Journalism
Going Through the Basics of Campus Journalism
A Good Start
Objectives
By the end of the session, participants
should be able to:
● Familiarize with the symbols used in
copy-editing.
● Utilize principles of journalistic writing
in correcting an article.
What is
Copyreading?
Going Through the Basics of Copyreading
Let Us Learn from the Experts
Debrief Session
Copyreading
● It is the art of arranging, correcting, and
selecting the quality and type of news
● It is also called copyediting.
● One who edits copies is called a
copyreader or copyeditor
Responsibilities of a Copyreader
1) edits errors on grammar
(spelling, tenses, agreement, etc.)
2) edits errors of fact (accuracy check)
3) edits verbose copy
4) deletes opinion or slant and libelous
statements
5) writes the headline
Copyreading Symbols
Jumpstarting Writeshop for Copyreading
Copyediting Symbols
Copyediting Symbols
Copyediting Symbols
Copyediting Symbols
Copyediting Symbols
Pointers in Copyreading
NUMBERS
The numbers 1 – 9 are written in words while
the numbers 10 and above are written in
figures.
Example:
nine students
13 children
Pointers in Copyreading
EXCEPTIONS:
● dates, address: always in figures.
● proper nouns: may be written in
figures/words
● beginning of sentence: always in
words
● events: 1st – 9th is allowed
Pointers in Copyreading
SPELLING:
● Look for misspelled words.
● Here in the Philippines, American
English is used, not British English.
Example: color, not colour
● If a word has more than one accepted
spelling, the shortest one is preferred.
Example: judgment, instead of judgement
Pointers in Copyreading
CAPITALIZATION:
● The first letter of the sentence is always
capitalized.
● Proper nouns are capitalized, common
nouns are not.
Example:
singer
Regine Velasquez
Pointers in Copyreading
CAPITALIZATION:
● Small letters are usually used for title or
position.
Example:
Mrs. Cecilia Burayag, the principal of
BCIS, delivered the opening remarks.
● Capitalized titles: Governor Umali
Pointers in Copyreading
ABBREVIATIONS:
● Spell out Dept., gov’t, and other abbreviations.
● The abbreviations Jr. and Sr. are allowed in
names.
Remember:
Engr. Emmanuel Delgado;
Engineer Delgado
12 Dimagiba St.; Dimagiba Street
Pointers in Copyreading
● A title or position of a person may be
abbreviated if it appears before the name but
not if simply used in the sentence:
Example:
Sen. Recto filed another taxation bill
yesterday.
The senator filed another taxation bill
yesterday.
Pointers in Copyreading
ACRONYMS:
● Acronyms are usually written in capital
letters.
Example:
BCIS
Check if the letters of the acronym are in
the correct order.
Pointers in Copyreading
● When an acronym appears for the first
time in a news story, it is written after its
meaning and it is enclosed in parentheses.
Example: University of the Philippines (UP)
Pointers in Copyreading
PARAGRAPH
● The first sentence of a paragraph is
indented.
● In news stories, the rule is one paragraph,
one sentence only.
Pointers in Copyreading
LEAD
● There should be no names of unknown
persons in the lead.
● Check for buried leads.
● The standard lead answers the 5 Ws and
1 H.
Pointers in Copyreading
GRAMMAR
● Check for errors in:
○ Tenses of Verbs
○ Subject-Verb Agreement
○ Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
○ (agreement in gender and number)
○ Articles (a, an, the)
Pointers in Copyreading
Remember:
● he said and not said he;
Aquino said and not said Aquino
● three-day training and not three-days
training
● trained for three days and not trained for
three-day.
Pointers in Copyreading
PUNCTUATION: PERIOD
● It is used at the end of declarative and imperative
sentences.
● It is used in abbreviations such as p.m., a.m., Jr.,
Sr., Pres., Sen., Rep., Gov., Gen., Capt., Dr., Fr.,
Atty., Corp., and Inc.
● Acronyms of schools, organizations and offices
do not need periods.
Pointers in Copyreading
PUNCTUATION: COMMA
● Use commas:
○ to separate the month and day from the year.
○ to separate the street, barangay, town and
province in an address
○ to separate facts concerning victims and
suspects.
Ex: Jolas Burayag, 17, of Barangay San Fernando Norte
Pointers in Copyreading
Do not use commas:
● to separate the abbreviation Jr., Sr., or III
from the name.
Example:
Emmanuel Delgado Jr.
Pointers in Copyreading
Use HYPHEN:
● in most compound nouns
Example: editor-in-chief, officer-in-charge
● in fractions
Example: two-thirds, three-fourths
● in numerals
Example: twenty-two, fifty-nine
Pointers in Copyreading
Use QUOTATION MARKS:
Quotation marks are used in direct quotations.
Indirect quotations do not need them.
Example: “I forgot it,” he said.
He said he forgot it.
Periods and commas are written first before
closing quotation marks.
Example. “Let’s go to SM,” the boy said.
Pointers in Copyreading
Quotation marks are used to set off titles of
events, shows, movies, books, etc.
Example: We watched “The Titanic.”
Quotation marks are used to set off an alias or
nickname.
Example: Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.
Juan Chua a.k.a. “Boy Singkit”
Pointers in Copyreading
Apostrophes are used:
In the possessive form of the noun:
Ex. the teacher’s table
the teachers’ meeting
In contractions:
Ex. I’m (I am)
you’re (you are)
Reminders:
Watch out for jumbled letters, words and
paragraphs.
Check for joined/disjoined words.
Example: classroom, new teacher
Delete editorializing words/phrases.
Example:
The very beautiful and intelligent principal.
The cops were right in arresting.
Reminders:
Check for redundancies (recurring words/ phrases/
paragraphs, synonymous or redundant terms).
Example: the concert the concert ended
REMEMBER:
After editing the news story, write 30 at the end of
the article. If the article is not yet finished, write
more at the bottom of the page.
Let us put what we have learned into practice.
Try to edit this article.
What are your key
takeaways?
Thank you!
