April 11, 2010 (Sunday) – logged out 9:15 P.M. from the Philippine Star. It’s my on-the-job training for one hundred fifty hours (150). How nice? I was able to develop my proofreading skills. Somehow, the training was lenient, amenable to flexible shifts. But be wary about words, sentences, paragraphs, and composition.
Anyway, I was left behind for a week from my two classmates due to the job training from a call center company in Makati. It was my choice, really! Working in Media is enjoyable. It is appreciative for someone who is in news and sensational reading of whereabouts of politicians, artists and even temperature rising in Metro.
Ten hours left to finish my on-the-job training in the said company. I will surely miss the gossiping about high end people, throwing of jokes, different idealism (politics, philosophy and the likes). In addition, the hand shakes, ‘pakain’ and seeing presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
My keen observations to different Section Editors - how they worked hard, thought like geniuses and acted professionally. I learned a lot of stuffs merely by observing, chatting and reading old issues of newspapers.
What I liked most about my OJT? It’s the big TV on the Business Section’s desk; we watch news and entertainment programs (ABS-CBN, GMA and TV5). I will hear those staff making comments about actors, issues and how to kill them. Laugh out loud!
And most of all seeing the Editors critically checking the news, asking accurate details and their ‘taray’ signatures. How dazzling and glamorous you may see them? Ah! It’s classical if you read novels, contemporary if you read magazines and alternative when you watch movies.
The bottom line: My top ten lessons:
1. Italicize TV stations, radio companies, print and publishing establishments.
2. Be a critical capitalization master.
3. Spelling Bee experience is a must.
4. Always love your English grammar (even if we are secondary language learners).
5. News is always in Active Voice, if not, it’s literary.
6. Proper spacing (not just for people, but in news items).
7. Prepositions, Conjunctions and Brain Functions; use it well.
8. Punctuations are best friends in proofreading.
9. I learned the word, ‘stet’ which means don’t change?!
10. Most of all, if words are nose bleeding, don’t use tissue but find a dictionary.
Disclaimer: If always in doubt, ask experts and consult your proofreader head. Their experience is way too Golden than yours.
I write because it's a medicine. It nurses my craft.
