Journalism Vocabulary

Handout 4: Newspaper Vocabulary
(Adapted from TAJE Journalism Curriculum Guide & Newspaper Curriculum Guide )

* 5W'S & H The essentials of any story: who, what, when, where, why, and how
* ADVERTSING Space in a publication sold to other businesses; display ads usually contain headlines, illustrations, copy, a call for action and information to identify the business
* ALIGNMENT Refers to the justification of text at its margins; left, right, centered, justified
* BEAT A specific area assigned to a reporter for regular coverage
* BOLD Type which appears darker than surrounding type of the same family; used for emphasis
* BY-LINE Indicates who wrote the story; often includes the writer's title
* CAPTION The portion of the layout which explains what is happening in a photograph. Also called cutlines. Often includes a photo credit.
* COLUMN A vertical division of layout which aids in giving structure to a page
* DOMINANT The largest photograph on a layout
* EDITOR Has overall responsibility for the publication
* EDITORIAL A type of story which serves to express an opinion and encourage the reader to take some action
* ETHICS A standard of conduct based on moral beliefs
* FACT A statement that can be proven. Not an opinion
* FEATURE A story written with some interpretation that goes beyond just reporting the facts
* FLAG The name of the paper that usually appears at the top of page one
* GRAPHICS The use of lines, screens, boxes, large initial letters etc. to enhance a design by breaking up areas
* GRID SYSTEM A system of layout in which the page is divided into small units which are filled in
* HAMMER A form of headline consisting of a few very large words over a smaller subheadline
* HEADLINE Large type designed to summarize a story and grab the reader's attention
* HUMAN INTEREST An element of news that includes people or events with which the audience can identify; stories that are just interesting
* INTERVIEW A question and answer session between a reporter and source to get information for a story
* INVERTED PYRAMID A style of writing most commonly applied to news stories in which the most important facts appear early in the story and less important facts later in the story
* KICKER A short (one or two word) statement at the beginning of a caption that serves to grab the reader's attention
* LEAD The beginning of the story which serves to summarize the story and/or grab the reader's attention
* LIBEL Written defamation; damaging false statements against another person or institution that are in writing or are spoken from a written script
* NEWS Information delivered about an event shortly after it has occurred
* OP-ED Opinion/Editorial; refers to the pages in a publication that express the opinion of the writer
* OPINION A statement which cannot be proven.
* QUOTATION A statement make by another person included in a published story. A direct quotation is exactly what the person said and appears inside quotation marks. An indirect quote is a paraphrase of what a person said and does not appear in quotes.
* REPORTER Person who researches and generally writes stories assigned by editors
* REVIEW A form of editorial written to comment on a play, movie, piece of music or some other creative work
* SANS SERIF Type with no extension at the letters which is easier to read at large sizes
* SERIF An extension at the end of certain letters which make the type easier to read at text sizes
* SLANDER Spoken defamation; damaging false statements against another person or institution that are spoken
* SPREAD Two facing pages that are designed as one unit
* STAFF BOX A box containing the names of the staff members
* STORY A block of text on a single topic beginning with some form of a lead followed by the body that contains quotations and transitions
* TEXT WRAP Adjusting the appearance of text to follow the shape of a graphic
* TRANSITION The portion of the story which helps the reader move from one point to the next: helps a story flow, adds information, and explains other items in the story
* UNDERLINE A smaller headline set under the main headline that is approximately the same length as the main headline
* WHITE SPACE The portion of a page with nothing on it used to draw a viewer into the other elements on the page