LESSON-1 COPY EDITING Introduction to Copy Editing/Copy Editor Objectives: The students will learn the meaning and

scope of copy editing/copy editor. How to deal with copies at hand in relation to time constraint and how it can be done effectively. Copy-editors work with copy coming from writers and reporters to prepare it for publication in their newspaper, magazine or website, linking up with editors, designers, picture editors, production staff and printers to move material from raw copy to finished page. Through exercises and discussion, participants will pick up the elements of all the basic skills needed for sub-editing. This will include: text handling style spelling and grammar writing strong headlines, stand-firsts and captions law for subs proof-reading type the role of the sub-editor Who should attend Reporters and other journalists wanting to get to grips with editing; editors wanting to understand what their subs are up to; writers wanting to learn to tighten up their own copy; freelances and staff journalists wanting to widen their job opportunities Qualifications A desire to pick up sub-editing skills English The study of English opens doors to many careers. English majors develop highly valued skills in oral and written communication, and the ability to think creatively as well as analytically. While English graduates have many opportunities for employment in fields that are "literary" in nature, they are by no means limited to these. This major is considered excellent preprofessional training for careers in law and administration. Law schools and MBA programs consistently place high value on the qualities developed in the English major: broad humane understanding as well as articulateness. These qualities are also

highly valued in training for federal service, public policy, and health services, in addition to the better known options of teaching and library science. Nature of the Work It is difficult to summarize the work of those with a degree in English due to the broad array of career options they pursue. Presented below are brief sketches of occupations that require the English major's skills in communication and analysis. Production assistant, editorial assistant and copy writer are examples of entry-level positions in publishing. Production assistants clip stories that come over the wire services' printers, answer phones, and make copies of material for news writers, editors, and program directors. They review copy for errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. They check manuscripts for readability, style, and agreement with editorial policy. Editorial assistants perform research for writers and verify facts, dates, and statistics. They may help prepare material for publication or broadcast by arranging page layouts of articles, photographs, and advertising or by planning the use of films. They may also compose headlines, prepare copy for typesetters, and proofread the printer's galleys. Some editorial assistants read and evaluate manuscripts submitted by freelance writers or answer letters about published or broadcast material. Copywriters write advertising copy for use by publication or broadcast media to promote the sale of goods and services. Technical writers put scientific and technical information into readily understandable language. They may prepare engineering manuals, catalogs, parts lists, instructional materials and engineering reports. Technical writers often are part of a team, working closely with scientists, engineers, accountants, and others. Places of Employment Again, it is important to point out that English graduates are found working for a broad array of employers in non-literary as well as literary careers in business, industry and government. Nearly half of those in writing and editing positions work for newspapers, magazines, and book publishers. Substantial numbers also work on journals and newsletters published by business and nonprofit organizations, such as professional associations, labor unions, and religious organizations. Others write and edit advertising and public relations materials for advertising agencies, public relations firms, and large corporations. Some also work in radio and television broadcasting; others develop publications for federal, state, and local governments. Thousands of others work as freelancers writing articles, books and, less commonly, television and movie scripts. Wildest dreams of riches and fame can come true for writers, but most support themselves primarily with income from other sources. Technical writers generally work for firms manufacturing aircraft, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and computer and other electronic equipment. Firms in the energy, communications, and computer software fields also employ many technical writers. An understanding of the role of the sub-editor

Acquisition of a level of competence in the basic skills needed as a sub-editor

Further courses to consider Quark XPress subs tend to be expected to know how to run the machines that publishers use. Design many subs pick up a modicum of layout skills. Feature writing anything that improves your awareness of good writing bolsters your subbing skills. Student Publishing Guidebook This is where most of the shaping of the magazine content happens. Apart from the mechanical process of checking spelling and grammar, articles are shortened or occasionally lengthened and difficult sections recast. Also photographs and illustrations are chosen, headlines, titles and pull quotes decided and pages proofed. Sub-Editing is the grayest area of magazine production. Mistakes made at the sub-editing stage can often cause more offense than any general editorial policy. Sub-editing is best done with a careful eye for details and a light touch. However this does not mean that a sub-editor should hesitate to alter an article if need be - it is sometimes necessary to almost completely rewrite a submission. The editing process is integral to publishing. Editing is not a privilege but a duty, both to the reader and author. An author has the right to withhold permission to publish a work, but they have no right to impose how or in what form a given editor chooses to publish that work. Clearly a wise sub-editor will tread gently in this area but the fact remains that a contributor is not (usually) the editor. Headlines should be chosen with care and attention to the overall intent of the piece; for example an article on the violent oppression of Kurds living in the deltas of Iraq should not be titled Marsh Mallows. Similarly pull quotes - text selected from the body of the article, enlarged and placed between paragraphs - should be chosen to reflect the tone of the piece while trying to gain the readers attention. Bad pull quotes are a very good way of annoying both authors and readers. Proofreaders should also have an eye to the general content of the article and not just for typos or grammatical errors; for example an article on womens soccer ha d the Words "Great Tits!" inserted into the first paragraph as a joke during layout. An irate letter was received from the captain of the football team upon publication and the proofreader in question explained that yes, he had seen it, but the spelling was okay... Another mistake that gives rise to great offense is crediting submissions incorrectly - on one occasion several hundred eratta slips had to be produced when one national poet discovered that his work had been credited to a rival. Each magazine will have its own house style, but when checking grammar the following is useful in spotting the more common errors (reprinted from Physical Review Letters Vol. 42, No. 12, March 1979, p748, George L. Trigg):

1) Make sure each pronoun agrees with their antecedent. 2) Just between you and i, the case of pronouns is important. 3) Watch out for irregular verbs which have crope into English. 4) Verbs has to agree in number with their subjects. 5) Dont use no double negatives. 6) Being bad grammar, a writer should not use dangling modifiers. 7) Join clauses like a conjunction should. 8) A writer must not shift your point of view. 9) About sentence fragments. 10) Dont use run on sentences you got to punctuate them. 11) In letters essays and reports use commas to separate items in series. 12) Dont use commas, which are not necessary. 13) Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas. 14) Its important to use apostrophes right in everybodys writing. 15) Dont abbrev. 16) Check to see if you any words out. 17) In the case of a report, check to see that jargonwise, its A-OK. 18) As far as incomplete constructions, they are wrong. 19) About repetition, the repetition of a word might be real effective repetition take, for instance the repetition of Abraham Lincoln. 20) In my opinion, I think that an author when he is writing should definitely not get into the habit of making use of too many unnecessary words that he does not really need in order to put his message across. 21) Use parallel construction not only to be concise but also clarify. 22) It behooves us all to avoid archaic expressions. 23) Mixed metaphors are a pain in the neck and ought to be weeded out. 24) Consult the dictionery [spell checker] to avoid mispelings. 25) To ignorantly split an infinitive is a practice to religiously avoid. 26) Last but not least, lay off the cliches. A good source of information on good magazine editorial style is the By far the most visible part of the production process the layout stage can also be the easiest - or the hardest. It is where Staff must battle with reluctant computers, long hours and the knowledge that even if an infinite amount of time was available there would still be things which could be done. While it takes a reasonably short time to learn the basics of laying out a page you can spend a lifetime learning all the little tricks and wrinkles that can really make a magazine look worthwhile. Layout staff are usually people willing to use computers happily and who have a certain single mindedness about detail; the difference between a humdrum layout and a great layout is often just a few subtle effects that no normal person would even notice individually. If you find that your layout staff are willing to spend ten minutes just selecting the right font for a headline, you know you have hired wisely. (A word of warning however - if you don't do layout try not to be at that end of the table during po st-production drinks - if you dont already know what the The Font Game is, you really dont want to find out.)

Some general points about layout and page design before proceeding onto the specific system used in Pubs: 1) Keep it simple - usually. Dont use lots of different fonts, ty pe styles and effects just because you can. The page design should reflect and enhance the content of the text, not compete for the readers attention. 2) The last 30% of laying out a page takes 70% of the time. Magazines have deadlines so be prepared to sacrifice perfection for expediency. That said, there is no excuse for sloppy work. 3) Bear in mind that although you know exactly the message youre trying convey (hopefully), a reader will be coming to your layout cold. Easy readability is essential. 4) Make backups of work in progress as often as you can remember and always backup before trying to print. No computer is perfectly stable and a complicated document can make a lot of demands on a system so protect yourself against frustration and the loss of valuable time and effort. 5) Be aware of the limitations of the production process. For example if you intend to output your magazine using a professional repro house, scanning in your photos directly into the document files is probably a good idea, otherwise its a waste of time, resources and really wo nt look very good when printed on the standard laser printer. 6) Make sure that before you begin laying out a document you have a page plan. This will allow you to design style sheets and master pages in advance, saving you much repetition of work. As a very rough rule of thumb you can fit about 600 words of text onto an A4 page. 7) Most magazines are printed using A2 plates. Therefore when working out how many pages youll need, make sure its a multiple of four for A4 pages or two for A3 pages. Dont forget to include the covers in your page count. 8) Colour is expensive but a little spot colour can go a long way. Consider also the weight, colour and finish of the paper used for your covers and inside pages. 9) Watch out for widow and orphan lines. These are lines where either the first or last line of a paragraph falls on a different column or page from the rest of the paragraph. While sometimes unavoidable they are bad style, although less of a crime in longer texts. Now for specifics: For experienced staff - We have recently upgraded our system to Apple Mac (G3s) running Quark XPress 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop. Links to tutorials on these programmes can be found on our links page. As Trinity's computer facilities are split half and half between PCs and Macs and the outside world is more haevily weighted in favour of PCs, software confliction problems do occur. Our Macs have just had Word 98 installed, but Office 2000 is round the corner so the problem is a never-ending one. We would reccomend getting your writers to submit copy either in Word 6.0 form or Rich Text Format. As floppy disks are notoriously easy to corrupt, especially in a filthy ash and coffee -strewn office, it is advisable to get as many people to file copy by e-mail. As attachments mind, as text pasted into an e-mail has to be time-consumingly unpastes to remove the carriage-returns/line breaks. A general point to all: do not alter system settings, install new software or use applications you have no idea how to operate without discussing it first with the Amenities Officer of Pubs. This is especially a problem when outside layout staff are brought in as they have a tendency to help us out by changing the system to the way they think it should be. This can cause real damage and several hours or days to fix. The

current setup is finely balanced between the competing needs of all the users in Pubs as well as our resource limitations. The entire design and layout process in Pubs centres around using one Desk Top Publishing package: Quark Xpress. Quark is a high end professional package that can be used to produce everything from black and white leaflets to books to full colour posters. While learning all the ins and outs of Quark takes quite a bit of time and experience the basics are outlined here. The key concept in Quark Xpress is boxes. Each box floats own its on level above the page and depending on whether or not it is in front of other boxes it can affect the contents of those other boxes. There are two types of box: text boxes and graphic boxes. Text boxes contain headlines, body text, pull quotes and so on. Graphic boxes contain illustrations and pictures. Boxes may contain nothing and along with frames and lines can be active elements in the page design themselves rather than passive receptacles. Unless you specify otherwise the box itself will be invisible and only its contents (if any) will show when printed. For convience boxes are normally shown on screen with a solid or dotted outline depending on whether or not the box is selected or unselected. Each box can have different settings for background colour, picture contrast, frame (if any) number of columns and so on. Lets illustrate this with a simple example. Look at the example on the opposite side (it is intended merely to show different aspects of a page layout and not as an example of good layout or writing!). Click on the picture to get a higher resolution scan As each item (an item being a box or a line) is created it is placed on the next level above the last item. The order of layers can be changed later if need be. Boxes interact with other boxes in two ways: with their runaround and their background colour. The box above affects the box below through these attributes. The background colour setting is the more basic of the two. A box can either have an opaque background, such as white or red (white is the common default) or it can be transparant, i.e. have colour none. This setting is controlled using the Item > Modify... > Background option. Items underneath a box will only be visible if the colour is set to none. It is normal to set the contents of the lower box(es) to a shade of grey so as not to obscure the contents of the foreground box. In the example on the previous page the main body text box was set to colour none to allow the backgound box with Death to be seen, while the circular box in the lower left hand corner had its background colour set to black. If you could tilt the sample page a little to the side it would look something like the illustration below.

examples (for clarity

The runaround setting affects only text in the box below. The runaround is the amount of white space that surrounds the box on top. Text lines run as far as the runaround and then stop. This also means that centred lines no longer centre in the middle of the lower box but centre between the runaround and the edge. If the runaround is turned off, text will continue under the higher box. Here are some frames have been put around the boxes):

It is important to remember that although it is the runaround on i the top box which is modified its text is not affected, only the text in the box(es) below. The exact size of the runaround around the item may controlled and different sizes can be specified for the each side. The runaround is often the cause of unexpected occurences when using Quark, e.g. text not centering properly and so on. Runaround does not affect the contents of picture boxes. Picture boxes can also have another form of runaround - image runaround. Rather than flowing the text around the item, the text can be made to flow around the image inside the box. For example: Thus for text in one box to be visible under another box - as in the Death example both the runaround must be turned off and the background colour set to none in the box above. If the runaround is not turned off the text will simply be squeezed out of the lower box. Controlling boxes and their contents is done through the Item and Content tools. Their toolbar icons are shown (somewhat enlarged!) below: By selecting a box with the item tool changes made apply to the box or line itself - the box can be repositioned on the page and so on. By selecting the content tool changes can be made to the contents of the box, i.e. a picture can be repositioned inside a box but the box itself does not move. Once you understand how to use boxes in Quark Xpress you will be able to begin doing layout. More advanced topics - such as using the scanner - are generally learned on th e job, but Pubs will provide you with training if needed. Jargon: is there anything we can do to stem the flow? Jargon, like queue jumping and litter, is something we can all agree to dislike. The word itself is generally believed to come from the medieval French ('the twittering of birds'). It is used to describe words and phrases with which we feel uncomfortable. At one level are those flabby words and phrases that all should avoid, such as 'absolute perfection' and 'at the end of the day'. At another are words that have a special meaning to immediate colleagues, but none at all to those outside the tribe. The problem here is usually one of culture, as writers find it in their interest to please their peers before their readers. Thus doctors end up writing for doctors and NHS managers for other NHS managers (usually theirs). This issue of Short Words has jargon as its theme. Articles range from a collection of readers' most derided words to a review of a new book on NHS jargon. We have

identified some useful websites, and David Pencheon gives a list of buzz words that those sitting public health exams should sprinkle throughout their projects. Will reading this issue help solve the 'jargon problem'? Some of the words we list may sensitise you to some of the uglier - and unnecessary - additions to the English language. But this will only go so far: the only permanent solution is making sure that, with everything you write, you define clearly your target readers. In that way you should be able to choose the words and phrases that they will be comfortable with - and jargon will no longer be an issue. The Copy Editor While routine proof-reading is largely concerned with making the type agree, with the copy, the copy desk often uses it to make changes of another sort. In a sense, the copy editor must be able to use proof marks as an editing device. For instance, when he revises a story to incorporate new material, it may be necessary to make correction in the part of the story already in type to make it congruent. Nevertheless, proof is not the stage for' second thoughts'. Time and stress conditions in the composing room require that the editor consider the consequence of each proof mark he makes in terms of the magnitude of the correction and the time and labour needed to accomplish it at such a later hour. Changes which correct errors of fact are necessary. Corrections which make a substantial contribution to the reader's understanding of the story should also be carried out Corrections which add a touch of polish to the story or substitute a ,somewhat more felicitous phrase should, however, be avoided. The proof-reading symbols reasemble copy-reacting symbols in some instances but in many cases the one may not be substituted freely for the other. Proof marks have more or less constant symbols from one newspaper to another. All stories destined for the newspaper, whether they come from the iJ typewriters of reporters and rewrite men or from the several wire services, require! editing. This duty falls chiefly on the copyreader who sits on the rim of a : horseshoeshaped table-the copy desk. (Small papers do not have copy desks. The; city editor and other editors read all the copy) The copy desk set up varies somewhat with individual papers, but most papers nowadays adopt one of two general procedures: the universal desk system or the independent desk system. In the old days, the universal desk system actually was universal in the sense that it handled everything that case in. Nowadays, even on small dailies, the work is usually divided between the city desk and the telegraph desk. Between the they edit copy and write headlines for all "spot" news-everything except sports and financial coverage.

The independent or separate desk system, in operation on a large scale at the New York Times, allocates the news to different editors, each of whom has his own corps of copyreaders. At the Times, seven editors with a crew of from. seventy to eighty men edit news designated as cable, telegraph, city, obits-amusement society, finance-business sports, and reserve news. The Times has also a separate desk for its International Edition. Whether the system adopted be universal desk or separate desk, the process of editing runs along similar lines. In each case the story goes to a "slot man" who sits at the head but on the inside rim of the horseshoe desk. This editor or the news editor glances through the copy, quickly gauges its relative importance, determines the space it should occupy-200 words or a half or three-quarters of a column-and decides the type of headline, type of the copy and passes it along to one of his copyreaders who sits on the rim of his horseshoe. This copyreader, sometimes called 41e desk man, rim man, or "mechanic of the editorial room," is the anonymous and frequently unappreciated collaborator of the writer. Newsmen who see his blue pencil lay their cherished prose have few good words to say for him,. but Neil MacNeil in his book, Without Fear or Favor, indicates the newsman's true worth. He suggests that the reputation of many a star reporter rests partly on the work done by this man in the green eye-shade who combed out the reporter's cliches and made his clauses march. Although the tradition persists that the copyreader is a former reporter driven I to the horseshoe desk by middle age, this is rarely the case. As Chet Vonier comments' 'the good copyreader is captured young. The job is much too exacting and specialized to allow of any other method of recruitment. It requires more of a i special sort of mental agility and resilience than an elderly brain can encompass.' Copy-readers generally are paid better than reporters. The work holus cut .attractions for men with editorial ability. The chances for advancement are good) as the copy desk is a reecruiting ground for office executives. This work is mainly two-fold: the editing of the story and the construction of a suitable headline for it. The amount of this work varies on each paper and varies on each day. On a big desk, the copyreader may edit from five to Len columns. On a busy night the words he sets down in his headlines, if written as running matter, might total about two columns. His editorial function is to bring each news item that comes to him up to par. As he picks up the copy and reads, he forms general conclusions about the story in hand. Has it news value? If it hasn't that, it's not worth printing. Is it accurate and fair? Inaccurate items are not wanted by any newspaper. Unfair items are wanted by few papers, and their number is rapidly decreasing. The

copyreader takes the responsibility for published inaccuracies. Is it libellous? An item that contains words or implications that may get the , paper into legal difficulties has to have the danger spots eliminated. Is it complete? Is the treatment fragmentary and partial? Win it leave the, reader up in the air? If so, its details must be rounded out.

If the item meets these qualifications, the copyreader starts his editing to fit his paper's requirements. These r Clearness. The reader must have no difficulty in finding out just what the article means. Con4ensation. The copyreader must cut and condense each story to the length assigned to it. As practiced in newspaper offices condensation applies to words and not to ideas. Verbal frills may go but the meaning must remain. He frequently condenses by substituting short words for long ones. He writes" begin' t instead of "commence"; he writes "try" in place of "endeaver" He knows that by careful condensation one-quarter of the words can be omitted. One "and" is usually enough. Arrangement. The copyreader's notion of logical arrangement differs froD1 that of the literary man. It is based on the convention of the "lead' t which puts the important, part first and the least important last. Style. The copyreader's use of the word "style" has nothing to do with literary quality. As he uses the word it refers to particular rules' which his paper has laid down for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, use of numerals, and the like. Such usages, along with a number of words and phrases to be avoided, vary from paper to paper. He edits his copy along the foregoing lines by means of a set of standardized copyreading symbols which tell the typesetter what sections to omit, where transpose, when to spell a word out and when to contract, etc. Some of the frequently used symbols have been shown in "Our book Theory and Practice Journalism. He then proceeds to check the copy's paragraphs and, if the story If sufficient length, supplies some su1r-heads. The sub-head is a line to be printer a type which differs from. the body type of 'the article and is used to break up too solid look of a long column of type. The best rule is to paragraph for ideas and not for mechanical reason Copyreaders also try to avoid being mechanical when it comes to the subhead. The look of the column demands a sub-head every two sticks or a stick-and at least, or say about every 300 to 350 words. The copyreader aims to have subheads really mark divisions in the subject,

and he tries to have them : something new and not merely repeat what has been already told. 4. Copy-reading in Action: Here is an example. of copyreading 'in action from an expert source general office of the United Press Associations. It is in the form of a memorandum sent to the Division Managers and Business Representatives of all bureaus. of till former United Press and it is reprinted here in full through the courtesy of Mer T. Akers, editorial executive. The story as originally written and finalised read: Orangeburg S.C., Jan. 4 (up)-Juke Box Operator J.E. Hutto was driving peacefully into Orangeburg last night when he saw a car loaded with men care to a halt In front of him! A man leaped out of the cart dragged another struggling man behind him whipped out a pistol and' fired twice. The second man stopped struggling slumped to the ground. The gunman picked up the limp form and shoved it bad into the car, which drove away. Hutto' gave chase "but lost the "death car" in Orangeburg. He stopped an reported the shooting to Sheriff George Reed, giving him the car's Florida license number. Reed quickly notified that State Highway Patrol. The Patrol flashed the report to all stations by radio. Roadblocks were set all over the State. Deputies meanwhile investigated the scene of the shooting. They found footprints but no blood. Less than an hour later another flash came over the patrol radio networking, Frightened witnesses reported another identical shooting at Summerton, S.C., 31 miles northeast of Orangeburg. State troopers swifty charted the course of the car, and went into action. Minutes later they swooped down on the "death car" on the highway 15 miles south of Sumter, S.C. Inside they found five laughing college students-all very much alive. They told troopers they were on their way back to Duke University from their homes in Florida and only meant to enliven the auto trip a bit by staging a few fake murders. The "murder weapon" turned out to bean antique pistol. The ammunition was firecrackers.

The troopers didn't think it ,vas so funny. Neither did the students when the irate patrolmen notified Sheriff Reed in Orangeburg that they were holding the pranksters for him if he wanted them. Reed answered that they were "just college boys having some fun" and old the troopers to let them go. The patrolmen lectured the boys for a while at headquarters and sent them on their way. Troopers promised not to reveal their names. The students promised not to "shoot" anybody else. Here is how the official UP memorandum edited this story, and in the accompanying reproduction we see the editor's pencil and copyreading symbols at work. Orangeburg, S.C., Jan-4 (up)-Juke Box Operator J.E. Hutto was driving peacefully into Orangeburg last night when he saw an automobile full of men stop suddenly. A man leaped from the car. He dragged out a struggling man and shot twice with, a pistol. The second man quit struggling and fell. The gunman picked him up and shoved him back into the car, which was driven away. Hutto chased the "death car" but lost it He reported the shooting to Sheriff Geroge Reed and gave him the car's Florida license number. Reed notified the State Highway Patrol. The patrol called all stations by radio. Roadblocks were set up. Deputies at the scene found footprints but no blood. Less than an hour later another urgent call went over the radio. Witnesses reported an identical shooting at Summeerton, S.C., 30 miles northeast of Orangeburg. State troopers charted the course of the car. Minutes later they caught the death car 15 miles south of Sumter; S.C. In it they found five laughing Duke University students all very much alive. The students said 'they were on their way back to school from Florida an only meant to enliven their trip with a few fake murders. The "murder weapon" turned out to be an antique pistol the ammunition firecrackers. State troopers didn't think the "murders'" were funny. but they let the student go when they promised not the "shoot',', anybody else.

And the editorial reasoning that lay behind this expert copy reading? Here is quoted verbatim front the official UP memo: This news feature came off the ,day trunk wire and is an example of' loosely-written story. "It is too long, full of adjectives and bromides, arrives at their climax too late and then wanders Off into "just words". The; copy reader had' three problems: ' 1. To tighten up the story and thereby speed up the action. 2. To cut out the excess words and bromides. 3. To reduce the story so a telegraph editor could splash it in a page, once be: , if he chose to 'handle' it that way. Here in detai1 is why the corrections , were , made: The, first paragraph originally read that Hutto saw "a car loaded with met careen to a halt in front of him.'" it's simpler and faster to say he saw ', an automobile full ,of men stop suddenly. ;"Whether. ,the automobile' stopped in from of Hutto was Immaterial- he saw it arid thats the point so out comes the last phrase of the first sentence. "Careen", was changed because the word means to tilt or tip which the car probably did not do_ "Loaded with men" is misleading. Presumable they were not' loaded into the car but got in of their own accord. In the second paragraph the, writer took too long to set the scene and used buy many, words. He also wrote in four cliches- "whipped out a pistol," "slumped the ground," "limp from", and roared away Note. the substitute phrases and words. Breaking up the first :Sentence makes the paragraph more, readable., The third, fourth and fourth paragraphs suffer from the same trouble. By taking out the adjectives. and inconsequential detail to copy reader came up with on paragraph in the place. of three-a considerable word saving-and again quicken the tempo. There was no need to detail all the steps Hutto took to notify the authorities. Note the ones taken out. Only minor changes are needed in 1he next paragraph. "Flash" is changed urgent call". Few persons outside our own business know what a flash is. The witnesses probably were frightened. "Excited" probably would have been more explicit, but the situation doesn't necessarily call for an adjective. When doubt about an adjective cut it out. "Another" is redundant in front of identical. The next paragraph about the activity of the state troopers contains two more bromides"went into action and "swooped down.' Now Comes the climax paragraph. "Duke University was moved up and substituted for' college" two birds, with one stone. The story actually ends after knows ,this paragraph but the reader will want to know at least three more details. Those are: why the

students played to prank-for fun-and how they did it-with an old pistol and firecrackersand how the case was disposed of-they went free. The rest is only excess wordage. Although he works anonymously the copyreader, when he constructs a good , headline, joins the ranks of the creative artist With sh6rt ,words and in short', compass he can tell a while story. He knows that the 'headline must fulfill two requirements: it must attract attention to the story; it must announce the story's main facts. He strives to see to it that each headline he concocts, does both. In his American Mercury article already noted, "Art of the Headline Writer Chet Vanier indicates the restrictions under which the copyreader works. The newspaper copyreader works within the narrowest of all literary limits. The style and size of type as well as the number of lines in the headline and determined by another editor before it' reaches the copy desk. Each line of the headline will accommodate a limited number of characters-an average count for . top-of the-column headlines on most newspapers is eleven or. twelve letters or spaces. Except on the most rural journals no word may be divided between one line and the next As the paper progresses in size, other restrictions are imposed. On most newspapers it is regarded as. sinful to end the first line of a headline with a preposition. On others a copyreader may not begin a headline with a verb, leaving the subject understood. On still other papers, an adjective or adverb has to be on the same line as the word' it modifies. Within such narrow limits, the headline writer Contrives to write captions which are informative, intelligent, and ocasiona1ly droll. His vocabulary, is highly selective and, if -the is one of the experts of the trade, it is extensive too He may borrow "nab from thieves argot, and "nuclear fission from the physicists; he will pirate "knockout" from the sports page and "grand slam" from the bridge 'table. He has a high regard for words, but is not seriously hampered by a belief in their inviolability. Fortunately for the, headline writer t the present day' trend veers way from the old strait-jacket style. Each y The Present Day Trend-Shorter Heads" The growing tendency today favours shorter and shorter heads. The short head boasts three advantages-it reads faster it writes faster, and it sets faster. Except in the more conservative papers, headlines have changed from all capitals to upper and lower case for the sake of greater readability. A popular innovation-again to make reading easier and speedier-is the "down style" head in which only the first word and proper names appear in "caps". Another newcomer is the "kickerk" head, favoured for its typographical: impact. Its frequent "gag" quality puts it along with the "teaser" head in the forefront of those

devices used today to lure readers into the body type. Again, only the more conservative papers retain the "jim death". This, the short line which meticulously separates decks and stories, has generally gone by the board along with the decks or banks it once separated. As Allan Holcomb writes in Lata City Edition (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc.): A newspaper may be judged pretty accurately by its headlines. If its aim is to; amuse and shock its reader must, and inform them afterward, its heads will display; an intensive repertory of shockers and thrillers. When a balanced news perspective is the idea, the head writer will endeavor to get the picture in focus, use just the right word and avoid the bromide, the shopworn phrase and the wisecrack. The use of the banner line-that page-wide head in large type illustrates Mr. Holcomb's contention. Daily it screams across the sensational press to chronicle a run-ofthe-mill killing. It is reserved by the New York Times to announce the outbreak of a world war. After a story has been duly edited and headlined, it goes to the composing room to be set in type. However, if it is a major or page one story, it requires a final "okay", For this final scrutiny, it goes to the desk of the night city editor or in the case of the New York Times to the "bull pen' where at least three assistant editors sit and pontificate. A make-up editor may also see the story, as well as a picture caption writer if any "art" is to accompany it on the page. Passed by this executive editorial desk and its place on the page's "dummy" duly noted, this story, like its' lesser confers, leaves the editorial side of the paper for the mechanical. THE CONCEPT OF NEWS NEWS is one of the best known commodities in today's world. Everybody who understands a language and has access to mass media recognises it. The concept of news must have existed even before the beginning of the era of mass media. One may find relics of a primitive system in remote tribal areas where people exchange local news during weekly markets just by talking to one' another. When two friends meet after sometime they exchange information which can be called personal news. Letters written to friends and relatives carry what can be described as news by them. This kind of information exchange is continuing since early days of human society in one form or the other. Everybody will agree that death makes news. If a person dies of a disease or an accident it makes news. The importance of this news is related to the importance of the person and for deadliness of the disease.

Mrs Indira Gandhi was assassinated. It was big news. If she had died of a heart attack or in an accident, even then it would have been big news. That news was important because of the importance of Mrs Gandhi-other factors were there, but the biggest news value of that event was the person involved. If a person dies in a road accident in Madras it will be news in Madras; but if he dies of AIDS in a Madras hospital it will become news of not only national but of international significance. In this case the importance of news is because of the disease. But even ordinary death of an ordinary old man will make news at least for those who know him and are related to him. It may not appear in a newspaper but it will be news to some people. Thus we can say that the concept of news in human society is as old as recognition of death as an event and its communication by any means to those whom the event would affect. Revolutions in transport and communication have led to various changes in significance and reach of the news but the basic concept is the same. In this sense the concept of news may even be older than the concept of God. But as even today we do not have a universally agreed definition of God, there is no definition of news on which everybody agrees. Before the era of newspapers and electronic media, news was communicated by word of mouth. Public announcements by those in power were communicated to the people by various kinds of drummers. Such announcements even now dominate the news coverage in the newspapers, radio and television in almost all countries irrespective of ideology. Radio and television stations become first targets in coups and those who snatch power from the old regime use these electronic drummers f 0, their first announcements. The word NEWS! Though the concept is very old the word 'news' is relatively recent in origin. In English it appeared as "newis" in 1423, "newyes" in 1485 and evolved to "newes" in 1523. It was only after 1550 that it became "news" and even in 1622 there was Butler's Weekly Newes in London while in 1685 we had' such sentences as- "The amazing news of Charles at once were s'pread". The.four letters of the word news have been described as representing the four directions-North, East, West and South. News can come from any of these directions. But as we see every day all events do not make news. Only important and interesting events make news. Further, an event itself is not news-it becomes news when its account is available. Thus Bhagalpur Jail blindings made news several weeks after the event. Similarly, activities of Coomar Narain and Ram Swaroop were going on for quite some time before they made news 'when' the account became available. History is 'also an account of important events. But it relates

News is in a way current history. Today's newspapers will be a source material for historians of tomorrow as, historians consult newspapers of yesteryears in the archives. What is happening today may go down in history, but its account in media gives now is news. Bill if new facts about an event of historical significance are sought out today then it will make news. What Richard Nixon said about the lndo-Pak war of 1971 made news more than a decade later. Vijya Laxmi Pandit's account of the relationship of her brother, Jawaharlal Nehru with Edwina Mountbatten appeared in news columns throughout the world. . Not only events but opinions also make news. Opinion of prime minister Rajiv Gandhi about arms race in the world makes news. The opinion of the man in the street about the budget makes hews. Editorial. comments by important newspapers can also make hews for other newspapers. Coverage of the Indian prime minister's visit in the media of the country visited will make news in India. What the US press wrote about the Bhopal gas tragedy was news for Indian newspapers. With these varying situations in mind we can attempt a definition of news: "News is an account of a recent. event or opinion which is important or interesting". Importance and interest are two factors that present unlimited variety and thus explain why an event is newsworthy for one newspaper or broadcasting station and not for many other newspapers and radio or TV networks; why one news item becomes world news while another may be fit for only a local daily. News values Importance and interest are often described as news values but in fact these represent the sum total of news values or intrinsic characteristics that distinguish news from nonnews. Identifying and measuring these values is usually called news sense. It is commonly believed that reporters identify news by intuition. But this intuition, which should be called news sense, develops in news men who. sub-consciously learn how to measure news values. Change: It is a basic news value. If nothing happens there will be no change. But the world is not static. Every moment happenings are different from the moment before. The bigger the' change and the more the .people affected by this change the more important it is from the news point of view. Conflict: Actual conflicts and even the danger of conflicts make news as they tend to bring about major change. All wars and threats leading to wars have proven record of newsworthiness. But conflicts of smaller dimensions like group or personal conflicts resulting in crimes, strike and demonstrations, etc., also make news. Even conflicting ideas and resulting debates make up news. Tension and suspense often associated with conflicts are also regarded as news values.

Disaster: Be it a result of natural calamity like an earthquake or a volcano eruption or be it a man made' event like the Bhopal gas tragedy or the Kanishka crash-disasters always make news.' It is also true of disasters of lesser dimensions like boat tragedies, small acts of sabotage resulting in loss of life or property Of both. Progress: Progress is also a news value as it is the positive result of efforts made by society. It improves quality of life. Through routine struggles of life frequently emerge shining successes. From laboratories after years of work emerge- new devices, new inventions, new remedies. All this and its various. dimensions make news. Consequence: The immediate and long-term consequence of an event also makes news. The more people it affects the greater the consequence. Fear of consequences of an event also makes news. Thus possible consequences of a nuclear war makes news and all efforts to avert it and failures or successes in that direction. make news. Consequence also serves as measure of conflicts, disaster and progress. The greater the consequence, the more the news value. Cause: Like consequence, the cause of a newsworthy event also makes news. Every event has consequences so has it causes also. The cause of a hotel fire may be known immediately. It will make news, but if it is not known all efforts to find out the cause and possible interpretations will make news. Similarly, various theories and interpretations of Punjab crisis will keep on making news from time to time. Eminence and prominence: Involvement of eminent personalities in an event adds to its news value and it is directly proportional to the prominence of the person. Thus, if an eminent scholar "says something on a problem it will have news value while the same remarks made by an ordinary person may go unnoticed. When Mulk Raj Anand fainted while speaking at Lucknow it became national news. If this would have happened to a less known figure the importance of that event would have been reduced to that order.5 Prominence is many a time built up by media. Media had a major role in bringing Jarnail Singh Bindranwale, Charles Shobhraj, Billa and Ranga and Rajnarain into prominence. And then whatever they said or did, even if it did not have any other news value, got into newspapers just because of their prominence. People were interested in them because they were familiar. A big chunk of news in media is about those who are known. Timeliness: It is also a basic news value as old news is no news. In a highly competitive world of journalism every medium tries to be first with news. News is a highly perishable commodity and therefore every medium tries to give the latest available to score a point over the other. Proximity: News is meant for human beings. The prime concern of a man is himself then he is interested in his neighbo_rhood. If other things are equal, proximity becomes key news value. A traffic jam in Bombay'will be more important for a newspaper published from Bombay but may not find a place in a Delhi newspaper. If the prime minister is visiting Madras his activities will get more space in the Madras edition of Indian Express as compared to the Chandigarh edition of the same newspaper. Novelty: If a dog bites a man, it is not news, but if a man bites a dog, it is news. This old newspaper saying recognises the news value of the. unusual-novelty. Human interest: Almost everything in news concerns human beings, but this particular news value is the emotional context of the news event. Anything that appeals to everybody not because of interest in the subject but because everybody shares human

experience has news value. Human interest is the element with which the reader identifies anything familiar that stirs his feelings. Crime stories often have a human interest angle that makes then readable. Human interest content of stories is higher when ordinary persons are involved in extraordinary situations-an adventure. a disaster, a tragedy or a triumph. Human interest is also involved w.". hen it depicts extraordinary persons in ordinary situations, All event itlay have many or all of these news values and taken together these values determine which news story is more important than the other, which should be printed or broadcast and which should be left out. Sub-editors should also be careful for some clever politicians, public relations men and product advertisers keep < on trying to take them for a ride. They should not allow anything to go in news columns that should actually go as advertisement. They should not fail to check even reporters' copy for such foul play. Punctuality: It is a good habit. For reporters it is a must for if they are not punctual they may miss something for which they may have to depend on secondary sources. It is always better to be punctual and then wait than reach late and ask others-a rival-may misinform you or hide some important information. At the desk too punctuality pays. If a sub-editor is punctual he will be treated with respect by his, co-workers. If he is late he will irritate them and spoil the working atmosphere. Besides, he may have to face the problem of backlog of copy which he will it have to clear under the pressure of deadline. Patience: It is a quality which helps a reporter in a big way for many a time almost daily he has to test his patience, the voluntary self-control or restraint that helps one to endure waiting, provocation, injustice, suffering or any of the unpleasant vicissitudes of time and life. Most of the time a reporter waits for someone or something and patience gives him the willingness to wait without becoming disgruntled or anxious. Many a time he has to tolerate other people's shor(comillgs and has to remain unperturbed by someone else's slowness or other quirks. Patience also helps sub-editors as they work long hours in trying conditions. They have to put up with many annoying situations everyday vis-a-vis reporters, proofreaders or printers. Imagination: This basic mental faculty helps reporters in writing better stories that retain the reader's interest. For a subeditor this creative faculty is very useful as he can add sparkle to somebody else's copy and make it lively. Besides, imaginative headlines attract the reader and improve the quality of a newspaper. Farsightedness: An intelligent envisioning of the future helps newsmen in general. The quality helps them in identifying processes and people who will be important in future. Reporters can watch such processes and cultivate people who may become important news sources in the future. It helps reporters and sub-editors in, determining the importance of an event. A reporter with foresight can think ahead 'and prepare for eventualities. With a little forethought sub-editors can plan their work so as to avoid tension and it results in better functioning of the desk. Self-discipline: One can achieve a degree of proficiency in sub-editing or reporting by systematic effort and self-control. In this sense self-_iscipline suggests dedication and firm commitment. It helps in journalism as in any other field.

Integrity: It is a virtue in its_lf and implies undeviating honesty and strict adherence to a stern code of ethics. This human quality is important for journalists. It is more important for reporters for they are more exposed to temptations as compared to sub-editors. Fearlessness and frankness: These qualities help reporters in asking unpleasant questions and taking risks to find out truth. Nobody gives a story on a platter. The reporter will have to .probe, question, authenticate and excercise his power of deduction to get a good story. Tactfulness: A reporter should be tactful. He should have the ability to handle sensitive people and situations gracefully without causing hurt or angry feelings. He should be considerate of others and should be careful not to embarrass, upset or offend them. A reporter should have flexible and sociable personality . and should have a nature that relishes variety of experiences. He should have an understanding of human behaviour and emotions. . This will help hIm in developing contacts that are so essential for news gathering. Initiative: A reporter works in the field should have an outgoing nature with initiative and drive. These qualities will help him get aquainted with news sources and get stories from them. A meek, retiring or shy person is not fit for reporting. He may be good at his desk. Reporters need a fair amount of assertiveness and aggressiveness to be successful in their career. Mobility: A reporter should be mobile. He. should enjoy moving around and should not hesitate travelling distances to get stories when required. He should go to his news sources as often as possible for such constant contacts help him get news. A mobile reporter is seldom caught napping when a major story breaks. Diligence: Reporters and sub-editors should be diligent. Their jobs require painstaking exertion of intense care and effort, alertness and dedication to the task and wary watchfulness. They have to make extremely fine distinctions while writing or editing copy. A sub-editor should insist on perfection and should love his job for he can make or mar the newspaper. _ These qualities are basically qualities of good and' efficient human beings. Good and efficient human beings make good and ,efficient sub-editors and reporters. An other things being equal reporters need additional qualities to deal effectively with an sorts of people they meet in the field. Sub-editors should have better command over language as they improve what reporters write. THE news items that appear in newspapers are also called news stories. In literature stories may not have their basis in actual events, but a news story is always based on facts. History is also based on facts but it deals with things of the past while news stories are on current events. Further, a news story is normally written in inverted pyramid style, that is, the most important facts come first followed by other facts in order of significance. The inverted pyramid style has developed in journalism over the years. It helps the readers who don't have enough time to read the whole story. It also helps sub-editors who can easily discard as much of the story from the tail without affecting its readability. News story structure: Let us have a look at a typical news story.

NO UK RECOGNITION FOR KHALISTAN London, May 1 (P.T.I.)-The British Government today rejected the plea of Sikh separatists fm recognition of "Khalistan", which they had proclaimed in Amritsar three days ago. A foreign office. spokesman said the unity and territorial integrity of India were central to peace and to the well-being of the whole region, when asked about reports thaF the separatists had appealed to Britain and certain other countries to rccognise "Khalistan" . Past elections in Punjab had demostrated that the people did not support secession. Therefore, the question of recognising "Khalistan" did not arise, he added. (The Tribune, Chandigarh, May 2, 1986) No UK Recognition for Khalistan which appears in bold type is the head line. It is put at the head of the story and gives an idea to the newspaper reader about the subject of the story. London, May 1 is the date line. It tells the reader the place and the date of the news story. (P.T.!.) is credit li_e. The newspaper has published this story which was supplied by news agency Press Trust of India and by putting "(P.T.I.)" the paper acknowledges the source of the story and this gives the credit to the news agency. Sometimes the name of the reporter or correspondent appears below the headline with a By or From. For example, "From V.S. Karnic" or "By Kanwar Sandhu". It is termed by line. The first paragraph of the story is called intro or lead. In the above example, "The British Government today rejected the plea of Sikh separatists for recognition of 'Khalistan', which they had proclaimed in Amritsar three days ago," is the intro. The rest of the story is called body of the story. Intro gives the most important information which is contained in the story and therefore it is the most crucial part. " It should contain highest quantum of news value. A good intro is prerequisite of a good story. The proverb-Well begun is half-done-goes very well in this case, you really do half of the work on a news story if you write a good intro. The body of the story will automatically follow in the inverted pyramid style. Elements of news story Basic elements of a news story can be found by asking and trying to find answers to six basic questions popularly known as the five Ws and one H. The five Ws are-What? When? Where? Who? and Why? and the H is How? There was a time when journalists were supposed to answer all the questions in the

intro. But slowly it was discovered that it resulted in over-crowding of the opening para, loss of clarity which at times confused and irritated the reader. Recently published style book of News Agencies Pool of NonAligned Countries has this to say on this subject, "Basically a news story must answer the three Ws: What? Why? and When? As a rule the answers to these should find place in the opening paragraph. Three other questions could be Who, Why and How? But they do not-necessarily arise in all stories. Except where they themselves form the cardinal point of a story, answers to them can usually be accommodated in the later paragraphs." Thus there is no hard and fast rule about these Ws and Hand their indusion in the intro or lead. A story may not have answers to all of them but all these questions should be asked to identify the basic elements of a news story. Then, according to news value, the most important element should come in the intro. ' An intro may be in reply to one or more or all of these questions, but there should be no compromise on clarity of expression. If a reader has to look over a sentence a second time to understand it, then it cannot make a good intro or lead. A test for elements of news and their proper order could be provided with four letters from 'news' as keys: N for newsworthiness-does the story continued in news values? E for emphasis-does the intro contain the most important and interesting fact? W for the five Ws and the H--do their answers exist in the story? S for sources of information-does the story identify or imply the source where it is necessary? Types of intros or leads Newsmen deal with a very wide range of subjects and everybody has his own way of presenting things. Therefore, there are innumerable ways of writing intros and leads. This variety is obvious to everybody who reads newspapers carefully as the same news story is presented in different ways in different newspapers, while the same paper presents different stories in different ways. Any two reporters doing the same story will write it differently and this explains the variety. There are various ways to classify intros or leads depending on different criteria. Based on the number of incidents involved, the intro could be simple or complex. (i) Simple lead involves a single incident. Even if the event, may have several different incidents, the intro takes account of a single incident. Simple lead is very common in newspapers and should normally be favoured as it is easy to write it clearly. For a complex event like police action in the Golden Temple Indian Express, Chandigarh, gave a simple lead: