Republic of the Philippines

POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE OF BOTOLAN

(Formerly Botolan Community College)
Botolan, Zambales
Email: polytechniccollegeofbotolan@gmail.com
Website: www.pcb2009.net

Module in Campus Journalism (AC4)

Sections: BEED IV-A & BEED IV-B

6. Rewrite the lead or the first few
Lesson One: Copyreading & paragraphs whenever necessary, but
Proofreading must never tamper with the facts
unless he is sure of his corrections.
Copyreading: 7. Delete all opinions, speculations,
Copyreading comes from the words copy and statements which are without
and reading. attribution or sources.
A copy is the typewritten material sent to the
8. Watch out for slanting or any
linotypist or to a computer typesetter to be
attempt to present the story in a
typeset. It may be a news story, a feature
article, an editorial, or a literary piece. subtly biased way.
Reading is much like the work of an English 9. Watch out for libelous statements.
teacher correcting compositions, except that 10. Recheck figures and totals.
the copyreader uses appropriate 11. Cross out adjectives which tend to
copyreading symbols universally known by make a story sound overwritten.
printers. 12. Cut a story to size or to required
A copyreader is a newspaperman who length if need be.
occupies a seat on the newsdesk. He 13. Check attributions and see to it that
corrects errors in grammar, errors in fact, they are properly identified.
errors in structure, and errors in style. 14. Challenges facts, claims, or reports
when they sound anomalous,
Duties of a Copyreader illogical and incredible.
15. Check sluglines and paging
1. Straighten out ungrammatical sequences.
constructions.
16. Write headlines.
2. Shorten sentences and tighten Note: In copyreading, the corrections are
paragraphs.
placed inside the text where the errors have
3. See that the paper’s style been committed, while in proofreading, the
requirements are strictly followed.
corrections are placed in margins.
4. Check names, addresses, titles, A well- edited paper saves the paper from
designations, identifications, figures,
criticism and the editors from libel suits and
and others. embarrassment. Finally, it helps the
5. Rewrite the story completely if it is
newspaper bring accurate information to
poorly written. the reader.
 8. Depth of pages and margins are
checked.
Proofreading: 9. Poor leading or spacing between
After the copy has been prepared and lines are avoided.
copyread, it goes to the linotypist or to the 10. Stray bold or light face lines have
computer typesetter to be set into type. not crept in.
During this process they may commit any of 11. Long stories, usually more than
the following errors: three-inch deep, have subheads.
1. Copy error- these are errors in 12. All killed materials have been
grammar and word omission that deleted.
has escaped the blue pencil of the
copyreader and which the linotypist Exercises:
copied verbatim. Part 1. Encircle the letter of the correct
2. Machine errors- these are errors answer.
made due to faulty typesetting 1. What type of error do you recognize
machines like excessive in the following sentence?
transposition of letters, blurred
letters, poor letter alignment, wrong
font, and high or low slug.
3. Operator’s errors- these include the
general run of typographical errors.

Proofreading is correction of errors in

gallery or page proofs by the use of
proofreading symbols.

Duties of the Proofreader

1. The dateline, volume and number,
and folio are correct and in their
proper positions.
2. The stories carry their proper
headlines.
3. The cuts are straight, properly
placed, and correctly captioned.
4. The lines of types and column rules
are straight.
5. The headlines are typographically
correct and well-written.
6. “continued” lines and jump heads
are properly placed.
7. Erratic compositions like transposed
or inverted letters and loose types
are set right.
Do you think she added the following to
her shopping list for cleaning supplies” a
duster, a vacumm, a broom?

a. Incorrect punctuation usage

b. There is an article missing
c. There is a misspelled word
d. Incorrect preposition usage

2. What error do you recognize in the

following sentence?
She travelled toward the eastern seaboard in
a Winnebago s the storm gathered in the
north near Maine.
a. “eastern seaboard” should be capitalized
b. “toward” should be towards
c. “North” should be capitalized
d. “near Maine” should be “by Maine”

3. O’Malley exclaimed, “I want to swim to!

And then he belly-flopped into the pool
with the children.
How many errors are there in the sentence
above?
a. 0 c. 2
b. 1 d. 3

4. When preparing to long term treks

across the dessert in Australia, you
mustn’t forget the essentials if you want
to stay alive.
How many errors are there in the sentence
above?
a. 0 c. 2
b. 1 d. 3

5. What errors do you recognize in the

following sentence?
There is a great restaurant on Main street
that your going to love, it’s salmon fillet is
always very fresh and tasty.
a. “,” should be replaced with “;”
b. “street” should be capitalized
c. “your” should be spelled “you’re”
d. “it’s” should be “its”
 6. What errors do you recognize in the 8. Jeanie Kirkland knew she had to
following sentence? assure her patient, whose name was
Her color-coded filing system was very Gregg, that he was healing well and
advanced, as she had been discreetly on the road to recovery.
developing it for weeks. How many errors are there in the
sentence above?
a. “discreetly” should be spelled a. 0 c. 2
“discretely” b. 1 d. 3
b. “color-coded” should not be
hyphenated 9. How many spelling errors do you
c. Neither option a nor b is correct recognize in the following sentence?
d. Both options a and b are correct Tom’s niece spilled chocolate ice cream
on her beige sweater while she was
7. What type of punctuation error do walking around the neighborhood park.
you recognize in the following a. 0 c. 2
sentence? b. 1 d. 3
Johns motorcycle was brought to the
shop around the corner after its exhaust 10. Were more millenials born in the 1980’s
pipe was bent. or in the 1990’s, or were most of them
a. There is an apostrophe missing born after 2000?
b. There is a hyphen missing How many errors are there in the sentence
c. There is a comma missing above?
d. There is a semicolon missing a. 0 c. 2
b. 1 d. 3

Part 2. Proofreading Practice. Identify the mistakes in the document below by applying proofreader’s
marks correctly.

with the invention of the personal computer and the Internet, a new age in communications begins, now
people could communicate fastest and more easily than ever before. Writing, editing, and storing
information became quick and easy. It was no longest necessary to write draft after draft when changes
could be made so easily using a word Processor program. Messages, could now be sent in no time to
anywhere in the world, without addressing envelopes or licking stamps.
Century most early, around the year 1450 a similar revolution in communications had occurred in
Germany. This happened when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. Gutenberg was not the
first person to use printing to copy a piece of writing. printing was already being invented in China, where
they used clay to print oriental characters. Small items, such as posters and flyers, were already being
printed in Europe too, using the woodblock method of printing. Books and other largest works, however,
were still being copied by hand. At this time, books were usually produced only in latin, and only the most
educated people read them. Gutenbergs’ printing press was about to change all of this.

Part 3. Grammar. Rewrite the sentences using correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

1. I was desperate to Have this film finished.

2. my gradfather commanded an entire battalion during the war.
3. It’s a truism but 19 th__ century English prosi is almost all good.

Choose the answer that is a complete and correctly written sentence.

4. a. Destiny and Kaithlyn takes ballet lessons on Wednesday.

b.When talking about your family, it are wise to be discreet.
c.Earlier he spent 12 years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement.
d.For Janice, revenge were sweetly.

5. a.The mammoth was larger than an elephant.

b.When you do you’re homework, omit questions 11, 15 and 19.
c.My dad had to get a permit from the City of Dallas to builds a shed in our backyard.
d.It was very interested listening to the elderly man recount his experience during the war.

Prepared: Maureen S. Fernandez

TEP Instructor