Basic Jargon of Journalism

Journalism Terms and Definitions
This article contains a list of very important terms that every journalist should know. Without further ado, let us take a look at some of the most common journalism terms.

Common Terms In Journalism

• Ad – is the short form or abbreviation for an advertisement
• Add – this is an addition to a news-story that has already been written or is in the process of being written.
• Ad – lib – it is an unscripted talking by broadcasters
• Advertorial – is a form of advertisement that is written in the style of a news story or sometimes as a feature. It is unethical not to state that advertorials as advertorials.
• Advocacy journalism – advocacy is defined as the public support of for a course of action or way of doing something. Advocacy journalism therefore involves journalists openly taking sides on issues. This type of journalism sees journalists expressing their opinions in their reports. It is a form of subjective journalism. The opposite is objective journalism.
• Agenda setting – this is a very powerful influence the media has on society or the public. It is the mass media’s unique power to tell the public what issues are important. The mass media, through agenda setting determine what the general public thinks and worries about. The agenda setting theory states that if a news item is covered more frequently then the public see the issue in the news item as relevant.
• Anchor – an anchor is a person who presents news bulletin on television.
• Angle – it is also called the news angle. An angle is the aspect of a story that a journalist considers the most important and decides to highlight and develop. It can also be called the hook or peg.
• Assignment – as the name implies, it is the job given to a journalist.
• Attribution – is the source of a news story. Attribution is a extremely important as it helps give credibility to the report. Attribution can be written as a quote or reported (indirect) speech.
• Autocue – is also called a teleprompter. This is a type of sophisticated equipment or camera lens that shows the newsreader’s script in a scrolling form so that the newsreader can read it out loud without having to look on a script.
• Background – this is information that helps to explain a news event or story.
• Back announcement – this is used in broadcasting when the presenter or anchor gives a brief information after a report. This is usually a sentence long.
• Balance – this is a very important journalism principle which states that a journalist must give both sides of an issue in a fair way and leave it to the listeners or readers to make their own judgment.
• Back bench – these are the senior editorial executive of a newspaper. They are very powerful people in any newspaper organization.
• Beat – a beat is a reporter’s assigned area of responsibility that he or she regularly covers. A beat can be of an institution such as police or courthouse, a geographical area or a subject such as health or science.
• Blind interview – this is a type of interview in which during publication, the interviewee is not named or shown. The interviewee remains anonymous.
• Blog – it is the short form for web log. Blog is a web page that is made up of content written by individuals about a particular subject. Subjects can range from health, business, politics, technology etc. With blogs, the newest information or content is always placed at the top of the web page.
• Blogger – a blogger is an individual who writes a blog. A blogger can be a professional writer or just an amateur.
• Breaking news – an unexpected event that happens. Normally breaking news are published or broadcast while the event is still happening. It is also called a break.
• Bridge – these are words that link pieces of narration or sound bites to another.
• Broadsheet – a broadsheet is a large format newspaper that publishes serious news stories on issues such as politics, foreign affairs etc. The opposite is a tabloid.
• Bulletin – is a news report on television or radio at regular times. In the United States a bulletin is normally called a newscast.
• Byline – this is the name of the news story’s writer, usually printed at the beginning of the article. It can also be placed at the end of the article.
• Caption – it is the text or words printed below or beside a picture in a newspaper or a television screen that explains what the picture is showing. It is often used to give the name of the person speaking.
• Closed question – this is a question which the interviewee can answer with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. The opposite of a closed question is the Open question whose answers are longer than just a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
• Column – a regular feature or article on a specific subject written by a particular writer that is published regularly in a newspaper. A person who writes a column is a columnist.
• Contact – this is a person that a reporter contacts for information on a news story or feature that they are writing.
• Contacts book – this is a very important book that all journalists have. This book contains a list of all important contacts of a journalist. The contact book has the telephone number, email addresses, physical addresses and what have you of the contacts so that he or she can easily get in touch with them when the need arises – that is when the journalist wants information from them.
• Contempt of court – this is disobedience or refusal to obey the orders of a court. It can also mean to interfere in a way that hinders the court from doing its job. It is a crime and punishable by the law.
• Copy – it is the content of a news article. It can also be defined as a written material which is going to be published. In broadcasting a copy is called a script.
• Copy flow – this is the road or the route in which a copy travels in a newsroom.
• Copy editor – this is a senior journalist in a newspaper or magazine whose job is to edit copies written by reporters. The copy editor not only corrects the copy he receives from reporters but also gives the copy a befitting headline. The copy editor makes sure that everything is right about the story. He scans it thoroughly and makes sure that it poses no issues such as libel and slander, contempt of court etc that can easily bring legal problems to the newspaper. The copy-editor is also called the sub-editor.
• Copyreader – this is a person who proofreads every item that is going to be published in order to make sure that there are no spelling mistakes or punctuation errors. A copyreader is also called a proofreader.
• Copy taster – a copy taster is just like a professional wine taster. His job in a newspaper is to look at incoming copy and ‘taste’ them before deciding which ones will be published.
• Cover story – this is the most important story of a magazine. It is highlighted on the front cover of the magazine.
• Credit line – this is a small text that comes after a picture or story to acknowledge the source.
• Cross fade – this is the movement from one audio or video to another one. This is done by gradually fading the first video or audio while simultaneously fading up the other one.
• Cue-light – this is the light on a camera that tells the anchor that they are live.
• Cultural imperialism – this is when a country’s mass culture is dominated by that of a foreign country.
• DAB – Digital Audio Broadcasting. This is a digital radio technology for the broadcasting of radio stations.
• Dead air – this is when there is a sudden silence during broadcasting mainly because there is a technical problem.
• Deadline – this is the time by which a reporter must submit his finished story.
• Death-knock – it is when a reporter calls at the home of the family or friends of a dead person in order to gather information regarding the death. Many journalists find it one of the most difficult assignments to do. The death knock is also called door-stepping.
• Delayed lead – it is also called drop intro. This is a style of intro writing when a writer keeps the most important information of the story until later in the story in order to arouse the interest of the reader and create some mystery.
• Defamation – this is the act of saying something bad about a person or group of people which causes them harm. It is also called libel and slander.
  • Editor – an editor is the most senior editorial executive who is in charge of a newspaper and decides what should be included in it. The editor is legally responsible for the content of the newspaper.
  • Editorial – this is an article that gives the opinion of a newspaper. Editorials are only in print journalism.
  • Editorial page – this is the page in the newspaper where the editorial is printed. It is also called an opinion page.
  • Editorial cartoon – is a cartoon on the editorial page that comments on an issue.
  • Editorialize – this is when a journalist puts his opinion into a news story. Newspapers and broadcast stations are not supposed to editorialize in their news stories except analysis stories, columns and editorials.
  • Embargo – it is the prohibition on publishing or broadcasting before a specified time.
  • ENG – electronic news gathering done mostly with portable video cameras.
  • Establishing shot – this is a wide shot of a scene that is used to begin a news story on television.
  • Exclusive – this can also be called a scoop. It is a major and important story that only a particular newspaper or news station has.
  • Executive producer – this is the executive who is in total control of a radio or television program.
  • Feature – a feature is an article or radio story that informs and entertains readers or listeners. Features are different from hard news stories. Features are said to be the story behind the story. Features are longer and more complex than a simple news story. Longer features can be sometimes referred to as documentaries.
  • Feedback – this is an unwanted and irritating noise caused when sound from a speaker is fed back into the microphone. A feedback is also called a howl-round.
  • File – this is the process of sending a report from a location to the newsroom or to the studio.
  • Filler – a filler is a very short news story or advertisement that is used to fill a small space in a newspaper.
  • Flash – this is the headline used by news agencies to describe major breaking news. A flash can also be a brief news story of a breaking event that interrupts a radio or television program or show.
  • Float – it is a picture or video shown on television while a presenter is talking or having an interview with a guest.
  • Freedom of Information – it is a law that forces governments to release information to the public when they are requested. The law states that the general public has every right to information. The law also states that if government bodies cannot release information to the public upon request then they should state why the information cannot be released.
  • Focus group – this is a research method that employs a small number of people who take part in a discussion on a particular issue. This method of research is normally used in TV and Radio for audience research. It is quite effective.
  • Follow-up – follow-up story is a story written to add more information or details about a story which has already been published.
  • FX – it is the short form for sound effects.
  • Grab – a grab is defined as a short piece of a recorded sound which is taken from a longer interview and inserted into a news item. It is almost similar to a sound bite.
  • Graphics – these are words, titles, diagrams or artworks that are used in programs or newscasts.
  • Hard news – this is the daily factual reporting of important events. These events can be national, international or local. The opposite of the hard news is soft news.
  • Headline – this is a word or phrase in large and bold font at the top of a news story or an article. The main purpose of a headline is to grab the reader’s attention and make the reader want to read the article or news story. If a headline is not capable of doing this then it is not a good headline. A headline can also be called a head.
  • House style – this is a media organization’s style of writing and language.
  • Human interest – these are news stories or features that focus on people that appeal to the reader’s, listener’s or viewer’s emotions.
  • Insert – an insert is an additional text that is included into a story that is already written.
  • Interview – an interview can be defined as a formal and recorded conversation between a reporter and a source for the main purpose of getting information that will be used in a story.
  • Intro – this is the first paragraph of a news story or a feature. It is also known as the lead. It contains the most newsworthy aspects of a story.
  • Inverted pyramid – this is the most common way or form of writing news story. This structure is used by journalists all over the world in writing news stories. The inverted pyramid structure involves the arranging or organization of information in a news story in descending order of importance. This literally means that the most important or newsworthy aspects of the story come first.
  • Investigative journalism or reporting – this is a type of journalism where reporters investigate and find out information that is concealed. This type of journalism requires more research and caution.
  • Invasion of privacy – this is breaching of a person’s fundamental human right to be left alone.
  • Layout – it is the design of a newspaper or magazine.
  • Lead – it is the first sentence or paragraph of a news story. It is also sometimes spelled lede.
  • Leading question – this is a question asked by a reporter during an interview that tries to get information from the interviewee that the reporter wants to hear.
  • Lead story – this is the most important news story in a bulletin. In a newspaper it is also the most important news story and it is always displayed prominently on front page of a newspaper.
  • Letters to the editor – these are letter that come from readers of a paper to the editor expressing their views and opinions on issues.
  • Leak – this has to do with important information that was meant to be secret but ends up being exposed by an anonymous source.
  • Libel – this is the process of writing an untrue statement about someone or a group of people that causes harm to them.
  • Minidoc – this is a word that refers to a short news feature or documentary.

• Medium close-up – it is popularly called MCU. It is the framing of a shot from the waist up.
• Medium shot – this is wider than the MCU. It is framed from a person head to toe.
• Mobile unit – is a small van or truck that is equipped with materials for production.
• Montage – this is the combination of sounds.
• More – a word that is typed at the end of a copy which indicates that there is more story to come.
• Morgue – this is a newspaper’s library where old newspapers and clippings are stored.
• Natural sound on film – also called NAT SOF. This is the sound of the location that is recorded as the footage is also recorded. It can also be called wild sound.
• Negative lead – this is a lead with the word ‘not’ in it. Journalists are advised not to use negative leads in their stories.
• News agency – this is a company that is in the business of gathering news and selling them to media organizations. An example of a news agency is Associated Press.
• Nib – News in Brief. These are a collection of short stories in one or two paragraphs.
• Noddies – these are shots of the reporter listening attentively or nodding the head while the interviewee speaks.
• OB – it is the short form for outside broadcast. As the name suggests, OB is broadcast that is coming from outside the studio.
• Obit – it is an obituary which is a story about a person’s death
• Omni-directional mike – it is a microphone that can pick up sound from a circular area.
• Pagination –
• Par – it is the short form for a paragraph
• Plagiarism – this is the use of a part of another person’s work and presenting it as though it is your own original creation, and not giving attribution to the original creator.
• Public affairs – these are news stories that deal with important issues that are of public concern. Issues can range from political, economic to social.
• Public journalism – this is a new approach to journalism that tries to connect with the community.
• Remote – this is defined as a live production from a location away from the studio.
• Running story – this is a story that is still developing and bringing forth new information. Such a story is therefore reported as events unfold.
• Segue – this is the movement from one effect to another.
• Shield laws – it is a legislation that provides journalists the right to protect the identity of their sources.
• Sidebar – this is a secondary story that is run along with a major story on the same topic.
• Soft lead – a lead that uses a soft device such as a quote or story to attract the reader. The opposite is a hard lead.
• Soft news – this is the opposite of hard news. Soft news normally have stories that are interesting and entertaining.
• Sound bite – this is a short recorded sound of a person speaking or an interview which is picked for broadcast. This is normally the most important or interesting part of what the person said.
• Source – this is the person or record from which a journalist gets his or her information.
• Stand upper – this is a news story in which the reporter is in the field and standing in front of the camera as he or she reports.
• Stet – this when an editor marks certain things in a copy for change but later changes his mind and decides to keep the original. Stet means ‘let it stand as it was’.
• Sub-editor – is a senior journalist who edits reporters’ works, adds headlines to the copy and prepares it for printing or broadcast.
• Summary lead – this is the first paragraph of a news story that has a synopsis of two or more actions instead of just focusing on one.
• Tabloid – it is a newspaper that is about half the size of the normal newspapers. Tabloid papers publish stories that sensational, and the language that is used in a tabloid is simple and colloquial.
• Talking heads – this is a discussion program in a studio in which the camera focuses mainly on the heads of the participants.
• Transition – this is a way of moving smoothly from one section of a story to another.
• Time check – this is when the time is announced on air.
• Voice over – a voice over is when the voice of an unseen narrator or reporter gives commentary while pictures or videos are being shown on screen.
• Voice report – also called voicer. This is an audio report from a reporter on radio who normally would be at the scene of an event and reporting via phone or satellite.
• Vox pop – it refers to the ‘voice of the people’. It is street interviews where random people are asked random questions in order to find out the public’s opinion about a particular issue.
• VTR – video tape recording.
• Web offset – this is the printing process.
• Wild track – it is also called wild sound or wild lines. A wild track is the recording of ambient sound which will later be used for the background sound of a report. A wild track is recorded separately and later used in a report.
• Wipe – this is the process of moving from one picture to another.

Ladies and gentlemen, here we are with some very common and important terms in journalism that every journalism student or journalist must acquaint themselves with.