Journalism

Front 1

assignment

Back 1

An order to a reporter to cover an event. An
editor keeps an assignment book that contains notations for reporters

Front 2

banger

Back 2

An exclamation point. Sometimes called a bang.
Avoid. Let the reader do the exclaiming.

Front 3

banner

Back 3

Headline across or near the top of all or most
of a newspaper page. Also called a line, ribbon, streamer, screamer

Front 4

beat

Back 4

Location assigned
to a reporter for regular
coverage—for example,
police or city hall. Also,
an exclusive story.

Front 5

break

Back 5

When a news development becomes known
and available. Also, the point of interruption in a story continued from one page to another.

Front 6

byline

Back 6

Name of the reporter who wrote the story, placed
atop the published article.

Front 7

clip

Back 7

news story clipped from the news paper usually for future reference in a column.

Front 8

copy

Back 8

Written form in which a news story or other
material is prepared.

Front 9

correspondent

Back 9

Reporter who sends news from outside
a newspaper office. On smaller papers, often not a regular full-time staff member.

Front 10

crop

Back 10

To cut or mask the unwanted portions, usually of a
photograph.

Front 11

cutline

Back 11

Any descriptive or explanatory material under a
picture.

Front 12

dateline

Back 12

Name of the city or town and sometimes the
date at the start of a story that is not of local origin.

Front 13

editorial material

Back 13

All material in the newspaper that is
not advertising.

Front 14

enterprise copy

Back 14

Story, often initiated by a reporter, that
digs deeper than the usual news story.

Front 15

feature

Back 15

Story emphasizing the human or entertaining
aspects of a situation. A news story or other material
differentiated from straight news. As a verb, it means to give prominence to a story.

Front 16

flag

Back 16

Printed title of a newspaper on page 1. Also known
as logotype and nameplate.

Front 17

folo

Back 17

Story that follows up on a theme in a news story.

Front 18

graf

Back 18

Abbreviation for paragraph.

Front 19

head or headline

Back 19

The display type over a printed news
story.

Front 20

head shot

Back 20

Picture featuring little more than the head and
shoulders of the person shown.

Front 21

investigative reporting

Back 21

Technique used to unearth information that sources often want hidden. This type of reporting involves examination of documents and records, the cultivation of informants, painstaking and extended
research.

Front 22

jump "run over"

Back 22

Continuation of a story from one page to another.
As a verb, to continue material. Also called runover.

Front 23

kill

Back 23

To delete a section from copy or to discard the entire
story; also, to spike a story.

Front 24

lead (pronounced teed)

Back 24

First paragraph in a news story.

Front 25

LTK

Back 25

Designation on copy for "lead to come." Usually
placed after the slug. Indicates the written material will be given a lead later.

Front 26

masthead

Back 26

Formal statement of a newspaper's name,
officers, place of publication and other descriptive
information, usually on the editorial page. Sometimes confused with flag or nameplate.

Front 27

obituary

Back 27

Account of a person's death; also called obit.

Front 28

off-the-record

Back 28

Describes material offered the reporter
in confidence.

Front 29

op-ed page

Back 29

Abbreviation for the page opposite the
editorial page.

Front 30

pool

Back 30

Arrangement whereby limited numbers of reporters
and photographers are selected to represent all those assigned to the story.

Front 31

press release

Back 31

Publicity handout, or a story given to the
news media for publication.

Front 32

roundup

Back 32

A story that joins two or more events with a
common theme, such as traffic accidents, weather, police reports.

Front 33

sidebar

Back 33

Story that emphasizes and elaborates on one
part of another nearby story.

Front 34

slant

Back 34

To write a story so as to influence the reader's
thinking. To editorialize: to color or misrepresent.

Front 35

slug

Back 35

Word placed on copy to identify the story, usually
in top left of page.

Front 36

stringer

Back 36

Correspondent, not a regular staff member, who
is paid by the story or by the number of words written.