’ leads
PUNCTUATIONS
Quotation marks:
To indicate doubts

‘Dead’ man attends own funeral

‘Lost’ boy safe in bed
Show ‘proof’ of corruption, senator urges critics
PUNCTUATIONS
Quotation marks:
Names

‘Inday’ palabas na, - isa pang bagyo binabantayan

PUNCTUATIONS
Comma
VP Binay, anak kinasuhan ng P1.5 B plunder
PNoy sa mga kritiko: Magmahalan, magtulungan
tayo
PUNCTUATIONS
Dash

We will stay in power—PGMA

Wife tried to stab me—court told

PNoy parang si Jesse Robredo noong SONA—Leni

PUNCTUATIONS
Colon

Abad: DAP hindi bago, hindi sikreto

DepED: Bonus ng guro, di galling sa DAP

PNoy: DAP ideya ni Mabini

PUNCTUATIONS

Combination (Colon, Dash)

Glenda death toll: 80 na 4 nawawala--NDRRMC
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Don’t split a verb phrase:

Delegates chosen to
go to Youth Legislature
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Don’t split a preposition and its object:

Belfast man charged for

Harrods bomb
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Don’t separate an adjective and the noun it modifies:

Seniors to hold spaghetti

dinner fundraiser next week
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Use abbreviations only if they are well‐known. When initials are

used, do not use spaces or periods between letters.

KBP kicks its way into spotlight

PNoy declares Friday

National Day of celebration
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

Avoid using articles the, are, is, a, an in headlines

 IS, ARE, THE & A
WRONG
The mayor’s wife is hurt in a car crash
The forensic experts are in Manila
An American tourist is slain
The cop in a lawyer’s slay surrenders
The meteor showers are visible over
PH 5 soldiers are hurt in a clash with
the NPA rebels
RIGHT
Mayor’s wife hurt in car crash
Forensic experts arrive in Manila
Psycho slays American tourist
Cop in lawyer’s slay surrenders
Meteor showers visible over PH
5 soldiers hurt in clash with NPA
rebels
ANG, SI, NG, AT, NANG
MALI
Ang bata, nahuli sa shabu
Senado at Kamara, nagbalik-sesyon
DAP gagawin nang legal
Si Napoles ay nasa Bicutan na
TAMA
Bata, huli sa shabu
Senado, Kamara balik-sesyon
DAP gagawing legal
Napoles, nasa Bicutan na
HEADLINE GRAMMAR

The verb is said to be in the active voice when the doer of the action
is in the subject position.

Active voice is preferred over the passive voice because it is

more vigorous; however, the passive voice must be used when
the action is more significant than the doer of the action.
USE THE ACTIVE VOICE
Polls decided by coin toss vs Coin toss break poll ties

Whistle-blowers are sued by solon vs Bong sues whistle-blowers

Man with P25-M shabu is arrested by police vs Makati sting nets

man with P25-M shabu

1 dead, 7 hurt in Zambo blast vs Zambo blast kills 1, hurts 7

CONTRARY TO FILIPINO
*Tanggap sa pag-uulo sa Filipino ang Passive Voice

Loyal bashers ni Nancy nabuhay

Higanteng buwaya nahuli sa Palawan

Coup vs Pnoy inimbento ni Trillanes

Budget sa SONA tinipid

Abad ginisa ng Senado sa DAP

EXERCISE:
Write the correct form of the verb in the following headlines. Observe
agreement between subject and the verb.

• CA ____(deny) Napoles’ petition for bail

• World pirate attacks ____ (soar) in first quarter
• Binay ____ (hail) Syria as RP ‘strategic partner
• Shell, Petron ____ (raise) gas prices
• SC ____ (uphold) oil deregulation law
• DSWD____ (launch) ‘war’ vs child abuse
• Local bets____ (win) in science fair
EXERCISE:
Write the correct form of the verb in the following headlines. Observe
agreement between subject and the verb.

• Fishermen ____ (stage) Earth Day protest

• Rotary Club ____ (donate) computers
• COMELEC ____ (proclaim) 32 party list bets
• Padilla ____ (appeal) for privacy
• Cuadra ____ (cop) 3 National awards
• Researcher ____(receive) US grant
• Local cadets ____(spearhead) projects
• RP, Spain ____(ink) accord
EXERCISE:
Write the correct form of the verb in the passive voice:

• Feeding program ____ (launch)

• Two jail guards caught gambling ____ (fire)
• Resto owner ____(sue)
• Jueteng protectors in CL ____ (identify)
• Scout master ____ (kill) in camp site
• Shanties in Quiapo ____(demolish)
• Absentees ____(warn) of expulsion
• Parents of honor studes ____ (cite)
• 4 holduppers ____ (arrest) in Tondo
USE VERBS THAT PAINT A PICTURE
Typhoon Pablo Northern Mindanao
VS
Typhoon Pablo lashes Northern Mindanao

other good samples

Tubbataha mgmt: Chinese boat wrecked 4,000 sq m of reef
‘Yolanda’ roars toward Visayas
Cyclone wreaks havoc in India
AVOID WORDS THAT ADD NOTHING TO THE POWER
OF THE HEADLINE

Valuable jewelry stolen Thieves grab 15,000 gems

Big reduction in tax on beer
President’s SONA speech
Teachers say no to poll
work
Beer tax cut by 20 percent
President pledges better
conditions for labor
700 teachers shun poll duty
HEADLINE CHECKLIST
HEADLINE CHECKLIST
IMPROVING YOUR HEADLINE
IMPROVING YOUR HEADLINE
HEADLINE VOCABULARY
HEADLINE VOCABULARY
HEADLINE VOCABULARY

P23-B ‘connector road’ awaits Aquino nod

UN, Iraq probe death of 52 Iran exiles in camp
Megan Young clinches Ms. World title
Korean firms eye Phl coconuts
UNIT COUNTING
PRINTER’S DIRECTION

1-18TNRB-2
flds
PRINTER’S DIRECTION

Line Spacing
Font Style

1-18TNRB-2 Number of Columns

flds Headline Style

Font Size
PRINTER’S DIRECTION

1-18TNRB-2-24UC
flds
Unit Count
POINT SIZES
HEADLINE SCHEDULE
 REFERENCES
Prof. Meden Fadriquela
Ana Marie Calapit
Prof. Ceciliano Jose Cruz
University of the Philippines
University of the Philippines (UP) Press
PARTING SHOT

“
The only way to learn how to write heads, after one knows
the general principles, is to write them. Headline writing is
like learning to play a musical instrument-- the more you
practice, the easier it gets and the better you become.
END OF LECTURE
Alvin Hizon