TERMS IN JOURNALISM

GLOSSARY OF TERMS: JOURNALISM

add feature
An addition to a story already written or in the process of Story emphasizing the human or entertaining aspects of a
being written. situation. A news story or other material differentiated
assignment from straight news.
Instruction to a reporter to cover an event. file
attribution To send a story to the office usually by wire or telephone
Designation of the person being quoted. Also, the source or to put news service stories on the wire.
of information in a story. flag
banner Printed title of a newspaper on page one.
Headline across or near the top of all or most of a newspa- folo
per page. Also called a line, ribbon, streamer, screamer. Story that follows up on a theme in a news story.
B copy futures calendar
Bottom section of a story written ahead of an event that Date book in which story ideas, meetings and activities
will occur too close to deadline for the entire story to be scheduled for a later occurrence are listed.
processed. graf
beat Abbreviation for paragraph.
Area assigned to a reporter for regular coverage. Also, an guild
exclusive story. Newspaper Guild, an international union to which
break reporters and other newspaper workers belong.
When a news development becomes known and available. handout
Also, the point of interruption in a story continued from Term for written publicity or special-interest news sent to
one page to another. a newspaper for publication
bright hard news
Short, amusing story. Spot news; live and current news in contrast to features.
bulldog HFR
Early edition, usually the first of a newspaper. Abbreviation for “hold for release.” Material that cannot
byline be used until it is released by the source or at a designated
Name of the reporter who wrote the story, placed atop the time.
published article. insert
cold type Material placed between copy in a story.
In composition, type set photographically or by pasting up investigative reporting
letters and pictures on acetate or paper. Technique use to unearth information that sources often
correspondent want hidden.
Reporter who sends news from outside a newspaper jump
office. Continuation of a story from one page to another.
crony journalism kill
Reporting that ignores or treats lightly negative news To delete a section from copy or to discard the entire
about friends of a reporter. story.
crop lead
To cut or mask the unwanted portions, usually of a First paragraph in a news story.
photograph. localize
cut To emphasize the names of persons from the local
Printed picture or illustration. Also, to eliminate material community who are involved in events outside the city or
from a story. region.
cutline LTK
Any descriptive or explanatory material under a picture. Designation on copy for “lead to come.”
dateline makeup
Name of the city or town and sometimes the date at the Layout or design. The arrangement of body type, head-
start of a story that is not of local origin. lines, and illustrations into pages.
enterprise copy masthead
Story, often initiated by a reporter, that digs deeper than Formal statement of newspaper’s name, officers, place of
the usual news story. publication and other descriptive information, usually on
exclusive the editorial page.
Story a reporter has obtained to the exclusion of the morgue
competition. Newspaper library.
 TERMS IN JOURNALISM

news hole tight

Space in a newspaper allotted to news, illustrations and Refers to a paper so crowded with ads that the news space
other nonadvertising material. must be reduced.
off-the-record tip
Describes material offered the reporter in confidence. If Information passed to a reporter, often in confidence.
the reporter accepts the material with this understanding, verification
it cannot be used except as general background in a later Determination of the truth of the material the reporter
story. gathers or is given.
op-ed page wire services
Abbreviation for the page opposite the editorial page. Synonym for press associations, the Associated Press and
The page is frequently devoted to opinion columns and United Press International.
related illustrations.
overnight Broadcasting Terms
Story usually written late at night for the afternoon news- close-up
papers of the next day. Shot of the face of the subject that dominated the frame
pool so that little background is visible.
Arrangement whereby limited numbers of reporters and cover shot
photographers are selected to represent all those assigned A long shot usually cut in at the beginning of a sequence
to the story. to establish place or location.
press release cue
Publicity handout, or a story given to the news media for A signal in a script or by word or gesture to begin or to
publication. stop.
puff piece or puffery cutaway
Publicity story or a story that contains unwarranted Transition shot - usually short - from one theme to
superlatives. another; used to avoid jump cut.
roundup dissolve
A story that joins two or more events with a common Smooth fading of one picture for another.
theme, such as traffic accidents, weather, police reports. FI or fade in
rowback A scene that begins without full brilliance and gradually
A story that attempts to correct a previous story without assumes full brightness.
indicating that the prior story had been in error or with- lead-in
out taking responsibility for the error. Introductory statement to film or tape of actual event.
running story lead-out
Event that develops and is covered over a period of time. Copy that comes immediately after tape of film of an
sell actuality.
Presentation a reporter makes to impress the editor with long shot
the importance of his or her story. Framing that takes in the scene of the event.
shirttail medium shot
Short, related story added to the end of a longer one. Framing of one person from head to waist or of a small
sidebar group seated at a table.
Story that emphasizes and elaborates on one part of montage
another nearby story. A series of brief shots to give a single impression or
situation communicate one idea.
Story that pulls together a continuing event for the reader outtakes
who may not have kept track as it unfolded. Scenes that are discarded for the final story.
slant panning or pan shot
To write a story so as to influence the reader’s thinking. Moving the camera from left to right or right to left.
source remote
Person, record, document or event that provides the A taped or live broadcast from a location outside the
information for the story. studio; also, the unit that originates such a broadcast.
split page segue
Front page of an inside section. An uninterrupted transition from one sound to another;
stringer a sound dissolve.
Correspondent, not a regular staff member, who is paid by zooming
the story or by the number of words written. Use of a variable focus lens to take close-ups and wide
angle shots from a stationary position.

Source: News Reporting and Writing, by Melvin Mencher, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1997

©1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may be reproduced for classroom use.
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