Caskets found as

workers demolish
mausoleum
‘We had no idea anyone
was buried there’

When you read a newspaper and see that there are a

lot of mistakes (in terms of grammar, use of proper
punctuation marks, facts, etc.), what do you feel?
President Benigno Aquino III
encourged memberz of d 5 th

infantry Division of the

Phillipine Army during her visit
in Camp Melchor Dela Cruz,
Sept. 17, 2016
EdEng313/Engl43
What is copyreading?
--the editing or correcting error
made by the reporter

--the editing the copy by the use

of appropriate symbols
Copy editing
Editing a copy is not just the simple task of
looking for grammatical lapses or errors of
facts. Seemingly harmless assertions, which
often creep in copies submitted by neophyte
or inexperienced reporters, if unnoticed,
could make both the stories and ultimately
the paper ridiculous.
What do copy editors do?
1. Check facts
• Check names, titles addresses,
designations, identifications, etc.
• Recheck figures and totals.
• Challenge facts, claims or reports
when they sound anomalous,
illogical and incredible
2. Check spelling and grammar
• Straighten out ungrammatical
constructions
• Check spelling and
punctuation
• Check sentence construction
3. Check organization
• Rewrite the lead when
necessary
• Cut a story to size or to the
required length
• Shorten sentences and tighten
paragraphs if needed
 Wasteful Words
• Absence of • No
• Accede to • Grant/allow
• Accommodate • Hold/seat
• Arrangements were in the • Arranged by
hands of
• Continue to remain • Stay
• At the present time/at present • Now
• Caused injuries to • Injured
 Redundancies
Redundancies in italics commonly found in newspapers. The list is
culled from Newman’s English by Harold Evans, former editor of the
Sunday Times of London.

• Adequate enough • Smile on his face

• As compared with
• Blue colored car
• Continue in existence
• Continue to remain
• During the course of
• Eliminate altogether
• Patently obvious
• Still persists/continues
• Sunny by day
• Temporary reprieve
• Ever since
• Attach together
• Whether or not
• Raze to the ground
4. Check for editorializing
statements (for news articles)
• Watch out for slanting or any attempt to
present the story in a subtly biased way
• Delete all opinions, speculations and
statements which are without sources
• Cross out adjectives in news items
5. Check libelous text
• Watch out for libelous or
derogatory statements
• Check attributions and see
that they are properly
identified
Qualities of
a good copyreader
• Good in English and Filipino
language
• Mastered copyreading symbols
• Knows the newspaper’s style sheet,
policy and laws
• Observant of minute details
(grammar, spelling, punctuation,
correct usage)
• Skilled in the different journalistic
writing genres
In short, copyreaders
are super humans! 
PROCESS
 1
Read the story quickly
but thoroughly, sizing it
up for content and
relative news value.
 2
Correct obvious
errors of facts
and spelling.
 3
Break long paragraphs
into shorter ones.
The emphasis on the interaction between particles in modern
physics, known as the microscopic approach, must often be
supplemented by a macroscopic approach that deals with larger
elements or systems of particles. This macroscopic approach is
indispensable to the application of physics to much of modern
technology. Thermodynamics, for example, a branch of physics
developed during the 19th century, deals with the elucidation and
measurement of properties of a system as a whole and remains
useful in other fields of physics; it also forms the basis of much of
chemical and mechanical engineering. Such properties as the
temperature, pressure, and volume of a gas have no meaning for
an individual atom or molecule; these thermodynamic concepts
can only be applied directly to a very large system of such
particles. A bridge exists, however, between the microscopic and
macroscopic approach; another branch of physics, known as
statistical mechanics, indicates how pressure and temperature
can be related to the motion of atoms and molecules on a
statistical basis.

Physics emerged as a separate science only in the early 19th

century; until that time a physicist was often also a
mathematician, philosopher, chemist, biologist, engineer, or even
primarily a political leader or artist.
 4
Look for mistakes in
punctuation, grammar,
and facts. Recheck
facts, especially names,
addresses, numbers
and titles.
 5
Make sure the story
is accurate and that
it is fair to all sides
in the issue.
Copyreading
SYMBOLS
1. Insert paragraph break
2. Run in/No paragraph break
3. Transpose
4. Change into numerals
5. Abbreviate
6. Don’t abbreviate
7. Spell out
8. Set in uppercase
9. Set in lowercase
10. Set in boldface
11. Set in italics
12. Close up space
13. Insert space
14. Insert letter/s or words
15. Make this a capital letter
16. Make this a small letter
17. Delete
18. Delete and close up
19. Insert comma
20. Insert apostrophe
21. Insert quotation marks
22. Insert period
23. Insert hyphen
24. Insert dash
25. End of story
Exercises
1. Rains bought by Typhoon Ferdie has failed to
raise the “critically low level” of water at Magat
Dam in Ilagan, ISabela
2. The Phillipine Athmosperic, Geo-physical &
Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa),
however, said that some parts of Luzon will still
experience rains because of the southwest
monsoon
Exercises
3. Police said a men saw the dead body of the
woman lying within the vicinity of the school
4. The driver of the bus sucumbed to injuries
injuries after the terrible explosion,
5. The bag was taken by the b0y
President Benigno Aquino III
encourged memberz of d 5 th

infantry Division of the

Phillipine Army during her visit
in Camp Melchor Dela Cruz,
Sept. 17, 2016
Reference:
Malinao, A. L. (2010). Campus and community
journalism handbook. Mandaluyong City:
National Bookstore.
Assignment
Read any English broadsheet (international, national, local) and
look for at least three (3) errors in grammar, facts, spelling,
proper usage, etc. therein. Photocopy such part of the
newspaper where the errors are found and edit said errors using
the appropriate copyreading symbols. (10 points)