Style Guide

(Journalistic
Writing Style)
Allan S. Bautista
Education Program Specialist -
Human Resource Development
School Governance and Operations Division (SGOD)
Accredited NEAP Trainer-Facilitator
 OBJECTIVES:
• Appreciate the value of consistency in all
printed matter
• Master a number of fundamental rules that
school paper should go-by
• Develop an eye for style and a critical
attitude toward printed copy
• Know the importance of a style guide
Do you have what it
takes to become a
journalist?
 What qualities must a
potential journalist have?

- AWARE
- ALERT
- VERSATILE
QUALITIES OF A JOURNALIST

• Must have a nose for news

• Must be able to tell the truth
• Must not be afraid of people
• Must be able to finish articles on time
• Must be knowledgeable in style
 What is style?
-It is a distinctive form or a way of doing
something.
- In journalism, it refers to the fact that
every time a certain term appears in a
newspaper, they are spelled the same way.
- Set of rules covering newspaper writing
style, including rules pertaining to
capitalization, spelling, abbreviations, titles,
grammar and punctuation.
STYLE GUIDE/ STYLESHEET or STYLE
BOOK

CONSISTENCY

PROFESSIONALISM
 BASICS OF
NEWSPAPER
STYLE
SOURCE:

The Manila Times Style Book

by
Jose Luna Castro
 FIGURES
• Numbers 1-9 are written in words while
numbers 10 and above are written in
figures.

Example:

nine students five ounces

13 children 150 males
 FIGURES
• Avoid beginning a sentence with a figure.
If you must, the figure should be spelled
out. Ex. Fifty-three participants
• When the numbers are put together, use
the figures:
Ex. The vote was 53 to 8.
The hen laid 3 eggs; the goose, 10.
 EXCEPTIONS:
-dates, address: always in figures.
1980 Olive Avenue
7th Street
-proper nouns: may be written in figures/words
Seven - Eleven Convenience Store
7-11 Convenience Store
-beginning of sentence: always in words
Eighteen years ago, this land was mine.
Five teachers passed the accreditation test.
-events: 1st – 9th is allowed
Nineteenth round
Twelve meter dash
 FIGURES
• Use figures for:
a. Time – 7 a.m. (not 7:00 a.m.), 12:05 p.m.
Do not capitalize a.m. or p.m.
b. Date – September 2, 2015. Omit the st,
th, rd, etc.
c. Use figures for centuries such as 20th
century. In decades of years, follow this
form: the 30’s, the gay ‘90s.
 FIGURES
• Money – P5 (not P5.00) The letter M may
be used to signify million in headlines.
• Weighs and measures – 52 kilos, 26
gantas, 100 cc
• Street numbers – 13 Rizal St.
• Ratio – The official rate of exchange is 2 to
1.
• Scores – Philippines, 72, Red China, 60
 FIGURES
• Sports record – 10.2 sec.
• Dimensions and stations – 4 x 5 ft.; 36-22-
36 (note hyphens)
• Age – 28 years old, 5 year old boy. But
when year is used in other forms, spell out
the figure as:
He is now on the fourth year of his
term.
 FIGURES
• Degrees of temperature – 92F, 32C

• Express a series of two or more years

thus: 2014-15
• Spell out figures up to nine if they are part
of compound adjectives.
Thus: five-year plan, two-year contract,
three-act play, five-man team
 FIGURES
• Fractions should be spelled out in ordinary
reading matter.
Thus: one-half meter, one-fourth of an
inch, one half of one per cent, a quarter of a
century. But: 5 ½ per cent.

• When using round figures about the

hundreds of thousands, follow this style:
 FIGURES
P5-million budget, P10-million outlay
(note the hyphen)
• In sentence requiring more than one
numerical, one below and the other above
ten, use figures:
Winds of 5 to 15 miles an hour will
blow.
 SPELLING
• Here in the Philippines, American English
is used, not British
color not colour
favor not favour
• If a word has more than one accepted
spelling, the shortest is preferred
judgment instead of judgement
enrolment instead enrollment
acknowledgment instead of acknowledgement
 CAPITALIZATION
• The first letter of the sentence is always
capitalized.
News stories are factual.
• Proper nouns are capitalized, common
nouns are not.
singer Regine Velasquez
group Hotbabes
• Small letters are usually used for
title or position
Dr. Noemi Villanueva, the president
of GJC, delivered the opening
remarks.
• Titles are capitalized when they
appear right before a name:
President Noemi Villanueva, Ph.D.
 CAPITALIZATION
• Capitalize the names of awards, trophies,
medals, etc.
Ex. Ramon Magsaysay Medal
• Capitalize titles of books, plays, poems,
hymns, paintings, addresses, songs, but
lower case articles, prepositions, and
conjunctions, unless the title starts with
one.
 CAPITALIZATION
• Capitalize Chapter, Figure, Book, No.,
Room, when followed by a number or
letter.
Ex. Chapter VI, Figure 5, Book 1, No. 9,
Room 19
• Lower case city, district, province, etc.
when these are not part of the name:
Ex. Manila city, Paco district, Pampanga
province
 CAPITALIZATION
But when these words are part of
the proper name, capitalize them:
Ex. San Carlos City, Mountain Province
• Capitalize scholastic degrees when
abbreviated, but not when spelled
out:
Ex. Ph.D., A.B., doctor of philosophy,
bachelor of arts
 CAPITALIZATION
• Lower case some common words
although they were derived from
proper nouns:
Ex. manila paper, plaster of paris,
utopian, india ink, prussian blue,
herculean task
 CAPITALIZATION
• Capitalize accepted geographical
areas:
Ex. Near East, Middle East,
Western Visayas, Southern
Philippines
• Lower case points of the
compass: northwest, southwest
 CAPITALIZATION
• Capitalize Republic when it forms part of
the country’s name.
Ex. Republic of the Philippines, the
Philippines Republic
• Lower case government, administration,
nation, state, whether standing alone or
attached to a name:
Ex. Philippine government, Filipino nation
 CAPITALIZATION
• Lower case executive departments,
bureaus, offices, legislative committees,
judicial courts
Ex. department of foreign affairs, bureau of
secondary education
• Capitalize names of special government
agencies and commissions:
Ex. Social Welfare Administration
 CAPITALIZATION
• Capitalize designation of era:
Ex. Stone Age, Dark Ages
• Capitalize designation of historical
periods:
Ex. Reformation, Renaissance (but
lower case in their general meaning like
“renaissance of poetry.”
 CAPITALIZATION
• Capitalize the Exodus in referring to
historical events.
• Capitalize names of wars:
Ex. Thirty Years War, World War II
• Capitalize religious holidays and feast
days:
Ex. All Saints’ Day, Good Friday, Yuletide,
Lent
 CAPITALIZATION
• Capitalize secular holidays and specially
designated days, weeks, and years.
Ex. Labor Day, Mother’s Day, National
Heroes Day
• Capitalize names of the months and days
of the week, but not the season of the
year:
Ex. June, Wednesday, but not summer,
winter, fall, autumn
 CAPITALIZATION
• Lower case laws, acts, bills, treaties,
codes, unless these are named after
the authors or the places:
Ex. social security law, penal code,
Manila pact
• Capitalize the full name of an
organization, association, club, store,
agency, school, bank, hotel,
company, place, etc.:
 CAPITALIZATION
Ex. Tañon College Faculty Association,
Association of School Paper Advisers
of San Carlos City
• But generic terms which are not part
of the proper name are not
capitalized:
Ex. Boy Scout organization, a Red
Cross chapter, the Philippine Airline
office
 CAPITALIZATION
• Lower case college and university
department, sections, etc.:
Ex. college of medicine, department of
languages, institute of arts and
sciences
• But university departments which are
given special designations are
capitalized:
Ex. Ramon Magsaysay Memorial
Medical Center
 CAPITALIZATION
• Do not capitalize de, de la, von, du, in
person’s names unless the person is
known to spell his name with these
capitalized. Capitalize De when only
the surname is mentioned.
Ex. Rogelio de la Rosa, De la Rosa
 CAPITALIZATION
• Capitalize titles and positions of authority
preceding a name:
Ex. Senator Joey Lina, Prof. Gil Fernando
Cruz
• Do not capitalize occupation or profession
preceding a name:
Ex. soldier Salvador Lusterio Jr., architect
Gina Cruz, teacher Jason Medina
 CAPITALIZATION
• Do not capitalize titles when they
follow the names as appositives:
Ex. Gerardo P. Valmayor Jr., mayor of
San Carlos City
Catherine Go, judge of RTC San Carlos
 CAPITALIZATION
• The titles President and Vice President,
Prime Minister are always capitalized
whether with a name or standing alone
when they refer specifically to the highest
officials of the land. The first name of the
Philippines chief executive is never
mentioned in a news story. It is presumed
to be well known. All other official positions
take the lower case when mentioned
without the name:
 CAPITALIZATION
Ex. the judge, the chief of police
• Capitalize ceremonial titles:
Ex. Your Majesty, Her Royal Highness, Your
Excellency
• These titles, however, are to used in
newswriting, only if part of quoted
materials. It is best to avoid them, calling
the British sovereign simply Queen
Elizabeth I, without her ceremonial title,
Her Majesty
 CAPITALIZATION
• Capitalize Emperor, King, Prince, Duke,
Duchess, etc., only if they precede names.
Standing alone, they take the lower case:
Ex. King George VI, the king
 ABBREVIATIONS
• Spell out Dept., gov’t and other
abbreviations.
Department government
• The abbreviations Jr. and Sr. are
allowed in names.
Agustin L. Lood Jr.
• Remember:
Engr. Emmanuel Delgado
Engineer Delgado
12 Dimagiba St. ; Dimagiba Street
 ABBREVIATIONS
• A title or position of a person may be
abbreviated if it appears before the
name but not simply used in the
sentence:

Sen. Recto filed another taxation bill

yesterday.
The senator filed another taxation bill
yesterday.
 ABBREVIATIONS
• Abbreviate scholastic degrees as follows:
A.B. – Bachelor of Arts
B.S. – Bachelor of Science
B.S.Ed. – Bachelor of Science in Education
M.A. – Master of Arts
M.A.Ed. – Master of Arts in Education
Ed.D. – Doctor of Education
Ph.D. – Doctor of Philosophy
M.D. – Doctor of Medicine
 ABBREVIATIONS
• Abbreviate Company, Corporation,
Incorporated, Brothers, Limited, at
the end of a business enterprise:
Liwayway Publishing Co., Inc.
Far East Ltd.,
Martin Bros.
 ABBREVIATIONS
• The names of some countries may be
abbreviated.

RP – Republic of the Philippines

US – United States
UAE – United Arab Emirates
 ABBREVIATIONS
• The titles Dr., Mr., and Mrs. are always
abbreviated.
Remember:
Mr. is used only with the name of the
President of the Philippines
• In campus papers, the title Mr., Miss and
Mrs., are used for courtesy sake and to
distinguish between the teachers and the
students.
 ABBREVIATIONS
• Do not begin a sentence with an
abbreviation.
• Abbreviate street, avenue, boulevard,
drive , road after a name as follows:
Bulacan St. Kennon Rd.
Taft Ave. Bonifacio Dr.
Roxas Blvd.
 ABBREVIATIONS
• Abbreviate military titles as follows:

Gen. Capt.
Lt. Gen. Cpl.
Col.
Maj. Pvt.
 ABBREVIATIONS
• Abbreviate civilian titles as follows:

Mr. Prof.
Mrs. Mr. (Monsieur)
Dr. Mme. (Madame)
Gov. Supt.
 ABBREVIATIONS
• In a list of names, use titles singly:

Mrs. Cleofe Villarante, Mrs. Liwayway

Ocampo, Mrs. Severina Cruz and Mrs.
Loretto Fernandez.

Mr. Ariston Corpuz, Mr. Rogelio Espiritu, Mr.

Dioscoro Vasquez and Mr. Jesus Wyco.
 ABBREVIATIONS
• The following titles are not abbreviated:

president vice president

secretary treasurer
director governor general
ambassador minister
mayor vice mayor
 ABBREVIATIONS
• Abbreviate Saint, Santo, Santa, Fort, and
Mount in names like:
Ex. Sto. Tomas, Mt. Canlaon, Sta. Ana, Ft.
Bonifacio
• Do not begin a sentence with an
abbreviation. And do not, as a general
rule, use an abbreviated before you use
the full name. Exceptions are names of
agencies which are well-known such as
PC, NAPOLCOM, etc.
 ABBREVIATIONS
• Use “per cent” not the symbol % in
body matter. The symbol may be
used only in tabulation. Use “and,” not
the symbol & except when part of a
name as in D & S Restaurant. Also
use “each” instead of @.
 ABBREVIATIONS
• Abbreviate names of months (except
March, April, My, June, and July) then
followed a date such as: Jan. 1, 1984,
Aug. 4, etc.
• Spell out when no definite date
follows as in December 1941. Do not
use a comma between month and
year.
 ABBREVIATIONS
• Titles are abbreviated when used
before a person’s full name or before
his first name’s initial and his
surname. Titles are spelled out only
when the surname follows:
Ex Dr. Maria Ordonez, Dr. M. Ordonez,
Doctor Ordonez
 ACRONYMS
• Usually written in capital letters.
• When an acronym appears for the first
time in a news story, it is written after its
meaning and it is enclosed in
parentheses.
University of the Philippines (UP)
School of the Future (SOF)
Schools Division Office (SDO)
Department of Education (DepEd)
 PARAGRAPH
• The first sentence of a paragraph is
indented.

• In news stories, the rule is one

paragraph, one sentence only.
 GRAMMAR
• Check for errors in:
• Tenses of Verbs
• Subject-Verb Agreement
• Pronoun –Antecedent Agreement
• (agreement in gender and number)
• Articles (a, an, the)
 GRAMMAR
Remember: he said and not said he;
Aquino said and not said Aquino

Remember: three-day training and

not three-days training.

Trained for three days and

not trained for three-day.
PUNCTUATIONS
 SYLLABICATION
• The authority for syllabication is Webster’s
New International Dictionary. The following
principles will be useful, however:
1. A word should be divided on the vowel:
ano-malies, tre-ble
2. A word may be divided according to its
formation: mater-nity, auto-mobile
 SYLLABICATION
3. A word may be divided between double
letters, unless these double letters come at
the end of a simple form of the word: confer-
ring, but tell-ing.
4. A word may be divided before the final ed,
if the ed is not silent: best-ed, crest-ed; but
not pav-ed (silent e).
PUNCTUATION: PERIOD (.)
It is used at the end of declarative and
imperative sentences.

It is used in abbreviations such as

p.m., a.m., Jr.,Sr.,Pres.,Rep., Gov.,
Gen., Capt., Dr., Fr., Atty., Corp. and
Inc.
PUNCTUATION: PERIOD (.)
• Use period instead of
parentheses with numerals or
letters accompanying an
enumeration:

1. not (1)
a. not (a)
PUNCTUATION: PERIOD (.)
• Omit the period in
abbreviations of offices,
schools, and organizations:
Ex. WHO, AFP, BSP, PNU,
ASPA
 PUNCTUATION: COMMA (,)
• Use commas to set off identifications:
Ex. Dr. Allan B. Yap, CESO VI,
superintendent, Division of San Carlos City
• Do not use a comma if the identification is
preceded by of:
Ex. Allan S. Bautista of 122 Mapa St., San
Julio Subd., San Carlos City, Neg. Occ.
 COMMA (,)
• Do not use a comma between a man’s
name and Jr., Sr., III, etc.
Ex. Alfredo Marañon Jr.; Roberto Ruiz III;
Sergio Osmeña Sr.
• Omit commas in ages, time, distances,
measurements, etc.:
Ex. 17 years 11 months 23 days
5 hours 20 minutes 3 seconds
 COMMA (,)
• Do not use a comma between two
nouns, one of which identifies the
other as in:
Ex. The noted lawyer Alberto Ad.
Santos is president of Tandang Sora
Elem. School Community Association
 PUNCTUATION: COLON (:)
• Use the colon to introduce a series of
names, statements, etc.:
Ex. The officers elected were: Oliver
Tejario, president; Ramon Limcolioc,
vice president; Liza Sangui, treasurer
and Ofelia Miranda, secretary.
 COLON (:)

• Do not use the colon

together with the dash as in:
Ex. Elected were: -
 SEMICOLON (;)
• Use the semicolon to separate a
series of names, addresses or
identifications:
Ex. Rodrigo Cruz, San Jose, Neg.
Oriental; Ernesto Baun, Brgy.
Buluangan, San Carlos City
 DASH (-)
• In a sentence containing commas,
dashes may be used to set off
parenthetical expressions:
Ex. The household rushed to her aid,
but Santos – the man who could have
prevented the incident – was nowhere
in sight.
 DASH (-)
• Use a dash between two figures to
indicate the inclusion of all the intervening
figures:
Ex. Sept. 1-2
• Avoid such expressions as “From Sept. 1
to 2.” “From” and “to” are parts of a
balanced expression like “neither… or.”
They have to be followed by the same
parts of speech. The correct form is: “From
Sept. 1 to 2.” Better: “Sept. 1-2.”
 DASH (-)
• Omit the hyphen in the titles vice
president and general manager.
• Use the hyphen in compound titles
like secretary-treasurer and sergeant-
at-arms. Note that editor in chief is
now spelled without the hyphen.
 DASH (-)
• Use a hyphen in writing figures or
fractions:
Ex. Twenty-four, three-fourth
• Use the hyphen in compound
adjectives:
Ex. 15-year-old girl, so-called
nationalist, well-known student
 DASH (-)
• Do not use the hyphen in
compound adjectives the first
word of which is an adverb: newly
elected barangay chairman
 PARENTHESES ( )
• Use a parenthesis to insert a word
within the title:
Ex. Don Carlos (Ledesma) National
High School
Katingal-an (Elementary) School
The Golden (Lions) Club
 PARENTHESES ( )
• Use parentheses in a direct quotation
to impart words which are not the
speaker’s:
Ex. “They (the 300 students who
passed the NCAE) will be assessed for
Senior High School (SHS) readiness at
DCLNHS,” said Mrs. Mamac.
 PARENTHESES
• Use parentheses to indicate the
antecedent:
Ex. Principal Eva M. Dollosa told the
visiting school administrators that she
would order an investigation of the
students involved in what she (Dollosa)
described as a black mark on the
student body.
 QUOTATION MARKS
• Do not use quotation marks in names of
newspapers, magazines, ships, or
animals.
• Avoid using quotation marks in titles of
motion picture, books, operas, and
paintings.
Ex. They saw the film, The Three
Musketeers. But – They saw the film, “Sa
Ngalan ng Anak.”
 QUOTATION MARKS
• Use quotation marks in titles of
speeches and discussion subjects
which are long and involved:
Ex. This year’s theme will be “The Role
of the Youth in Nation-Building.”
 QUOTATION MARKS
• Use quotation marks to set off coined
words or unusual words or
expressions the first time such words
or expressions are used in the story.
• Close quotation marks always come
after periods and commas.
 QUOTATION MARKS
• Use close quotation marks after the
question marks, interjection marks, colon,
semicolon, and dash if such punctuation
marks are part of the quoted matter;
otherwise, the close quotation mark
precedes the punctuation mark:
Ex. Did you join the debate on “Family
Planning, a Must?” Have you read the article
“Is God Dead?”
 APOSTROPHE (‘)
• Do not use the apostrophe to form the
plural of capital letters or the plural of
figures;
Ex. two ‘Ms, 1970s
• But plurals of lower case letters need
apostrophes:
Ex. p’s and q’s
To God all be the glory!

Mabuhay!
CHALLENGE
Instructions: Answer A or B/ A or B or C

• 1. He graduated from UST/U.S.T.

• 2. On his last birthday, he was 17 years,
11 months, 23 days/17 years 11 months
23 days
• 3. The noted sculptor, Tolentino/sculptor
Tolentino is also interested in science.
• 4. The seminar will be held from Sept 1 to
2/Sept. 1-2.
• 5. Who do you think will be the next Vice-
President/vice-president/Vice President?
• 6. The two jeeps collided at the corner of
Recto Avenue and Quezon
Boulevard/Recto ave. and Quezon
blvd./Recto Ave. and Quezon Blvd.
• 7. The meeting was held in Room 10 at 5
p.m./room 10 at 5:00 P.M.
• 8. Dr. Blanco, Principal/principal bared
initial plans for the school’s Foundation
Day.
• 9. The employes/employees of the San
Carlos City Multi-Purpose Cooperative are
well paid.
• 10. Those were the birthday
celebrants/celebrators.
• 11. Ten per cent/percent of those who took
the NCAE failed.
• 12. The school had a guidance
counselor/guidance councilor/guidance
counsellor.
• 13. One/1 student-journalist of DCLNHS
won the RSPC 2016.
• 14. Schoolyear/School Year 2014 has
ended leaving behind it more honors to the
school.
• 15. A new Editor-in-Chief/Editor in Chief
has been appointed.
• 16. curri-culum/curric-ulum
• 17. pa-rents/par-ents
• 18. Deped/DepEd
• 19. How many students enroled/enrolled in
journalism?
• 20. The parade was held September 2,
2015/Sept. 2, 2015.