Journalism Jargon

AD
Printed notice of something for sale (short for advertisement)

AGATE
Small type often used for statistical data on sports and stock pages. It is a type size of  aproximately 5 1/2 points tall, a point being 1/72nd of an inch.

AP
Abbreviation for the Associated Press, a wire service

ART
Any photograph, map, graph or illustration

ASSIGNMENT
The event or situation a reporter is supposed to report on

BALLOON
A drawing, usually in a comic strip, which makes words or thoughts appear to be coming directly from the speaker's mouth or
mind.

BANNER
A headline running across the entire page

BEAT
The area of news regularly covered by a reporter (ie...the city hall beat or the education beat)

BODY
The main part of a story

BOLD FACE
Heavy or dark type

BOX
Border around a story or photo

BREAK
Initial news coverage of an event break

                             BROADSHEET
                             The size of most dailies, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today
                             and the Free Press. Folded in half, it's a tabloid, or tab.

                             BUDGET
                             The various news departments' proposals for what they want to put in the newspaper. Has to
                             do with space and news, not dollars.

                             BUG
                             A short bit of type, such as (AP). In this case, it would signify that the story is from the
                             Associated Press.

                             BULLDOG
                             An edition timed to come out in the early evening, as soon as stock closings can be
                             published. Could also be the city editor.

BULLET
A large black dot used at the left edge of a column to mark each item in a series

BYLINE
The reporter's name, which appears at the head of a news or photo story

CAPS
Abbreviation for capital letters

CITY DESK
The area of the newsroom where local news events are covered

CLIPS
Articles having been cut out of the newspaper (short for clippings)

COLD TYPE
Type that is produced photographically

COLUMN INCH
One inch of type or space (measured vertically), one column wide.

COLUMNIST
A person who writes a regular column giving a personal opinion

COMPOSE
To set type

COPY
All material used for publication

COPY BOY
Obsolete term replaced in many papers with copy aide, these are men and women who keep the newsroom running by attending to various
duties such as office machines, handling phones, assembling paperwork    and driving around town  to retrieve photos and other material.

COPY DESK
Area of the newsroom where editing is done

COPY EDITOR
The person who edits news stories and writes headlines

CORRESPONDENT
An out-of-town reporter

COVER
To get all the facts about a news event for a story

CP
Abbreviation for the Canadian Press, a wire service

CREDIT LINE
The name of a photographer or artist below a piece of art

CROP
To cut away unwanted parts of a photo

CUT
To shorten a story

CUTLINE
Explanatory information under a photo or piece of art. Also called a caption

DATELINE
Words at the beginning of a story giving the story's place of origin

DEADLINE
Time at which all copy for an edition must be in

DINGBAT
Any typographical device used for ornamentation

DUMMY
A diagram of a newspaper page used to show printers where stories, photos and ads are to be placed

EAR COPY
In either upper corner of the front page, on either side of the flag (sometimes used for weather, jokes or to call attention to a
special feature inside); also called an ear lug

EDIT
To correct and prepare copy for publication

EDITOR
A person who decides what stories will be covered, assigns reporters to stories, improves the stories reporters write and
decide where stories will appear in the newspaper

EDITORIAL
An article expressing the opinion of the newspaper editor or management

EXTRA
A special edition of the newspaper, printed between regular editions, containing news too important to hold for the next regular
edition

FEATURE
A news story that may not have late-breaking news value, but is timely and of interest to readers

FILLER
A story with little news value, used to fill space

FLAG
The newspaper's name as it appears at the top of the first page; also known as the logotype or nameplate

 FOIA
 Used as a noun or a verb (when it is done to balky government officials), it is the Freedom of  Information Act.

FOURTH ESTATE
A traditional name for the press, referring to it as the "fourth branch" of government; the term indicates the role and importance
of the free press in a democratic society

GUTTER
Margin between facing pages, where the fold lies

HARD NEWS
Urgent news, usually of a serious nature, found in the front pages of a newspaper

HEADLINE
Words in large type at the top of a story telling what the story is about; also called head

HOT TYPE
Type made from molten lead, rarely used since the advent of computers

INVERTED PYRAMID
Form for a news story where the important facts are listed first and additional details follow

JUMP
To continue a story from one page to another

JUSTIFY
To space out a line of type so that each line fits flush to the margin

KILL
To take out or delete copy

LAY-OUT OR MAKE-UP
To position editorial, pictorial and advertising elements on a page to prepare it for the camera

LEAD
The first paragraph or two of a news story, telling who, what, where, when, why/how; also called a lead

LINOTYPE
Machine used to produce hot type, one line at a time; no longer used in modern newspaper production

MARKET
People the newspaper wants to attract with its news and advertising

MASTHEAD
Detailed information printed in the newspaper stating names of the publication's publisher, editors and other top executives,
usually printed in a box on the editorial page

MORGUE
A newspaper's library of stories, photos, biographies and other references

OBIT
Short for obituary, a death notice

OP-ED
A page opposite the editorial page, where opinions by guest writers are presented

PICA
 A unit of measurement. There are six in an inch; each contains 12 points.

PLAY
Emphasis given a story on a page

POINT
A unit of measurement equaling 1/72nd of an  inch. For measuring typographical elements.

PROOF
Page on which newly set copy is reproduced so it can be checked for errors before being printed

REFER
Prounced reefer, but spelled this way, it refers  readers to inside or related stories. At some  papers, these have been called whips.

RIM
The copy editors, collectively. Dates back to  the days when the copy desk was a  horseshoe-shaped piece of furniture with rim editors around the outside and slot editors on  the inside, doling out and checking work

RELEASE
Advance information about a story given to the newspaper by the source of the news

REPORTER
A person who finds out facts about a story and then writes the story for the newspaper

RULE
A straight line on the page, usually expressed with its width as in, ``a 1-point rule.'' Don't call them lines, except in hairline.

SCOOP
A story obtained before other newspapers receive the information

SIDEBAR
A story that accompanies the main story, detailing a particular angle or aspect, such as the hero's early childhood.

SINGLE COPY ISSUES
Newsstands, store sales. Anything not home delivered.

SLOT
One of the people on the copy desk who checks over the copy editors' work before committing it to type. Also used as a verb: "Hey,  Terry, slot me on this, will ya?"

 TRIP
A story that goes all the way across the top of the page -- or nearly so. Some people will call it a strip if it goes almost all the way across.
Others will say it's not a true strip if there is anything above it, but will grudgingly concede the point.

STRINGER
A part-time reporter, a correspondent

STYLEBOOOK
The newspaper's book of rules and policies for  handling copy. Can include everything from spelling of local streets to policy for handling
profanities and juvenile crime victims.

SYNDICATE
Organization distributing columns or feature material, such as comics or advice columns, to many different newspapers

TAB
Short for tabloid. Refers to any newspaper or  section folded to that size.

TAKEOUT
 A longer story that takes a step back from daily, breaking news stories to put a running story with  frequent developments into context and
 perspective.

THUMB NAIL
The upper, outside corner of pages. So-called because that's where a reader might grab them to turn to the next page.

WIDOW
A short line, left at the top of a column of type.The worst: single words. Computerized typesetting makes them far more common than  a fussy page makeup man would have tolerated. Some people use this term to refer to any short  line at the end of a paragraph and trim stories deftly be eliminating just enough words to eliminate them.

UPI
Abbreviation for United Press International, a wire service

VDT
Abbreviation for video display terminal, the work station for people entering information on to the mainframe computer of the
newspaper