Impulses
RSPC first-aid kit
(Second of two parts)
Yesterday we have started with the different guidelines or tips in making contest-material articles in news, editorial, feature and sports. Today let us continue and cover copy-reading and headline writing, editorial cartooning and photojournalism.
* * *
Equally important to news, feature, editorial and sports writers are the copyreaders. They are the paper's last line of defense.
When doing the copyreading chores, one must understand that his/her responsibilities are to:
Straighten out ungrammatical construction.
Shorten sentences and tighten paragraphs.
See that the paper's style requirements are strictly followed. Check names, addresses, title, designations, identifications, figures, etc.
Rewrite the story completely if it is poorly written.
Rewrite the lead or the first few paragraphs whenever necessary, but must never tamper with the facts unless he is sure of his corrections.
Delete all opinion, speculations and statements on news which are without attribution or sources.
Watch out for slanting or any attempt to present the story in a subtly biased way.
Watch for libelous statements.
Recheck figures and totals.
Cross-out adjectives in news which tend to make a story sound over-written.
Cut a story to size or to the required length if necessary.
Check attributions and see to it that they are properly identified.
Challenge facts, claims, or reports when they sound anomalous, illogical and incredible.
Check sluglines and paging sequences
Write headlines
Memorize and functionally use copyreaders' marks
* * *
Making headlines is never that easy. There are guidelines to be followed, some of these are:
Make the headline answer as many W's as possible.
The headline should summarize the news story, but must avoid using all the words used in the lead. It should contain nothing that is not found in the story.
Positive heads are preferable to negative ones.
Out a verb expressed or implied in every deck.
Omit articles like a, an, and the, and all forms of the verb to be (is, are, be, etc.), unless needed to make the meaning clear.
Use the strongest word in the first line as much as possible.
The active verb is better than the passive verb in headlines
Use the present tense for past stories and the infinitive form for future stories
Write numbers in figures or spell them out depending upon your needs for your unit counts.
Avoid heads that carry double meaning.
Use only common abbreviations.
* * *
Here are the practical guides in drawing editorial cartoons.
Read/listen--research your facts well.
Decide on the point of view or angle of your chosen issue.
Make the comment on the issue.
Translate the comment into coordinating, representative graphic symbols (e.g. crocodile for corrupt officials and typewriter for press)
Take into consideration the paper's target readers.
Sketch/make doodles.
Draw the final cartoon.
* * *
A journalist may present his/her cartoon views this way:
Take the issue to a ridiculous situation.
Exaggerate the effect of an issue.
Use cliché or something contemporary or "in."
Juxtapose or put together two events, even unrelated ones.
Take quotes literally. Play with words.
Consider the occasion.
Make an interesting artwork.
Caricature a political figure and add a punch line.
* * *
In photojournalism, the following are the things to take into account:
The photo will not be reproduced as clearly as it was in its original form. Details are lost in processing, accounting for smudges.
The photographer should be asked not to use a screen as intended for better photos like the ones used in magazines.
Flat, smudgy, grayish pictures or soft print that melts into the background should not be used.
If the picture is great, it deserves to be played big; if the picture is ordinary, it needs to be played big.
Action pictures are better than the "firing line" or "firing squad" and pose pictures.
Get glossy prints, not matte.
Get big prints for reduction.
Don't put pictures back to back.
Pictures have moments of truth such as the punch of Filipino boxer Many Pacquiao that knocked out Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico.
If one is to use group pictures, use it big to allow recognition of people in it, unless it is a crowd scene where the crowd is more important than the expression of the faces.
Even crash scene looks dead with only the plane shown or the train wreck pictured. People running away from it or people rushing to it for rescue would make it lively.
Small pictures are ineffectual. Details and impact are lost.
A one-column long picture can be very attractive. So can a shallow but wide picture as outstretched hands dropping coins in a hat being passed around for the earthquake victims in Indonesia.
* * *
In writing captions, on the other hand, never forget these:
All rules in news writing apply to caption writing.
Captions should be written in short, pithy sentences, say an average of 15 words for a sentence.
The basic questions every caption must tell of its picture are: 5 W's and 1 H.
Give the full Christian names or first names to identify everyone in the picture. Be accurate. When you name people in the caption, make clear who is who. Of course, this can't be done in crowd pictures.
A gay picture should have a gay caption.
A caption is conversational. It should exploit the picture's potential interest, e.g., Queen Elizabeth wearing a special order while Prince Philip, her husband, the uniform of an admiral. These should be mentioned in the caption.
A caption should supplement what is seen.
The caption should not contradict the picture.
Don't begin a caption with "Photo shows..." This is totally unnecessary.
When a picture accompanies a news story, explain the picture in the caption.
Don't rewrite the news story as a caption.
Captions should be indented, font must be different.
* * *
That's all folks. I hope that these suggestions and reminders may have helped you one way or the other in the RSPC challenge. Whatever happens, just remember "Win or lose, it's the school we choose!" Until we meet again.
* * *
Kudos to the students of Ateneo de Iloilo and Kalibo-based Starglow School! Cheers to all RSPC organizers, judges, contestants and coaches! My salutations also to the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in their awarding rites set November 29 at Iloilo Grand Hotel.
(Engr. Herman Lagon may be reached through h_lagon@yahoo.com.)