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WRITING THE COLUMN/ OPINION ARTICLE

An opinion article takes the form of an editorial, column or feature article. It is a


piece of writing on a timely topic to inform, entertain, influence or involve readers.
Qualities of an opinion writer
Keen observation, good judgment, sound reasoning, knowledge of human nature
and wide acquaintanceship, original style, tact, wholesome sense of humor,
restraint
Types of opinions
Editorial news commentary, editorial, humor, personal, opinion column, book
column, etc.
Guidelines for writing the opinion article
1. Start the article with a lead which would immediately grab the leaders
interest
2. Stay within the subject range
3. If the column is meant to entertain, be sure it does entertain
4. If the article gives serious suggestions, be sure it is reliable
5. For, variety, deal with different aspects of the main topic
6. Avoid unkind references to people
7. Write in good taste
8. Dont write with malice
9. Deal with timely material
Purposes of opinion articles
Influence public opinion
Call attention to a wrong
Enlighten
Help a cause
Praise or congratulate
to comment lightly
Guiding points for opinion writing
Think the issues through
All facts are there
Every possible angle is analyzed
Logical
Consistency of viewpoint

Impartial, straight forward


Aggressiveness without belligerency
Dignity good taste, not rash, calm, authoritative judgment
Note of authority cite sources/dictionary, statistics etc.
Types of opinion writing
Informative review/announce certain facts or events
Interpretative those which explain or bring out significance of events
Ex. Why pre-tests or post-tests are given
Crusade or reform: ex. Need for more extensive reading program
Praise or commend
Entertainment
Tribute
Writing the opinion article
(a) Beginning:
Striking statement:
Ex. One need not study environmental science to understand snakes and
crocodiles. Just run for public office.
Quotation
Ex. Being a newsman is not easy. You get and print the news, they may get
killed for it. This statement by John Santos, president of the National Press Club
summed up sentiments of the media who attended the NPC congress in Manila last
week.
Narration
Ex. Typhoon Yolanda showed its wrath last month
It cut through the Visayas Region with strong winds.
killingsome 6,000 people and destroying millions worth of properties.
Order Implement a total anti-logging law!
Question The Philippines, according to the National Economic Development
Authority is on the way to recovery, but is it? This question was posed by
News peg The Filipino people have always been lovers of music and theater.
And it is timely that November has been declared a month for indigenous
Philippine music and theater arts.
(b) Body:
Should include the opinions basic facts, causes and effects behind incidents and
situations, illustrations or argument.

(c) Conclusion
Drives home the final important thought or directions in the form of advise,
challenge, command, just rounding out or simple summary.
Tips for opinion writing:
1. Use positive approach state the problem, analyze it objectively then
suggest a solution or urge an activity.
2. Be brief and clear
3. Get to the point quickly
4. Use simple words
5. Do not preach, present facts
6. The opinion article must be fresh
7. It must be clear as possible

Writing the sports story


The sports writer combines the skills of the general reporter, the features
writer, and the headline writer. In addition he should strive to:
1. Be accurate. Not only in the score but in all the other highlights. If you
arent sure of an episode in the game, check personally with the players
involved or their coaches.
2. Avoid clichs like, splicing the hoop, walloped the pill (made a hit in
baseball), turned the tables on, lowered the boom, sank a twinnie, etc.
3. Include human interest. The personal background of the performer can lend
color and depth to a story. Is he coming back from a slump, redeeming
himself from a previously poor performance, the oldest cyclist or the
youngest rookie in the lineup?
4. Keep your sense of humor.
5. Exercise discipline. When you cover a game, a multitude of detail crowds on
you. Be selective and pick out for your story only the ones that count or
which would give point to your story. The editing on a story starts with the
reporter himself.
6. Follow the inverted pyramid order the big facts first, the lesser next.
7. Write the story immediately after the event. Like any other news story, the
sports must pass the cut-off test.
Writing the sports lead

Just like any straight news story, the sports story may use the conventional
summary lead. However, the presence of striking material may lend itself to a
feature lead. Besides who won and whats the score, a number of conditions in
athletic contests make good material for a feature lead:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Special significance of the game


Cause of victory or defeat, also called analytical lead
Names of outstanding players or player
Names of competing teams
Name of the coach
Description of the crowd, such as the size, unusual behavior
A moment of intense interest

Commonly used words and phrases


In football
Ball carrier
lineman
Ball club
line of scrimmage
Blitz
out of bounds (adv.)
End line
out of bounds (adj.)
End zone
pitchout (n.)
Fair catch
place kick
Field goal
place-kicker
Fourth-and-one (adj.)
play off (v.)
Fullback
playoff (n., adj.)
Goal line
runback (n.)
Goal-line stand
runback (n.)
Halfback
running back
Halftime
split end
Handoff
tailback
Kick off (v.)
tight end
Kickoff (adj.)
touchback
Left guard
touchdown
Linebacker
wide receiver
In baseball
Backstop
Ball club
Ball parks
Ballplayer

major-league (adj.)
major leaguer (n.)
outfielder
passed ball

Base line
putout (n.)
Centerfield
pinch hit (v.)
Center fielder
pinch-hit (n., adj.)
Designated hitter pinch hitter (n.)
Double-header
pitchout
Double play
play off (v.)
Fair ball
playoff (n.), adj.)
Fast ball
Foul tip
sacrifice fly
Ground-rule double
sacrifice hit
Home plate
shoestring catch
Home run
shortstop
Left-hander
shutout (n., adj.)
Line drive
shut out (v.)
Line up (v.)
slugger
Lineup (n.)
squeeze play
Major league (n.) strike
Strike zone
triple play
Paracelis leaguer
wild pitch
In basketball
Backboard
Backcourt
Backcourtman
Baseline
Field goal
Foul line
Foul shot
Free throw
Free-throw line
Front court
Full-court press
Goaltending

half-court pass
halftime
hook shot
jump ball
jump shot
layup
man-to-man
midcourt
pivot man
play off (v.)
playoff (n., adj.)
zone

HEADLINE WRITING
Rules in writing headlines
Write a headline that is easy to read. The simple declarative subject-predicate
sentence is easy to write and read.

Ex.: Partisan disputes


block Senate action
1. Give the main idea in the first line the who-what angle.
Ex.: NBI arrests
2 suspects
in swindle case
2. In a head with two or more decks, make the top (in a head deck) tell the
most significant points of the story and no other.
3. Avoid heads that can have double meanings
Wrong Aged fight pension plan for future
Right Aged group fight new pension plan
4. Write noting in the headline that isnt in the story.
5. Avoid repeating key words or ideas, in a headline with two or more decks
Wrong GSIS strike settled;
strikers back to work
Right
GSIS dispute ends
strikers back to work
6. Dont use names unless persons are well-known
Wrong - Dimitri Vinogrendovasks asylum
Right Soviet scientist asks asylum
7. Be specific. avoid generalities.
Wrong - Student given scholarship
Right Nava winsUNgrant
8. Dont editorialize. state facts; avoid opinions
Wrong Midgets make good showing
Right Midgets win 3 out of 4 games
9. Make a complete statement; dont use labels. Every head should have a verb,
stated or implied.
Wrong Medalists
Right Mt Prov students win 35
medalsin CARAA meet
10.Reflect the tone of the story. Features should have feature heads.
Wrong Boy lost in city market
Right Police help Jimmy find lost mama
11.Avoid using a negative verb.
Wrong English Club meeting wont be held
Right English Club meeting cancelled
12.Avoid obvious alliteration except in feature heads.
Wrong Streetsweeper stabbed, dies
Right Streetsweeper knifed to death

13.Use forceful, dynamic verbs.


Wrong Greenies beat All-Americans, 52-30
Right Greenies crush All-Americans, 52-30
14.Omit week verb if clearly implied.
Wrong Warren is next student council head
Right Warren next student council head
15.Use present tense for past events.
Wrong Senate passed budget
Right Senate passes budget
16.Use short familiar words.
Wrong Philippine Philatelist Club visits National Library
Right Stamp club visits National Library
17.Dont begin a headline with a verb; it may sound imperative.
Wrong Destroy school property worth P16,000
Right P10,000worth school property destroyed
18.Use only commonly accepted abbreviations.
Wrong S C backs up rallies
Right Mopreco rates hiked
19.Dont use the articles a, an, the.
Wrong Aquino revamps the Cabinet
Right Aquino revamps Cabinet
20.Use numbers only if important; write numbers in figures. Write them out in
words if the figure will occupy more space and will be more difficult to read.
Use B and M for billion and million.
Ex.: Congress passes P3.5 M bill
21.Avoid tombstone heads.
Two heads set in similar type could be mistakenly read as one

LAYOUTING
Types of Layout
There are three recognized types of layouts:
1. The balanced make-up This is achieved through symmetry. A page is
divided into two. Everything on the left is balanced by something on the
right and vice versa. It is confidence-inspiring, but too formal.
2. (a) Contrast and balance Balance is achieved by contrast. For example,
pictures on one side are balanced by headlines on another or black spots by
white spots.
(b) Brace

1) Right brace identified by a heavy concentration of pictures and


headlines on the upper right hand corner.
2) Left brace identified by a heavy concentration of pictures and
headlines on the upper left hand corner.The brace is a good substitute for
streamers (the use of the full spread for the headline).
3. Circus make-up columns are broken up into various lengths.
Some guidelines in layouting
1. Avoid tombstoning (placing of two or more heads in the same face type at
approximately the same level in adjacent columns) by having heads of more
than one column width or by boxing.
2. Know the relative value of each part of the front page. The order of
importance follows the S pattern
The area where a news story is placed increases its importance.
3. Build from the top down.
4. Distribute headlines Put on the front page only what is important. A
cluttered feeling is not necessarily a newsy page.
5. Have plenty of breathing space Whites, as they are commonly called,
give the feeling of the content not being too difficult to read. This can be
achieved by the use of sub-heads, shorter paragraphs, and shorter stories.
6. Avoid using the same type throughout The use of more than one type lends
variety.
7. Use photos but not bad, obscene, small, or firing-squad pictures.
8. The use of caps and lower case is better than all caps.
9. Headlines should not have letters and impinge on one another as in fat heads
nor should there be a lot of white space between letters as in thin heads. The
label kind or the wooden head has no meaning.
10.Avoid too many brinks (secondary heads).
11.Use the ears of the paper found at the upper-right or left hand corner of the
front page for ads, announcements etc.
12.Avoid bunching type, whether all dark or all light.
13.Avoid jumping stories if at all possible.
14.Avoid separating related stories and pictures.
15.Avoid placing cuts or boxes where they will be surrounded by body type.
They should be attached to the top or bottom of the pages or display that is
itself firmly positioned.
16.Avoid having the top half of a page too heavy. A spread beneath the fold
will help prevent this.
17.Avoid placing a small head on a rather long story.

18.Avoid excessive leading.


Principles of effective layout
1. Harmony
(a) The contents of every page and of every double page spread should blend
into a harmonious unit.
(b) Headlines should complement each other.
(c) Pictures should not distract the eye too much from the type.
(d) No one part of the page should overshadow entirely another part of a page,
although there should be one dominant point of interest.
2. Balance
(a) Pages should not seem top or bottom heavy.
(b) They should not lean to the left or to the right.
(c) Perfect balance is achieved by having like units balancing each other.
3. Emphasis
(a) Display news according to its importance.
(b) The news value of every story must determine its page in the newspaper, its
position on a page, and the size and style of headline it is to have. Do not distort
the news value of the story by giving it a more important position or a larger
headline than it deserves.
(c) All stories on page one should be more important than other stories, except
those in special sections.
(d) The upper right-hand corner of the first page is usually considered the most
important position, and the upper left is second.
(e) Positions above the fold are more important than below.
(f)
Boldface type gives more prominence than light-face type.
(g) Boxes Bulletin materials may be set inside a box. The rules which form the
boxes are each one half em wide, if a story is set one em less than one usual width.
4. Proportion
(a) The general format of the paper must be in pleasing proportion. A 12 x 20
inch page is usually set in five columns, each single column measuring 2
inches (or 12 ems).
(b) The body of a story should occupy at least twice as much space as the
headlines.
(c) Banner headlines should be used only when the news really justifies them.

(d)

(e)

Pictures must be sized properly so that their shapes will be in keeping with
other shapes on the page. Long, narrow cuts as well as square ones are
undesirable.
The lengths of articles should be considered. Sometimes an unusually long
story can ruin the proportion of a page. Although you should try to avoid
jump stories, a jump story is better than a poorly proportioned page.

5. Movement
(a) Effective make-up should not be stilted or monotonous.
(b) One of the chief criticism of perfect balance make-up is that there is no
movement. Everything is balanced on an optical fulcrum slightly above the center
of the page.
(c) Will occult balance, a desirable rhythm directs the eye from one part of the
page to another from the most important to the least important.
6. Contrast
(a) Both light and dark headlines should be used.
(b) Every head and cut on a page should contrast with adjoining material.
(c) Contrasting adjacent headlines will help to emphasize the importance of
each other.
(d) Boxes and pictures between heads sometimes are good devices.
(e) Some newspaper copy, such as features or the head of the important story
can be set in double column. (There should be 5-6 lines of double column
for the opening of the news story).

COPY READING
Every piece of copy has to pass through the copy reader (copy editor) before it is
sent to the press. Copyreading may be done by the page editor or his assistant.
Duties of the copyreader
a. Check content
1. Check facts.
2. Delete irrelevant or improper material.
3. Improve news value.
4. Expand or reduce copy.
5. Guard against criticisms on ethics and good taste.
6. Write or check headlines.
7. Correct instances of editorializing.

b. Check the Form


1. Correct errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, usage,
organization
2. Make copy simple and clear
3. Make copy conform to the papers style book.
4. Polish and improve the style of writing.
c. Mark copy for the printer
1. Indicate corrections by using accepted symbols. Do not erase
original. Place mark in the body at the exact spot where the
correction is to be made.
2. Dont write vertically in the margin.
3. Re-type copy when the marks are too congested and difficult to
follow.
4. If necessary, cut and paste re-organized copy on a new sheet of
copy paper.
5. Indicate column width (in ems, usually 12 ems for a single
column), size (in points, usually 8-10 points), kind of type (roman,
italic, boldface, etc.). Indicate with a heavy colored pencil, any
deviation from the usual way of setting up type; i. e., box double
column, italics instead of the usual roman.
6. Write heads. (Headlines are listed down of a separate sheet of
paper, some staffs work on the final wording of the head after the
galleys are pasted on the dummy.)
Guides to Becoming a good copyreader
a.) Be accurate.
1. Eliminate doubtful facts that cannot be verified.
2. Check facts against each other to insure consistency.
3. Confirm facts and verify names.
4. Check figures. See that the totals tally.
5. Check dates and time.
b.) Be a master of detail.
c.) 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 school and the community.
d.) Be able to write correctly and effectively.

1. Be skillful in the use of sentences and paragraphs.


2. Master the use of words.
3. Write concisely.
4. Edit copy consistently with the style book.
e.) Distinguish basic data from editorializing.
f.) Recognize effective writing.
g.) Have a creative imagination. Be able to see a good story even in a poorlywritten one.
h.) Be a super-reporter.
i.) Be neat and clean in marking copy. Write legibly.
j.) Consult references.
k.) Be careful and patient.
Copyreading Procedure
1. Place your name or initials on each piece of copy, usually on the upper right
hand corner.
2. Encircle the guideline (short title, name of the reporter)
3. Mark the copy for the printer (size, type, column width, etc.) and encircle all
instructions.
4. Read through for a general understanding of the entire story.
5. Correct all mechanical errors and obvious errors in fact.
6. Verify other facts.
7. Read to determine whether any essential environment is omitted or any
irrelevant or improper details are included.
8. Read again to improve upon the construction.
9. Improve the general writing.
10.Check the length.
11.Reread to see of it reads smoothly and for corrections.
12.Write the headline.
13.Pass on to the editor.
Reducing copy
The editor usually tells the reporter how much copy of lines of type to fill up
a given space. The beginner may get this information by counting the average
number of spaces in each printed line. Seven lines of 9 pt. type make up a column
inch. If the material is typed out to approximate the width of the printed page, the
copyreader simply counts lines to get a column inch. Some school papers prepare
the copy paper with the width already indicated in the column inches marked off.
The length of a story may be reduced in several ways.

1. Cut the last paragraph or paragraphs (If the copy has been written to meet
the cut-off test).
2. Omit any other unimportant sentence or paragraph.
Style Sheet
Individual writers have their own styles and their own preferences or habits
in spelling and punctuation. While originally is to be encouraged in the writer, a
certain consistency in basic usage is necessary for the staff. To achieve this
consistency that is part of the publications personality, it may set up rule sin the
form of a stylebook or style sheet.
Big publications usually adopt a style book which includes an alphabetical
list words, indicating the preferred spelling. It may also include factual references
in order to facilitate the work of the editors and the writers. For the school
publication, a simple style sheet is usually sufficient.
In both the more comprehensive stylebook or the more modest style sheet,
rules should always be simple and clear, permitting few exceptions. For any further
questions, a previously adopted official dictionary shall be the final arbiter.
Punctuation
Use of the period
- Omit the period in abbreviations of offices, schools and
organization: LSGH, STC, MI.
- Use the period instead of parenthesis with numerals or
letters accompanying an enumeration:
1. not (1)
2. not (2)
a. not (a)
Use of Comma
- Use commas to set off identification: Efren Reyes, Pilipino
Department Head
- Do not use commas if the identification is preceded by of
- Use quotation marks in titles of speeches, and discussion
subjects which are long or involved: The conventions
subject will be: Student Activism and the School Crisis:
Where will it end?
- Use quotation marks to set off coined words or unusual
words expressions the FIRST time such words or
expressions are use in the story.
- 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 mark:
Did you join the discussion on The Bankruptcy of Pilipino
Leadership? He asked, Did you see the movie The Color
Purple?
- When the full name is used, use quotation marks to set off
nicknames. Otherwise when the nickname is used instead of
the full name, do not use quotation marks.
Use the Apostrophe
- Do not use the apostrophe to form the plural or capital letters
or the plural figures:
SPs
1960s
- But plurals of lower-case letters need apostrophes:
x's and ys
College Degrees
- Abbreviate scholastic degree as follows:
A.B.,
B.S.E.
etc.
- Use periods and leave out space between letters.
Companies, Corporations
- Abbreviate Company, Corporation, Incorporated, Brother,
Limited, at the end of the name of the business enterprise.
Countries, Provinces, Places
- The name of some countries may be abbreviated, such as:
RP, US, UK, USSR, etc.
- For headlines, Sino may be used for Chinese, and Russ for
Russians. Never use Jap for Japanese and Nip for
Nipponese.
- Names of provinces are generally not abbreviated in body
matter, except ones ending in Oriental or Occidental, such as
Negros Or., Misamis Occ.
- Some provinces such as Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, may
be abbreviated in headlines as NE, NV.
- Abbreviated Saint, Santo, Santa, For 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 Xmas or govt
Organizations
- Abbreviations of government, civic and school agencies and
organizations do not have periods:
SWA
YMCA
UN PNB YLAC
UNESCO
- Do not begin a sentence with an abbreviation : do not use an
abbreviation before you use the full name.
Streets, Avenues
- Abbreviate streets, avenue, boulevard, drive, road, after a
name.
Symbols
- Use per cent not the symbol % in the body matter. The
symbol may be used only in tabulations.
- Use and not the symbol & except when part of name.
- Use each instead of the symbol @
- Abbreviate names of months when followed by a date. Spell
out when not definite date follows. Do not use comma
between month and year.
Titles
- Titles are abbreviate when used before a persons full name
or before his first names initial and his surname. Titles are
spelled out when only the surnames follows.
Use titles of Dr., Mr. and Mrs. Are always abbreviated.
In a list of names use the titles singly, NOT Mesdames,
or Doctors, followed by several names.
Spelling
- Our fundamental rule is to use the simpler, shorter, form
when a word has more than one spelling. This idea is to save
space and to enhance reading ease.
Judgment not judgement, enrolment, not enrollment. The
standard authority for spelling in Webster;s New
International Dictionary. It should be consulted in all
unfamiliar words.

Avoid Briticisms. Thus use honor, not honour, organize


not organize; clue, not clew
Plurals
- Data, agenda, memoranda, and similar words derived from
the latin are plural and take plural verbs. The English plural
form of words derived from other languages is preferred.
Examples:
Beau, beaus, tableau, tableaus (not tableaux)
Chassis, deer, sheep, swine, fowl, etc. have
the same spelling in both plural and singular
forms. The plural of fish is the same as the
singular but fishes may be used when
referring to specific species.

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