LUYỆN DỊCH BÁO CHÍ TIẾNG ANH P3- GS.TS ĐỖ HỮU VINH

Advertisement: the promotion of a product or service. Advertising manager: the person who oversees the sales representatives who sell space to advertisers, and ensures that ads are in the appropriate section. Advertorial: an advertisement section in a magazine that looks like an article or a feature. Advocacy journalism: a style of journalism in which a reporter takes sides in controversial issues and develops a point of view. It is the opposite of mainstream journalism, in which reporters are expected to be objective. Agenda-setting: a theory of mass communication suggesting news media influence audiences through the choice of stories to cover and space or time given them; thus, media determine which issues people should think about. Ambush journalism: aggressive tactics practiced by journalists who suddenly confront and question people who otherwise do not wish to speak to a journalist. Anchors: newscasters who host news broadcasts. Angle: particular emphasis of a media presentation, sometimes called a slant Articles: stories written about news topics that are considered notable by the editors of a publication. Attribution: credit given to who said what or the source of facts B-roll: video images shot specifically to be used over a reporter's words to illustrate the news event or story, to cover up audio edits of quotes (to avoid the jerking head effect), or to cover up bad shots (out of focus, poorly lighted, etc.) Background: information that is not intended for publication Bias: a position that is partial or slanted Body: the main part or central information of a news story following the lead. Broadcast feature: longer than usual broadcast news story that gives reporters 5-25 minutes (compared to usual 30-60 seconds) to develop a deeper look at a news event, trend, or individual; the broadcast equivalent of a newspaper feature story; also known as "television magazine piece" or radio feature By-line: the name of the reporter Cable news channels: cable TV broadcasters of news, documentaries and commentary. Canadian press: National news agency set up by the daily newspapers of Canada to exchange news among themselves and with international news agencies Caption: descriptive copy which accompanies a photograph or graphic Celebrity journalism: also known as people journalism, it focuses on the personal lives of celebrities, including movie and stage actors, musical artists, models and photographers, sports figures, and notable people in the entertainment industry, as well as people who seek attention, such as politicians, and people thrust into the attention of the public, such as people who do something newsworthy. Censorship: governmental restriction or other repression of individual journalists and non-government media. Press freedom is protected in the United States and some other nations, while few formal democracies and no authoritarian governments make provision for protection of press freedom. Checkbook Journalism: journalists paying a person or organization for a news story. Citizen journalist: the rapid rise of Internet technology, in particular blogging, tweeting and social networking, have empowered persons without professional training to function sometimes as journalists feeding information to mass media. These practitioners now are known as a distinct category -- citizen journalists. Classified ads: short, direct text ads for products and services, which clearly indicate what is being advertised, the price, where, and how the advertiser can be contacted Clips: news films or videos ranging in length from a few seconds to as long as 10 minutes. Column: an article in which a writer or columnist gives an opinion on a topic Commercial: an advertisement that is presented on television, radio, or film Conclusion: the last sentence or last few sentences of a story; the end of the story. Conflict of interest: the conflict that is created when a writer allows personal interests (friendship, family, business connections, etc.) to influence the outcome of the story Copy: the words of an article, news story, book, broadcast writing, including commercials; any written material intended for publication, including advertising Copyreader: the person who "proofreads" copy as it comes in, checking for spelling, punctuation, accuracy of style, and clarity Credibility: believability of a writer or publication. Date line: the place the story was filed. Deck: a smaller headline which comes between the headline and the story. Display ads: ads that include a visual image to advertise a product or service. Editor: the person who "edits" a story by revising and polishing; the person whose job is to approve copy when it comes in and to make decisions about what is published in a newspaper or magazine. Editorial: an article expressing a newspaper or magazine owner's or editor's position on an issue. Facts sheet: a page of significant information prepared by Public Relations people to help news media in covering a special event. FAQ: a list of questions that are frequently asked and their answers. Feature articles: longer forms of news writing; topics covered in depth; sometimes the main article on the front page of a newspaper, or the cover story in a magazine. Feature writing: journalistic writing covering people, places and events in greater depth and with less timeliness than an immediate hard news story. Five Ws and H: the primary questions a news story answers -- Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? Gatekeepers: people who determine what will be printed, broadcast, produced, or consumed in the mass media. Gobbledygook: language that is unnecessarily complicated, unclear, wordy, or includes jargon. Gonzo journalism: a type of journalism popularized by Hunter S. Thompson in the 1970s. It was characterized by a punchy style, rough language, and a disregard for conventional journalistic writing forms and customs. The traditional objectivity of the journalist was given up through immersion in the story. Gutter: narrow margin of white space in the center area in a magazine, newspaper, or book, where two pages meet. Hard news: immediate factual accounts of important events, often appearing first online, in a broadcast or in a newspaper. Headline: the "title" of a newspaper or magazine story. Human interest story: a story that focuses on the human side of news and often appeals to the readers' emotion. In-depth: a news story that is comprehensive, thorough and detailed. Internet: a global network of interconnected computers using a standard TCP/IP protocol to serve billions of users. Inverted pyramid: the structure of a news story which places the important facts at the beginning and less important facts and details at the end, enabling the editor to cut bottom portion of the story if space is required. Investigative journalism: a story that requires a great amount of research digging and hard work to come up with facts that might be hidden, buried, or obscured by people who have a vested interest in keeping those facts from being published; reporters research, investigate and expose unethical, immoral, and illegal behavior by individuals, businesses and government agencies. J-School: journalism school; the importance of journalism in society is demonstrated by the establishment of professional schools of journalism at most of the world's leading universities. Jargon: any overly obscure, technical, or bureaucratic words that would not be used in everyday language Jazz journalism: the journalism fashion of the roaring twenties named for its energetic style and illustrated tabloid layout. Journalese: a type of jargon used by newspaper writers: language used by journalists that would never be used in everyday speech. Journalism: the craft of conveying news, descriptive material and opinion via a widening spectrum of media; the collection and periodic publication or transmission of news through media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, books the Internet, and even the mobile telephone. Journalists: writers, editors, photographers, videographers, broadcast presenters, producers and others who are the purveyors of information and opinion in contemporary mass society. Journalistic: having the characteristics of journalism writing. Journalistic bias: journalists displaying partiality when selecting news events to cover. Journalistic change: new applications in communications, data storage and retrieval, and image processing affect the way people get their news. Revolutionary changes in journalism have followed technological advances such as the teletypewriter (1904); long-range radio reception (1913); television (1930s-40s); communications satellites (1960s) and network transmission of data, voice, and video (1990s). Journalistic ethics: generally accepted principles of right and wrong and good standards and practices applicable to professional journalists. Journalistic fraud: scandalous reportage by journalists not acting within generally accepted professional ethics and violating the standard of reporting news events and issues accurately and fairly. Journalistic integrity: following professional journalistic ethics, standards sand practices. Journalistic objectivity: a significant principle of journalistic professionalism encompassing fairness, disinterestedness, factuality and nonpartisanship. Journalistic responsibility: a necessity to follow professional journalistic ethics, standards sand practices. Journalistic standards: principles of ethics and of good practice applicable to professional journalists. Journalistic style: rules of newspaper writing style pertaining to capitalization, spelling, abbreviations, titles, grammar, punctuation. acronyms, etc. Journalistic treatment: a book about a person, place or event written in a non-academic style without scholarly features, such as footnotes and bibliographies. Journalistic writing: the prose style used for news reporting in mass media. Jump line: line of type at the bottom of a column which directs the reader to somewhere else in the paper where the story is completed, allowing more space for stories to begin on the front page Kicker: an ending that finishes a story with a climax, surprise, or punch line Layout editor: the person who begins the layout plan, considering things like placement and amount of space allotted to news and advertising copy, graphics, photos, and symbols Lead: the first sentence or first few sentences of a story Libel: publishing in print (or other media) false information that identifies and deframes an individual Literary journalism: creative narrative nonfiction that uses literary styles and techniques to create fairly accurate accounts. Managing editor: the person who co-ordinates all news departments by collecting all copy and ensuring that all instructions for printer or typist are clear and consistent; the person who meets and consults with the staff to make a plan Masthead: information about a newspaper or magazine on its editorial page; sometimes the banner at the top of the front page which identifies the newspaper and the date of publication Media relations: a function of public relations that involves dealing with the communications media in seeking publicity for, or responding to media interest in, an organization Morgue: newsroom library Nameplate: The title of a newspaper, newsletter or magazine on the front page or cover in the periodical's logotype style, often including the publication date and place of publication. New Journalism: an unconventional writing style popularized in the 1960s by Tom Wolfe, Truman Capote, and Norman Mailer using the techniques of fictional story-telling and characterization when writing nonfiction stories. News: information about recent and important events. News agencies: wire services and cooperative news gathering and delivery services that provide news from around the world to publications and broadcasters that subscribe for a fee. News analysts: newscasters who examine and interpret news-related information. News angle: the aspect, twist, or detail of a feature story that pegs it to a news event or gives it news value for the reader Newscasters: broadcast news information in newscasts from television stations and networks. Newspaper styles: styles of various newspapers including dailies, tabloids, and weeklies Newsspeak: language that distorts, confuses, or hides reality Newswriter: a journalist who gathers and disseminates information about current events, people, places, trends and issues. News writing: the prose writing style used for news reporting in media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, television, books and the Internet. Off the record: something a source does not want atributed in a news story Op-ed page: a page in a newspaper that is opposite the editorial page, and contains columns, articles, letters for readers, and other items expressing opinions Pack journalism: reporters relying on each other for news tips and often dependent on a single source for information Package: a completed television news story on tape, which is edited before a news show goes on air and contains reporter's stand-ups, narration over images, and an out-cue for the anchor to start speaking at the end of the tape Paraphrase: an indirect quote or summary of the words the news maker said Photos: still images which communicate the photojournalist's angle or perceived reality Pix: short for pictures Plagiarism: using the work of another person (both written words and intellectual property) and calling that work your own Print Journalism: the practice of journalism in newspapers, magazines and other hard-copy printed publications. Professional journalism: a form of news reporting which developed in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, along with formal schools of journalism which arose at major universities. Public affairs: various activities and communications that organizations undertake to monitor, evaluate, influence, and adjust to the attitudes, opinions, and behaviors of groups or individuals who constitute their publics. Public relations: PR, communication by a person or an organization intending to create a favorable image. Reporters: the people who gather facts for the stories they are assigned to write Rules: lines used to separate one story from another on a newspaper page Science journalism: reporters convey news information on science topics to the public. Science journalists: reporters who understand and interpret detailed, technical information and jargon and write news stories about them so they will be interesting to readers. Screens: shaded areas of copy in a newspaper Sidebar: a column of copy and/or graphics which appears on the page of a magazine or newspaper to communicate information about the story or contents of the paper Slander: similar to libel, but spoken instead of published Soft news: journalistic news stories that are interesting, but of less immediacy than hard news, focusing in greater depth on people, places and events highlighting facts and information from interviews, observation, and research. Sound bite: the videotaped quote in television news Source: a person who talks to a reporter on the record, for attribution in a news story Spin: hidden slant of a press source, which usually casts the client in a positive light Sports journalism: covers human athletic competition in newspapers, magazines, radio, television, books and the Internet. Some don't consider sports journalism to be true journalism, but the prominence of sports in Western culture has justified the attention of journalists to not just the competitive events in sports, but also to athletes and the business of sports. Sportscasters: reporters who cover sports events, write about them, and deliver that news on the air. Stand-up: a reporter's appearance in a TV news story; usually a head and shoulders shot which features the reporter talking into a microphone at the scene of the news event, often used as a transition, or at the beginning or ending Style: conformity of language use by all writers in a publication (e.g., AP style is conformity to the rules of language according to the Associated Press) Summary lead: the traditional journalism tool used to start off most hard news stories; the first few sentences of a news story which usually summarizes the event and answers the questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Super: a video effect that allows the television station to print and superimpose the name of a news source over his or her image when the source is shown talking in a news story Tabloid: technically, a publication half the size of a standard newspaper page; but commonly, any newspaper that is splashy and heavily illustrated; a "supermarket" tabloid stresses dramatic stories, often about sensational subjects Target audience: a specific group of people that media producers or advertisers want to reach Television journalism: over-the-air and cable transmission of news stories enhanced by sound and video images. Transition: a rhetorical device used in writing to move the story smoothly from one set of ideas to the next by finding a way to connect the ideas logically Trend story: a feature story that focuses on the current fads, directions, tendencies, and inclinations of society Video press release: a press release for television, prepared on tape, complete with images and sound which can be used by the news media without additional permission or editing Voice: a writer's development of distinctive characteristics and idiosyncrasies of language use that make his or her writing as easily recognizable as the inflections, tone, and pronunciation of speech that make a person's vocalized speech pat terns distinctive Weathercasters; reporters who relate current weather conditions and forecast future conditions. Some are trained meteorologists . Wire services: news gathering and delivery services that provide news from around the world to publications that subscribe for a fee. Best known are the Associated Press, Reuters, United Press International, Agence France-Presse and Canadian Press. Wire services are co-operatives that share news stories among members. World Wide Web: a large directory of information on the Internet Yellow journalism: inflammatory publication tactics attributed to newspaperman William Randolph Hearst and others in drumming up support for war against Spain in the 1890s. Today, it is aggressive, lurid and irresponsible journalism. 'Bed' (verb) ăn nằm với 'Pour one's curves into' Wear 'Show someone what they're missing' Leave the house without crying 'Party until the early hours' Leave a nightclub relatively late 'Unlucky-in-love' (adjective) Unmarried 'Wowed the crowds' Performed 'Turned heads in' Wore 'Blonde' (noun) Blonde woman 'Slam/blast/attack' Criticise 'Romp' Have sex 'Go au naturel' Not wear make-up 'British taxpayers' British people who aren't illegal immigrants 'Bare one's curves' Leave the house in anything other than an burkha 'Caused a stir' Turned up 'Go make-up free' Not wear make-up 'Step out' Leave the house 'Rack up a XXXX bill' Spend XXXX Sleepy village Village 'Male/female admirer' Man/woman 'Donned' Wore 'Rocked' Wore 'Shows off' Is in possession of absolute privilege The right of legislators, judges and government executives to speak without threat of libel when acting in their official capacities. absolutism The ethical philosophy that there is a fixed set of principles or laws from which there is no deviation. To the absolutist journalist, the end never justifies the means. actual malice Reckless disregard of the truth. It is a condition in libel cases. actual malice test Protection for reporters to write anything about an officeholder or candidate unless they know that the material is false or they recklessly disregard the truth. ad An advertisement. add A typewritten page of copy following the first page. "First add" would be the second page of typewritten copy. advance A report dealing with the subjects and issues to be dealt with in an upcoming meeting or event. advertising department The department of the newspaper responsible for advertisements. Most advertising departments have classified and display ad sections. anchor One in the television studio who ties together the newscast by reading the news and providing transitions from one story to the next. anecdotal lead A newspaper story beginning that uses humor or an interesting incident. anecdote An informative and entertaining story within a story. angle The focus of, or approach to, a story. The latest development in a continuing controversy, the key play in a football game, or the tragedy of a particular death in a mass disaster may serve as an angle. antinomianism The ethical philosophy that recognizes no rules. An antinomian journalist judges every ethical situation on its own merits. Unlike the situation ethicist, the antinomian does not use love of neighbor as an absolute. AP The Associated Press, a worldwide news-gathering cooperative owned by its subscribers. APME Associated Press Managing Editors, an organization of managing editors and editors whose papers are members of the Associated Press. arraignment A court proceeding at which a defendant is informed of the charge. At the proceeding, the defendant is asked to enter a plea, and bail may be set. ASNE American Society of Newspaper Editors, an organization of directing editors of daily newspapers throughout the Americas average A term used to describe typical or representative members of a group. In mathematical terms, it refers to the result obtained when a set of numbers is added together, then divided by the number of items in the set. background Information that may be attributed to a source by title, but not by name; for example, "a White House aide said." backgrounder Story that explains and updates the news. beat A reporter's assigned area of responsibility. A beat may be an institution, such as the courthouse; a geographical area, such as a small town; or a subject, such as science. The term also refers to an exclusive story. blotter An old-fashioned term for the arrest sheet that summarizes the bare facts of an arrest. Today this information is almost always kept in a computer. books Assembled sheets of paper, usually newsprint, and carbon paper on which reporters prepare stories. Books are not used with modern computerized processes. brightener A story, usually short, that is humorous or pleasing to the reader. It is also called a bright. bureau A news-gathering office maintained by a newspaper at other than its central location. Papers may have bureaus in the next county, in the state capital, in Washington, D.C., or in foreign countries. business department The newspaper department that handles billing, accounting and related functions. byline A line identifying the author of a story. chain Two or more newspapers owned by a single person or corporation. Also known as a group. The American chain owning the most newspapers is Gannett. change of venue An order transferring a court proceeding to another jurisdiction for prosecution. This often occurs when a party in a case claims that local media coverage has prejudiced prospective jurors. circulation department The department responsible for distribution of the newspaper. civil law Statutes under which an individual or a group can take action against another individual or group. clips Stories clipped from your own or other newspapers. closed-ended question A direct question designed to draw a specific response; for example, "Will you be a candidate?" conditional privilege See qualified privilege. Consumer Price Index A tool used by the government to measure the rate of inflation. CPI figures, reported monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, compare the net change in prices between the current period and a specified base period. Reporters should use this data to accurately reflect the actual costs of goods and services. contributing editor Magazine columnist who works under contract and not as an employee of the magazine. control The process of structuring an experiment so that the only forces affecting the outcome are the variables you are observing. copy What reporters write. A story is a piece of copy. copy desk The desk at which final editing of stories is done, headlines are written and pages are designed. cover To keep abreast of significant developments on a beat or to report on a specific event. The reporter covering the police beat may be assigned to cover a murder. criminal law Statutes under which a grand jury or an officer of the court can take action against an individual. cub A beginning reporter. cutline The caption that accompanies a newspaper or magazine photograph. The term dates from the days when photos were reproduced with etched zinc plates, called cuts. database A computerized information bank, usually accessed by newspapers on a subscription basis. deadline The time by which a reporter, editor or desk must have completed scheduled work. deep background Information that may be used but that cannot be attributed to either a person or a position. delayed-identification lead Opening paragraph of a story in which the "who" is identified by occupation, city, office, or any means other than by name. dependent variable See variable. desk A term used by reporters to refer to the city editor's or copy editor's position, as in, "The desk wants this story by noon." desk assistant Entry-level position in television news rooms. Desk assistants handle routine news assignments such as monitoring wire services and listening to police scanners. developing story One in which newsworthy events occur over several days or weeks. dialogue A conversation between two or more people, neither of whom normally is the reporter. dig To question or investigate thoroughly, as in, "Let's do some digging into those campaign reports." documentary In-depth coverage of an issue or event, especially in broadcasting. editorial department The news department of a newspaper, responsible for all content of the newspaper except advertising. At some papers this term refers to the department responsible for the editorial page only. editorialize To inject the reporter's or the newspaper's opinion into a news story or headline. Most newspapers restrict opinion to analysis stories, columns and editorials. executive producer The television executive with overall responsibility for the look of the television newscast. fair comment and criticism Opinion delivered on the performance of anyone in the public eye. Such opinion is legally protected if reporters do not misstate any of the facts on which they base their comments or criticism, and it is not malicious. felony Serious crime punishable by death or imprisonment. field experiment A research technique in which the reporter deliberately takes some action to observe the effects. For example, a perfectly tuned automobile could be taken to several repair shops to find out if the mechanics would invent problems that required fixing. field producer Behind-the-scenes television reporter who often does much of the field work for a network's on-camera correspondents. follow A story supplying further information about an item that has already been published; folo is an alternate spelling. foreshadowing A technique of teasing readers with material coming later in the story as a way of encouraging them to keep reading. Freedom of Information Act A law passed in 1966 to make it easier to obtain information from federal agencies. The law was amended in 1974 to improve access to government records. free press-fair trial controversy The conflict between a defendant's right to an impartial jury and a reporter's responsibility to inform the public. futures file A collection, filed according to date, of newspaper clippings, letters, notes and other information to remind editors of stories to assign. general manager The individual responsible for the business operations of a newspaper. Some newspaper chains award this title to the top-ranking local executive. graf A shortened form of paragraph, as in "Give me two grafs on that fire." handout See news release. hard lead A lead that reports a new development or newly discovered fact. See also soft lead. hard news Coverage of the actions of government or business; or the reporting of an event, such as a crime, an accident or a speech. The time element often is important. See also soft news. human-interest story A piece valued more for its emotional impact or oddity than for its importance. hypothesis In investigative reporting the statement a reporter expects to be able to prove, as in, "The mayor took a bribe from that massage parlor." In an experiment the statement of what a researcher hopes to find. immediate-identification lead The opening paragraph of a story in which the "who" is reported by name. independent variable See variable. indictment A document issued by a grand jury that certifies there is sufficient evidence against a person accused of a crime to warrant holding that person for trial. inflation A term that describes the rising cost of living as time goes by. See also Consumer Price Index. information graphic A visual representation of data. invasion of privacy Violation of a person's right to be left alone. inverted pyramid The organization of a news story in which information is arranged in descending order of importance. investigative reporting The pursuit of information that has been concealed, such as evidence of wrongdoing. IRE Investigative Reporters and Editors, a group created to exchange information and investigative reporting techniques. IRE has its headquarters at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. lay out (v.) The process of preparing page drawings to indicate where stories and pictures are to be placed in the newspaper. layout (n.) The completed page drawing, or page dummy. lead (1) The first paragraph or first several paragraphs of a newspaper story (sometimes spelled lede); (2) the story given the best display on Page One; (3) a tip. lead-in An introduction to a filmed or recorded excerpt from a news source or from another reporter. lead story The major story displayed at the top of Page One. libel Damage to a person's reputation caused by a false written statement that brings the person into hatred, contempt or ridicule, or injures his or her business or occupational pursuit. maestro The leader of a news-gathering team. Reporters, copy editors, editors and graphic designers work with a maestro to create special reports. margin of error (also called sampling error) In surveys, the range within which you can be confident of accuracy. A survey with a margin of error of 3 percent, for example, typically has a 95 percent chance of being accurate within 3 percent above or below the exact result. An allowance must be made in any survey for the possibility that the sample questioned may not be exactly like all other members of the population. The margin of error varies with the size of the sample population, and should be reported in every news story about a survey. median The middle number in a series arranged in order of size; it is often used when an average would be misleading. (If the series has an even number of items, the median consists of the average of the two "middle" numbers.) misdemeanors Minor criminal offenses, including most traffic violations, which usually result in a fine or brief confinement in a local jail. more Designation used at the end of a page of copy to indicate there are one or more additional pages. morgue The newspaper library, where published stories, photographs and resource material are stored for reference. multiple-element lead The opening paragraph of a story that reports two or more newsworthy elements. narration The telling of a story, usually in chronological order. negligence test The legal standard that requires reporters to use the same care in gathering facts and writing a story as any reasonable individual would under similar circumstances. network correspondent A television reporter who delivers the news on camera. Network correspondents may or may not do the actual news-gathering for their stories. new media The emerging forms of computer-delivered news. news conference An interview session, also called a press conference, in which someone submits to questions from reporters. news director The top news executive of a local television station. news release An item, also called a handout or press release, that is sent out by a group or individual seeking publicity. news room The place, sometimes called the city room, where reporters and editors work. news story A story that emphasizes the facts, often written in inverted pyramid style. news value How important or interesting a story is. not for attribution Information that may not be ascribed to its source. nut paragraph A paragraph that summarizes the key element or elements of the story. Usually found in a story not written in inverted pyramid form. Also called a nut graf. obscenity A word or phrase usually referring to sexual parts or functions in an offensive way. off-camera reporter One who gathers news for television but does not report on the air. off the record Usually means, "Don't quote me." Some sources and reporters, however, use it to mean, "Don't print this." Phrases with similar, and equally ambiguous, meanings are "not for attribution" and "for background only." op-ed page The page opposite the editorial page, frequently reserved for columns, letters to the editor and personality profiles. open-ended question One that permits the respondent some latitude in the answer; for example, "How did you get involved in politics?" open-meetings laws State and federal laws, often called sunshine laws, guaranteeing access to meetings of public officials. open-records laws State and federal laws guaranteeing access to many-but not all-kinds of government records. parallelism A technique of presenting ideas in similar grammatical forms. paraphrase A paraphrase digests, condenses and clarifies a quotation to convey the meaning more precisely or succinctly than the way in which the speaker's words express it. Quotation marks are eliminated. participant observation A research technique in which the reporter joins in the activity he or she wants to write about. payola Money or gifts given in the expectation of favors from journalists. per capita Latin term meaning "by heads." It is determined by dividing a total figure-such as a budget-by the number of people to which it applies. percentage Mathematical way to express the portion of a whole. Literally means a given part of every hundred. Determined by taking the number of the portion, dividing by the number of the whole, and moving the decimal over two places. piece See story. plagiarism The use of any part of another's writing and passing it off as your own. play A shortened form of display. A good story may be played at the top of Page One; a weak one may be played inside. poll The measurement of opinion by questioning members of some small group chosen at random so as to be representative of the entire group. A poll is also referred to as a survey or public opinion poll. See also randomization. population In scientific language the whole group being studied. Depending on the study the population may be, for example, voters in St. Louis, physicians in California or all residents of the United States. preliminary hearing A court hearing held to determine whether there is probable cause that a defendant committed a crime and whether the defendant should be bound over for grand jury action or trial in a higher court. press The machine that prints the newspaper. Also a synonym for journalism, as in the phrase "freedom of the press." Sometimes used to denote print journalism, as distinguished from broadcast journalism. press agent A person hired to gain publicity for a client. The tactics used, often called press agentry, might include the staging of interviews or stunts designed to attract the attention of reporters. press box The section of a stadium or arena set aside for reporters. press conference See news conference. press release See news release. privilege A defense against libel that claims the right to repeat what government officials say or do in their official capacities. production department The department of the newspaper that transforms the work of the news and advertising departments into the finished product. The composing room and press room are key sections of this department. profanity A word or phrase contemptuously referring to the deity or to beings regarded as divine; a sacrilegious expression. profile A story intended to reveal the personality or character of an institution or person. proportion Puts something in proper relation to something else-explains specific numbers in the news by relating them to the size or magnitude of the whole. public figure A person who has assumed a role of prominence in the affairs of society and who has persuasive power and influence in a community or who has thrust himself or herself to the forefront of a public controversy. Courts have given journalists more latitude in reporting on public figures. public journalism The new (or rediscovered) approach to journalism that emphasizes connections with the community rather than separation from it. Among the newspapers best known for practicing public journalism are the Wichita (Kan.) Eagle and The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer. Pulitzer Prize The most prestigious of journalism awards. It was established by Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University. qualified privilege The right to report what government officials say or do in their official capacities if the report is full, fair and accurate. Also called conditional privilege. quote As a noun, the term refers to a source's exact words, as in, "I have a great quote here." As a verb, it means to report those words inside quotation marks. randomization The mathematical process used to assure that every member of a population being studied has an equal chance of being chosen for questioning or observation. See also poll. rate The amount or degree of something measured in relation to a unit of something else or to a specified scale. In statistics, rate often expresses the incidence of a condition per 100,000 people, such as a murder or suicide rate. Rate also can reflect the speed at which something is changing, such as inflation or the percentage increase in a budget each year. See also per capita. records column The part of the newspaper featured regularly that contains such information as routine police and fire news, births, obituaries, marriages and divorces. rewrite To write a story again in an effort to improve it. It also means to take information over the telephone from a reporter in the field and mold it into a story. roundup A story including a number of related events. After a storm, for example, a reporter might do a roundup of accidents, power outages and other consequences of the storm. sample A portion of a group, or population, chosen for study as representative of the entire group. scenic lead A lead that concentrates on a description of an environment. second-cycle story A second version of a story already published, also called a second-day story. It usually has new information or a new angle. senior editor One who edits sections of major magazines. senior writer A title reserved for a magazine's best and most experienced reporters. series Two or more stories on the same or related subjects, published on a predetermined schedule. service journalism An aspect or type of journalism that recognizes usefulness as one of the criteria of news. Taking into consideration content and presentation, service journalism presents useful information in a usable way, for instance, placing key information in a list or graphic box. set-up In broadcasting, an introductory statement to pique the interest of listeners or viewers. shield laws Legislation giving journalists the right to protect the identity of sources. show producer Television news specialists who produce individual newscasts and report to the executive producer. sidebar A secondary story intended to be run with a major story on the same topic. A story about a disaster, for example, may have a sidebar that tells what happened to a single victim. situation ethics The philosophy that recognizes that a set of rules can be broken when circumstances dictate the community will be served better by it. For example, a journalist who believes it normally unethical to deceive a news source may be willing to conceal his or her identity to infiltrate a group operating illegally. slug A word that identifies a story as it is processed through the newspaper plant. It is usually placed in the upper left-hand corner of each take of the story. See also take. sniff The preliminary phase of an investigation. soft lead A lead that uses a quote, anecdote or other literary device to attract the reader. See also hard lead. soft news Stories about trends, personalities or lifestyles. The time element usually is not important. See also hard news. sources People or records from which a reporter gets information. The term often is used to describe persons, as opposed to documents. spot news A timely report of an event that is unfolding at the moment. spreadsheet Computer program adept at managing numbers. Often used for budgets. story The term most journalists use for a newspaper article. Another synonym is piece, as in, "I saw your piece on the mayor." A long story may be called a takeout or a blockbuster. stylebook A book of standard usage within newspaper text. It includes rules on grammar, punctuation, capitalization and abbreviation. The AP and UPI publish similar stylebooks that are used by most papers. substantial truth The correctness of the essential elements of a story. summary lead The first paragraph of a news story in which the writer presents a synopsis of two or more actions rather than focusing on any one of them. sunshine laws See open-meetings laws. take A page of typewritten copy for newspaper use. 30 A designation used to mark the end of a newspaper story. The symbol # is an alternate designation. tickler A file of upcoming events kept on paper or computer at the assignment desks of most news organizations. See also futures file. tie-back The sentence or sentences relating a story to events covered in a previous story. Used in follow-up or continuing stories or in parts of a series of stories. Also, the technique of referring to the opening in the ending of the story. tip A fragment of information that may lead to a story; also called a lead. transition A word, phrase, sentence or paragraph that moves the reader from one thought to the next and shows the relationship between them. undercover reporting A technique in which a reporter pretends to be someone else in order to gain access to otherwise unobtainable information. universal desk A copy desk that edits material for all editorial departments of a newspaper. update A type of follow that reports on a development related to an earlier story. UPI United Press International, a worldwide news-gathering organization that is privately owned. variable In an experiment, one of the elements being observed. The independent variable is what is thought to be a cause; the dependent variable is the effect of that cause. videographer A television camera operator. videoprompter A mechanical or electronic device that projects broadcast copy next to the television camera lens so that a newscaster can read it while appearing to look straight into the lens. vulgarity A word or phrase dealing with excretory matters in a less-than-polite way. wrap-up The completion of commentary that comes at the end of a taped segment in broadcasting; a strong ending to a report. A Above the fold - A broadsheet paper folded in half for display. The top half of the page, above the fold, is held to be the most important real estate in the paper. A reporter’s ambition is to get an article on the front page; a reporter’s supreme ambition is to get that article above the fold. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Accountability - The requirement to explain decisions and actions. Ace - an on-call reporter. Active Proceedings (sub judice) - These occur in a criminal court of law when a person has been arrested, a warrant for his or her arrest has been issued, there are bail conditions (including police bail), a summons has been issued or a person has been charged (with a criminal offence). ABC - Audit Bureau of Circulations; a group that audits newspaper circulation figures. ABCe - Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic - division of the ABC that audits traffic figures for online publications. ACAP - Automated Content Access Protocol, a platform that would allow search engines to recognise the terms and conditions of specific websites. Add - Copy to be added to a story already written. Adobe InDesign - Desktop publishing program, now being used more widely in place of QuarkXPress. Ad impression - Term used to describe the number of times an advert is seen. Advertisers usually sell space based on the exposure per thousand impressions. This is called Cost per impression (CPM). Alternatively, they might sell on a pay-per-click (CPC) basis (also known as cost-per-click - CPC) ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line; high bandwidth web connection often just called broadband. Advance - A story outlining a future event. Also means to raise the priority of a story or an upfront payment for written work, particularly long articles or text. Advertorial - An advert in the form of a complementary editorial piece, usually labelled as an advert. AJAX — A bundle of technologies and techniques that allow a web page to do things quietly in the background without reloading the whole page. AJAX is not a programming language, but rather an acronym used to describe that bundle, “Asynchronous Javascript and XML.” AJAX provides much of the functionality associated with Web 2.0. One of the first big uses of AJAX was Gmail, which allowed it to be much more responsive than other web e-mail at the time. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Algorithm — A set of instructions or procedures used in order to accomplish a task, such as creating search results in Google. In the context of search, algorithms are used to provide the most relevant results first based on those instructions. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) All Caps - A word or sentence written in all capital letters. AM Mark - the symbol used for denoting the end of a feature story in a periodical. Analogue television - TV transmitted in radio waves as opposed to digital TV. Android — Usually used in the context of Android phone, Android is a free and open source operating system developed by Google that powers a variety of mobile phones from different manufacturers and carriers. It is a rival of the iPhone platform. In contrast to Apple's tightly controlled architecture and App Store, Android allows users to install apps from the Android Market and from other channels, such as directly from a developer's website — which allows for X-rated content, for example. Some well-known Android phones are the Nexus One, the Motorola Droid and HTC Evo. Expect to see competitors to the iPad running a version of Android. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Angle - The approach or focus of a story. This is sometimes known as the peg. AP - the abbreviation for the Associated Press. API - the abbreviation of Application Programming Interface: a set of functions, procedures, methods, classes or protocols that an operating system, library or service provides to support requests made by computer programs. App — Short for application, a program that runs inside another service. Many mobile phones allow apps to be downloaded, leading to a burgeoning economy for modestly priced software. Can also refer to a program or tool that can be used within a website. Apps generally are built using software toolkits provided by the underlying service, whether it is iPhone or Facebook. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Assignment - A job given to a journalist by an editor. Astroturfing - A term used to describe fake grassroots support on websites and in blog comments. A method most usually employed by the public relations and advertising industry and political groups. Atom — A syndication format for machine readable web feeds that is usually accessible via a URL. While it was created as an alternative to RSS (Real Simple Syndication) to improve upon RSS's deficiencies (such as ambiguities), it still is secondary to RSS. (See also, RSS) (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Attribute - to quote the original source of material, whether it be a quote of copyrighted work. Audit - An independent assessment of the validity of statistics used in adverts, newspapers etc. AOP - Formed in 2002, the Association of Online Publishers is an industry body for UK web publishers. The AOP represents the interests of 160 publishing companies. Average issue readership - Number of people who have read the newspaper or magazine in the period that it was issued, also known as AIR. B B2B - Business to business; describes a business whose primary customers are other businesses. B2C - Business to customer; describes a business whose primary customers are individuals. Background - Information given to a reporter to explain more about the situation and details of a story. Sometimes shortened to BG. Back bench - Senior journalists on a newspaper. Bandwidth - The amount of data that can be transferred through an internet connection. Bang out - A composing room ritual in which an employee leaving the premises for the last time is commemorated by the pounding of pica poles against metal surfaces in a commemorative clamor. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Banner ad - Web advert, normally found at the top of a page. Typically around 468 by 60 pixels in size. Sometimes called a web banner. BARB - Broadcasting Audience Research Board, measures TV audience numbers. BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation. Beat - The area or subject that a reporter regularly covers. Best boy - Broadcasting term for second-in-command of a lighting team. Beta - Used in software publishing, 'beta' is the name given to a pre-release version of a software product. Blawg - Weblog dealing with aspects of law. Bliki - Combination of a blog and a wiki; a blog that can be edited by readers or an approved group of users. Blind interview - An interview with an unnamed source. Blog - An online commentary or diary often written by individuals about hobbies or areas of specialist interest. Blogs commonly allow comments below entries and are published in reverse chronological order. Also known as a weblog. Blogger - A person who writes a blog. Blogosphere/Blogdom/Blogiverse/Blogmos/Blogostan - All things relating to blogs and blog communities. Blurb - Brief introduction to the writer, usually following the headline. BRAD - British Rate and Data; a company that logs every periodical that has to do with advertising in Britain. Break - When a story is first published. Breaking news - Unanticipated events developing during the publication cycle, requiring updates and occasionally wholesale revision of pages. Breaking news is conventionally greeted by profane expressions on the news desk, city desk, or copy desk. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Broadcast - communicating using radio and/or TV. Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) Official body responsible for measurement of TV audiences. Browser - A piece of software that allows users to view internet pages. Popular browsers include Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. budget - Also called The daily budget, or list of pending articles, either completed or imagined, typically discussed at an afternoon news meeting at which preliminary decisions about what is to go on the front page are made. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Bulks - Copies distributed free, normally for promotion. Bulldog - An early edition. The Baltimore Sun continues to produce a bulldog edition of the Sunday paper that appears Saturday morning. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Bump - To move the position or timing of a story. Buried lede - The central element of an article mistakenly appearing deep in the text. It must be disinterred (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Burn off - To dispose of articles that have previously been rejected for the front page or section front by running them on a day of low circulation. Look at your Monday paper. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Button - A small web advertisement, usually around 165 by 90 pixels in size and commonly found in the right or left hand columns of a website. Byline - A journalist's name at the beginning of a story. C Cable television - TV delivered into the home through an underground cable. Campaign - The various stages of an advertising project from beginning to end. Cap - Upper case. Caption - Text printed below a picture used to describe it and who took it. Sometimes called a cutline. Cascading stylesheets (CSS) - Technique used for designing web pages. One file that defines the style for a whole site. chaser - A page or set of pages typeset after the formal edition close to attempt to get breaking news into the paper. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Chat rooms - An interactive part of a website where visitors can write messages to each other people in real time. Also known as forums and message boards. Churnalism - Bad journalism; journalists that churn out rewrites of press releases. Centre of visual interest (CVI) - The prominent item on a page usually a headline, picture or graphic. CIOJ - the Chartered Institute of Journalists. Circulation - Number of copies sold by newspapers or magazines. In the UK these figures are monitored by ABC - The Audit Bureau of Circulations. Citizen journalism - Term used to describe the reporting of news events by members of the public most commonly on blogs and social networking websites. Other terms include participatory journalism and networked journalism though it should not be confused with civic journalism, which is practiced by professional journalists. Checquebook journalism - Practice of paying for Civic media — An umbrella term describing media technologies that create a strong sense of engagement among residents through news and information. It is often used as a contrast to “citizen journalism” because it also encompasses mapping, wikis and databases. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Classified advertising - Advertising placed by individuals in newspapers. Sometimes called small ads. Clickthrough - When a reader clicks on an advert and is redirected to a new page. Advertisers sometimes buy adverts based on a rate per click called a Click-through rate or CTR. Client side — Referring to network software where work takes place on the user's computer, the client, rather than at the central computer, known as the server. Advantages of doing so include speed and bandwidth. An example is Javascript, a programming language that allows developers to build interactivity into websites. The work is done within the browser, rather than at the hosting website. (See also server side) (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Closed question - A simple yes/no question that does little to encourage an interviewee to open up. Cloud computing — An increasingly popular computing model in which information and software are provided on demand from over the Internet rather than staying on local computers. Cloud computing is appealing because companies can reduce the amount they spend on their own computer servers and software but can also quickly and easily expand as the company grows. Examples of cloud computing applications include Google Docs and Yahoo Mail. Amazon offers two cloud computing services: EC2, which many start-ups now use as a cheap way to launch their products, and S3, an online storage system many companies use for cheap storage. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) CMS (Content Management System) — Software designed to organise large amounts of dynamic material for a website, usually consisting of at least templates and a database. It is generally synonymous with online publishing system. The material can include documents, photos or videos. While the first generation of content management systems were custom and proprietary, in recent years there has been a surge in free open-source systems such as Drupal, WordPress and Joomla. Content management systems are sometimes built custom from scratch with frameworks such as Ruby on Rails or Django. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) cold type - Headlines and text produced on photographic paper and pasted up in a composing room. Increasingly supplanted by electronic transmission of pages directly to a printing plant, where the pages emerge as metal plates to go on the printing press. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Column - A regular feature often on a specific topic, written by the same person who is known as a columnist. Composing room - The place in which printers, now vanished, once assembled pages in hot type or cold type. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Contempt of court - The criminal offence of ignoring court rules. Convergence - The term used to describe multimedia newsrooms producing news for different publishing platforms. Cookie - Small text file that is downloaded to your computer when you visit a site. The next time you visit, the site can use the file to remember details such as your login information. Copy - Main text of a story. Copy approval - A source or interviewer asking to see the text of an article prior to publication. (Always discouraged!) copy editor - An anonymous drudge who attempts, against great odds, to correct the many faults of writers before publication. Extinction imminent. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Copywriting - Creating the text for an advertisement. Coverline - Captions on a magazine cover. Cover story - Leading story used on front cover. CPA (Cost Per Action) — A pricing model in which the advertiser is charged for an ad based on how many users take a specific, pre-defined action—such as buying a product from an online store—based on viewing an ad. This is the “gold standard” for advertisers because it most directly matches the cost of an ad to its effectiveness. However, it's not commonly used since it's extremely difficult to measure: it is often unclear when or how to attribute an action to a specific ad. (Also sometimes referred to as Cost Per Acquisition.) (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) CPC (Cost Per Click) — A pricing model in which the advertiser is charged for an ad based on how many users click it. This is a common model for “search advertising” (the all-text ads associated with search results) and for text ads in general. CPC is well-suited for “directed” advertising, intended to prompt an immediate response, because a user's clicking on an ad shows engagement with it. Google AdWords is generally priced on a CPC basis.(Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) CPM - cost per thousand impressions. This is the cost an advertiser pays for 1,000 page views. The M in CPM is the Roman numeral for 1,000. CQ - An indication that the name or term so noted has been checked and verified. Copy editors, whose suspicions are well founded, often suspect that reporters use CQ to indicate “better check this”. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Creative Commons — A flexible set of copyright licenses that allow content creators to specify which rights they reserve and which they waive regarding their work that is supposed to codify collaborative spirit of the Internet. There are six main Creative Commons licenses based on four conditions that creators can choose to apply: Attribution, Share Alike, Non-Commercial, and No Derivative Works. The least restrictive of the licenses is Attribution, which grants anyone, from an individual to a large company, the right to distribute, display, or otherwise make use of the work so long as the creator is credited. The most restrictive is Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives, which grants only redistribution. First released in December 2002 by the nonprofit Creative Commons organization, which was inspired by the open source GNU GPL license, the licenses are now used on an estimated 130 million works worldwide. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Crosshead - A few words used to break up large amounts of text, normally taken from the main text. Typically used in interviews. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) — Instructions used to describe the look and formatting for documents, usually HTML, so that the presentation is separate from the actual content of the document itself. If you watch a web page that loads slowly, you will often see the text first load and then “snap into place” with its look and feel. That look and feel is controlled by the CSS. CSS, which was first introduced by the World Wide Web Consortium in the late 1990s, helped eliminate the clumsy and often repetitive markup in the original HTML syntax.(Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) CSV (Comma-Separated Values) — An extremely simple data format which stores information in a text file. CSV is popular precisely because it can be easily read by many different applications, including spreadsheets, word processors, programming text editors and web browsers. Thus it is a common way for people, including governments, to make their data available. Each row of data is represented by a line of text. Each column is delimited/separated by a comma (,). To prevent confusion about commas in the data, the terms are often surrounded by double quotes (”). Many applications support the use of alternative column delimiters (the pipe character, |, is popular). Example below: “Name”,”Address”,”email” “Laura”,”100 North Road, Brighton, Sussex”,”laura@journalism.co.uk” (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Cub - A trainee reporter. Also known as a rookie or junior reporter. Cut - To remove text. Cuttings - A journalist's collection of published print work. Also known as clips and sometimes presented as a portfolio. Cuttings job - An article which has been put together using research culled from a number of other articles or news items. Cyber-journalist - A journalist that works on the internet. An online journalist. D Data visualization — A growing area of content creation in which information is represented graphically and often interactively. This can be used for subjects as diverse as an analysis of a speech by the prime minister and the popularity of baby names over time. While it has deep roots in academia, data visualization has begun to emerge on content sites as a way to handle the masses of data that are being made public, often by government. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Dateline - A line at the beginning of a story stating the date and the location. Deadline - The time at which an editor requests a journalists to finish an assignment. Death-knock - Calling at the house of a bereaved relative or friend when reporting on the death. Also known as door-stepping. Deck - Part of the headline which summarises the story. Also known as deck copy or bank. Defamation - Information that is written by one person which damages another person's reputation. DHTML - Dynamic HTML. Allows exciting things to happen when you move your mouse over words. Digg - A community-powered internet link recommendation system. Furl offers a similar service. Direct quote - The exact reproduction of a verbatim quote in quotemarks and correctly attributed. Digital television - TV transmitted in binary format, producing good picture quality. Direct marketing - Sending advertising material directly to potential customers either by post, fax, email or information by telephone. Django — A web framework that is popular among news and information sites, in part due to its origin at Lawrence Journal-World in Kansas. It is written in Python, a sophisticated dynamic language. Major projects built in Django include Disqus, Everyblock.com and TheOnion.com. News applications teams, including those at the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, use the framework to present large data sets online in easily accessible ways. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Document-oriented database — An increasingly popular type of database. In contrast to relational databases, which rigidly require information to be stored in pre-defined tables, document-oriented databases are more free-flowing and flexible. This is important when you don't know what is going to be thrown at you. Document-oriented databases retrieve information more quickly, but store it less efficiently. The same document-oriented database might let you store the information for an article (headline, byline, data, content, miscellaneous) or for a photo (file, photographer, date, cutline).(Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Dogblogging - When the upkeep of a weblog becomes a hassle. Dowdification - Deliberate omission of a term or terms to change the meaning of a quote. Refers to journalist Maureen Dowd. Download - Copying a file from a website to your own computer. Draft - The first version of an article before editing and submission to the editor. Dropdown menus - Name given to website menus that allow users to select from a list of options that drop down in a vertical menu. Drupal — A popular content management system known for a vibrant open-source community that creates diverse and robust extensions. Drupal is very powerful, but it is somewhat difficult to use for simple tasks when compared to WordPress. Drupal provides options to create a static website, a multi-user blog, an Internet forum or a community website for user-generated content. It is written in PHP and distributed under the GPL open source license. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) DPS - Double-page spread; can also be referred to as a spread. E e - Often used to indicate an electronic version of something, for example eNews, for an electronic newsletter, or eGovernment, to describe electronic government. EC2 — A computing power rental system by Amazon that has become popular among technology companies because it is much cheaper than maintaining your own computer servers. Users can host their applications on EC2 and pay depending on usage. EC2 is an example of cloud computing. (Also see cloud computing) (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Editor - Someone who prepares material for print or broadcast. Editorialise - To write in an opinionated way. Embed — A term meaning to place a specific piece of content from one web page inside of another one. This is often done using an embed code (a few lines of HTML and/or Javascript) that you can copy or paste. This is a common way for video content to be spread around the Internet and is increasingly being used for interactive components. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Encryption - TV signals encoded so only paying subscribers can watch. Endnote - Text written at the end of an article stating the authors credentials. eTail - Online or 'electronic' retail. Exclusivity - When an advert appears exclusively on a page, rather than being in rotation with other ads. Ezine - Specialised online magazines. F Feature - A longer, more in-depth article. Fisk - Detailed word-by-word analysis and critique of an article. Refers to journalist Robert Fisk. Flash - A program used to display design-heavy, animated content. Flash - 1) Short news story on a new event. 2) Flash — A proprietary platform owned by Adobe Systems that allows for drag-and-drop animations, program interactivity, and dynamic displays for the Web. The language used, ActionScript, is owned by Adobe; this contrasts with many other popular programming languages that are open source. Creators must use Adobe's Creative Suite products and web surfers must install a Flash plug-in for their browser. Many claim that Flash players are unstable and inefficient, slowing down web pages and crashing operating systems. Apple has not allowed Adobe to create a Flash player for the iPhone operating system, which has created a feud between the two companies. HTML5 is emerging as an open alternative to Flash. Flatplan - A page plan that shows where the articles and adverts are laid out. FOI - refers to Freedom of Information requests made in the UK, made under theFreedom of Information Act 2000. Follow-up - An update on a previous story. Font - Typeface. Foursquare — One of many new mobile services, along with Gowalla, SCVNGR and others, that combines geolocation with game mechanics. Launched in 2009 at SXSW Interactive conference, Foursquare allows users to “check in” at locations (bars, restaurants, playgrounds and more) to inform people in their social networks of their whereabouts while earning badges, collecting points and becoming the “mayor” of certain locations. Despite a relatively modest user base at the beginning, Foursquare quickly attracted a lot of attention for its potential for marketing and customer brand loyalty. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Framework — A software package that makes writing programs easier by providing all the “plumbing” for a particular type of task (like writing a web app), allowing programmers to just “fill in the blanks” with their own project-specific needs. For instance, Web development frameworks like Ruby on Rails (written in Ruby, meaning programmers use Ruby to do the “fill in the blanks” tasks) and Django (written in Python), have easy-to-use, built-in support for common web development tasks, such as reading and writing to a database, writing content in html, and so forth. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Freelancer - Someone that works alone, usually on a contract-to-contract basis. Freesheet - A publication that is free to consumers and generates its revenue from advertising. Free-to-air - TV service received without having to decode or pay. Freeview - Commercial free-to-air digital service, between BBC, BSkyB and the transmission firm Crown Castle. Frontline Club - A club in London that promotes “freedom of expression and support journalists, cameramen and photographers who risk their lives in the course of their work.” FTP - File Transfer Protocol. A method of moving files, usually used to transfer files from your computer to a web server. FYI - An abbreviation meaning for your information. G Geotag — A piece of information that goes with content and contains geographically based information. Commonly used on photo sites such as Flickr or in conjunction with user-generated content, to show where a photo, video or article came from. There has been some discussion of its increasing relevance with geographically connected social networking sites, such as Foursquare. Twitter has implemented geotagging, and Facebook has announced plans to do so. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Get - A very good or exclusive interview. GIF - A type of picture file, often used for images that include text. Glossite - The website of a glossy women's magazine. Goat-choker - An article of inordinate and suffocating length, produced to gratify the vanity of the author and the aspirations of the publication. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Graf - Paragraph. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Grip - A person that looks after the equipment required to make a TV camera move. Grip-and-grin - A photograph of no inherent interest in which a notable and an obscure person shake hands at an occasion of supposed significance. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Geotagging - Adding metadata to an image, video, RSS feed, web page etc, which identifies the geographical location relating to the content H Hard copy - When the article is printed out on paper. hed - A headline, giving rise to the abbreviation HTK, for head to come, an article transmitted in a take or takes before it is in final form. Hits - Number of downloads of every element of a web page, rather than the page as a whole. A page of 20 images, text boxes, logos and menus will count as 20 hits, so hits are therefore not regarded as a reliable measurement of web traffic. Headline - The main title of the article. Homepage - The front page of a website. House style - A publication's guide to style, spelling and use of grammar, designed to help journalists write and present in a consistent way for their target audience. The Economist publishes a style guide as does The Guardian. hot type - Metal type generated on a Linotype machine. Archaic. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) house ad - An unpaid advertisement put on a page to fill a gap left by an lack of paid advertising. Often a promotional ad for the publication. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) HTML - Hyper Text Mark-up Language. Basic programming code used for the design and display of web pages. HTML5 — The upcoming, powerful standard of Hypertext Markup Language, which has added advanced interactive features, such as allowing video to be embedded on a web page. It is gaining in popularity compared to proprietary standards, like Adobe Flash, because it is an open standard and does not require third-party plugins. Using HTML5 will allow web pages to work more like desktop applications. The latest releases of most browsers support HTML5 to varying degrees. HTML5 does not cover CSS and JavaScript, but often when people refer to HTML5, they often are using it as a blanket term, applying not only to changes to the HTML, but also to changes in CSS and JavaScript. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Hyperlink - A link that redirects the user to another web page. I Iframe — An HTML tag that allows for one web page to be wholly included inside another; it is a popular way to create embeddable interactive featuresIframes are usually constructed via JavaScript as a way around web browsers' security features, which try to prevent JavaScript on one page from quickly talking to JavaScript on an external page. Many security breaches have been designed using iframes. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Impressions - The number of times an advertising banner was viewed during a campaign. An internet - Any network of connected computers. The internet - The international network of interconnected computers. The World Wide Web, email, FTP and usenet are all part of the Internet. Intranet - A private computer network inside a company or organisation for internal use only. Intro - Very important first paragraph, known as a 'lead' in the US. Inventory - The number of advertisement spaces for sale on a web site at a given time. Island position - An advert surrounded by editorial content in the middle of the page. ITV network - 15 regional franchises that make up ITV1. ITV is the Broadcaster that was formed by the merger of Carlton and Granada. J Javascript - A scripting language commonly used to add functionality to web sites beyond that which is achievable in HTML. Joomla — A free, open-source content management built in PHP. It is more powerful than WordPress but not as powerful as Drupal. However it is known for its extensive design options. The name Joomla means “all together” in Swahili. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Joost - interactive television software produced by the makers of Skype and Kazaa. Journalist - Someone who writes, researches and reports news, or works on the production of a publication. Sometimes shortened to journo, hack or scribe. JPEG - Joint Photographic Expert Group. Common type of picture file used on the web. jQuery — An incredibly popular open source JavaScript library designed for manipulating HTML pages and handling events. Released in 2006, jQuery quickly gained widespread adoption because of its efficiency and elegance. The definitive feature of jQuery is its support for “chaining” operations together to simplify otherwise complicated tasks. It is the most popular JavaScript library. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) JSON (JavaScript Object-Notation) — A Web data publishing format that is designed to be both easily human — and machine — readable. It is an alternative to XML that is more concise because, unlike XML, it is not a markup language that requires open and close tags. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Jumpline - A line indicating a continuation, or jump, of an article on a subsequent page. Though readership surveys for generations have indicated that readers despise jumps and generally do not follow them, it does not suit newspapers to do otherwise. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) K Kerning - Adjustment of horizontal space between two written characters. Key/value store — A simpler way of storing data than a relational or document database. Key-value stores have a simple structure, matching values to accessible “keys,” or indices. In Web development, key/value stores are often (though not always) used for optimisation. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Kicker - The first sentence or first few words of a story's lead, set in a font size larger than the body text of the story. Kill - To cancel or delete a story. Kill fee - A reduced fee paid to a journalist for a story that is not used. Kittyblog - A pointless and boring weblog, possibly about the owner's cat. L LAMP — An acronym referring to a bundle of free open-source Web technologies that have become incredibly popular as a method for building websites. The letters stand for the Linux operating system, Apache web server, MySQL database, and either PHP, Perl or Python. This is often referred to as a “LAMP stack.” A rival alternative would be a bundle of Microsoft products. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Layout - (noun) How the page is designed and formatted. Layout sub-editor - A sub-editor who specialises in laying out pages. Leader - An article that shows the opinion of a newspaper. Leading - Adjustment of vertical space between two lines. Leading questions - A question that contains the predicted answer within the question. lede - The phonetic spelling of lead, the beginning, usually the first paragraph, of an article, so spelled as to indicate the specialized meaning rather than the common meaning to a Linotype operator. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Legacy media — An umbrella term to describe the centralised media institutions that were dominant during the second half of the 20th century, including — but not limited to — television, radio, newspapers and magazines, all which generally had a uni-directional distribution model. Sometimes “legacy media” is used interchangeably with “MSM,” for “Mainstream Media.” Legacy media sits in contrast with social media, where the production and sharing is of equal weight to the consumption. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Libel - A case for defamation. Defendent would need to show claims were true, fair comment or an accurate record of parliamentary or court proceedings. Library — In the context of programming, this contains code that can be accessed for software and Web development, enabling one to perform common tasks without writing new code every time. Many libraries are freely shared. One well-known library is jQuery, released in 2006 and now the most popular JavaScript library, which boasts that it allows coders to “write less, do more.” (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Licence fee - BBC funding system. Link journalism - Scott Karp defines link journalism as “linking to other reporting on the web to enhance, complement, source, or add more context to a journalist's original reporting”. Good link journalism should briefly summarise the content of the article it is linking to, name the source and author and, of course, link directly to it. Any direct reproduction of text should be kept to an absolute minimum, appear in quotes, and be clearly attributed to its source. For example: “I saw it coming” Mr Smith tells the Times or “This is the next big thing,” writes Joe Bloggs (the writer you are quoting). The journalist should also endeavour wherever possible to find the original source of an article, rather than link to someone else's later version of it. Also bear in mind that your own reputation will be judged on the quality of the articles you link to; if you have any interest or connection with the story, publication or author, then declare it. Linotype - A machine for the mechanical setting of type, the brainchild of Ottmar Merganthaler of Baltimore, to whom all praise be given. The Linotype operator used hot metal, melted lead, to create slugs of type by manipulating a keyboard. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Lobster shift - Working in the hours after a publication has gone to print. Also known as dog watch. Location-based services — A service, usually in a mobile Web or mobile device application, that uses your location in order to perform a certain task, such as finding nearby restaurants, giving you directions, or locating your friends. Foursquare and Gowalla are location-based services. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Long-lead magazines - Glossy magazines, quarterlies and journals that typically commission and accept work months in advance of publication. Long tail - The effect of publishing content online and keeping it available in an archive. Unlike in a newspaper, old stories will continue to receive traffic long after publication date, hence the long tail. M Mark - Correction. Mashup — A combination of data from multiple sources, usually through the use of APIs. An example of a mashup would be an app that shows the locations of all the movie theaters in a particular town on a Google map. It is mashing up one data source (the addresses of movie theaters) with another data source (the geographic location of those addresses on a map). (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Martini media - Media that is available “any time, any place, any where”. Mash up, mashup, or mash-up - a website or web application that seamlessly combines content from more than one source into an integrated experience. Masthead - Main title section and name at the front of a publication. Media Kit - Practical information available to potential advertisers regarding costs etc. See the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and the Belfast Telegraph for examples. Metadata - Meta data, or sometimes metainformation, is data about data, of any sort, in any media. Microblogs - Blogs dealing with very specialised discussion. Microblogging - Variant of traditional blogging in which users write brief text messages over the web. Popularized by web site Twitter, which limits users to 140-character updates. Mobile — An umbrella term in technology that was long synonymous with cellular phones but has since grown to encompass tablet computing (the iPad) and even netbooks. In retrospect, an early mobile technology was the pager. Sometimes the term is used interchangeably with “wireless.” It generally refers to untethered computing devices that can access the Internet over radiofrequency waves, though sometimes also via wi-fi. Mobile technology usually demands a different set of standards — design and otherwise — than desktop computers, and has opened up an entirely new area for geo-aware applications. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Moblogging - Where individuals contribute to a blog using images or text sent from a mobile phone. MPEG - Moving Pictures Experts Group. A file format used for digital video. MPU - Known as a Messaging Plus Unit, a large square web advert usually in a central position below or inline with editorial. Typically around 350 by 250 pixels in size. Multimedia - Term used to describe a range of different delivery formats such as video, audio, text and images, often presented simultaneously on the internet. Multiplex - Single digital terrestrial TV transmission comprising of several channels. MySQL — The dominant open-source database management system on the Internet. It is popular because it is a free and flexible alternative to expensive systems like Oracle. Projects that use MySQL include Facebook and Wikipedia. The SQL stands for “Structured Query Language” and “My” is the name of the inventor's daughter. It is officially pronounced My-S-Q-L, but you will often hear it referred to as “My Sequel.” MySQL is a relational database management system, not a document-oriented database system. (Also see document-oriented database) (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) N Navigation - Structure that helps web users move around the website. NCTJ - National Council for Training of Journalists, official UK accreditation board for journalism courses. Netiquette - Online etiquette, eg. reciprocal links. Networked journalism - Another term to describe participatory journalism or citizen journalism. News agency - Company that sells stories to newspapers or magazines. Newspaper Society - Industry body representing the regional press & local press. Newsreader - Software that helps receive and read RSS blog and news feeds. NIB - News in brief - a quick summary of a story. Nut graf - Paragraph containing the essential elements of a story. NUJ - National Union of Journalists, a UK trade union. O OAuth — A new method that allows users to share information stored on one site with another site. For example, some web-based Twitter clients will use OAuth to connect to your account, instead of requiring you to provide your password directly to that third-party site. It is similar to Facebook Connect. This allows sites to validate users' identities without having full access to their personal accounts. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Ofcom - Broadcasting industry regulator. Off diary - An unscheduled or unpredicted story. Off the floor - When a page has been completed and removed from the composing room (cf.), it is said to be off the floor. When an entire edition is off the floor, it is said to have been put to bed.(courtesy of John E McIntyre) Off the record - Information that must not be disclosed. On diary - Scheduled story. On spec - Article that is written 'just in-case', but it will only be used if needed. On the record - Information given by a source that can be used in an article. Ontology — A classification system with nodes or entities, that allows non-hierarchical relationships, in contrast to a taxonomy, which is hierarchical. Taxonomies and ontologies are important in content to help related articles or topics pages. (Also see taxonomy) (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Op-ed - A feature, usually by a prominent journalist, presenting an opinionated story. Open ID — An open standard that lets users log in to multiple web sites using the same identity through a third party. It is supported by numerous sites, including LiveJournal, Yahoo, and WordPress. While Open ID has seen adoption among technical communities, its authentication method is not particularly intuitive, and it has not gained wide consumer acceptance. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Open source software - Software with openly available code to allow developers or others to modify it. Operating system — A basic layer of software that controls computer hardware, allowing other applications to be built on it. The most popular operating systems today for desktop computers are the various versions of Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and the open-source Linux. Smart phones also have operating systems. The Palm Pre uses webOS, numerous phones use Google's Android operating system, and the iPhone uses iOS (formerly known as iPhone OS). (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Orphan - First line of a paragraph appearing on the last line of a column of text. Normally avoided. P Palm Pre — A smart phone introduced in 2009 by Palm which uses webOS and allows for multitasking, unlike the iPhone. Despite rave reviews, the product is generally acknowledged to have come out too late to gain meaningful traction against the iPhone or Google's Android operating system. HP recently announced that it would acquire Palm, which was once the leading smart phone company. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) PACT - Industry body representing independent cinema and tv producers. Pasteup - The assemblage of pages by pasting type onto page mockups, which are then photographed to be made into metal plates for the printing press. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Pay-per-view - A single programme that the viewer has to pay for. Pay TV - Paid subscription service for TV. PDA - Personal Digital Assistant. A hand-held computer combining a phone, organiser and web client. PDF - Portable Document Format – a standard file format that allows web publishers to post documents viewable by any user who installs a copy of the free Acrobat Reader. Peer-to-peer (P2P) — A network architecture in which users share resources on their own computers directly with others. Often used to speed up videos and large multimedia pieces that can take a long time to download. Napster was an early example of a popular use of peer-to-peer architecture, although it was not fully peer-to-peer. Today, Skype and BitTorrent are based on peer-to-peer technologies. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Perl — A dynamic language that is often used to phrase and sort information because of its powerful abilities in manipulating text. Perl can be used to pull large quantities of data down from websites and standardise and replace information in batch. Perl was more popular in past years, especially in the computer-assisted reporting community, but it has been overtaken in popularity by languages such as Python and Ruby. Perl still has an active development community and is noted for the scope of its freely available libraries, which simplify development. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Photoblogging - Contributing photos to a blog. Photoshop - (noun) Computer program used to edit photographs. PHP — A popular web scripting language to generate web pages that was first developed in 1995, when it stood for “Personal Home Page.” (It is now a recursive acronym, standing for “PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor.”) Popular websites that are written in PHP are Wikipedia, Facebook and WordPress. It is criticized as being slow because it generates web pages on request. However, Facebook recently released its internally developed version of HipHop for PHP, which is designed to make the language dramatically more efficient. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) pica pole - A metal ruler used by printers in the composing room to measure type by picas (12 points to the pica, six picas to the inch). The pica pole is pounded against a metal surface in the ritual of banging out an employee leaving the premises for the last time. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Pitch - Story idea sent to an editor by a reporter. Pixel - An on-screen measurement. Most monitors display around 1024 pixels wide by 768 pixels high. Platform — In the technology world, platform refers to the hardware or software that other applications are built upon. Computing platforms include Windows PC and Macintosh. Mobile platforms include Android, iPhone and Palm's webOS. More recently, in an extension of its commonly used definition, Facebook has created a “platform,” allowing developers to build applications on top of it. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Podcasts - MP3 audio recordings that can automatically download to a user's computer as soon as they are published online. Point size - Size of the type face. Pop-under/pop-behind - A web advert that opens under the browser window. Pop-up - A web advert that pops up on screen. These are commonly blocked with a pop-up blocker. Post - To add a comment to a blog. Posterous — A blogging and publishing platform to which users can submit via e-mail. Through APIs, it can push the content to other sites such as Flickr, Twitter and YouTube. It is a for-profit company based in San Francisco that came out of the YCombinator seed start-up program. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) PostgreSQL - An alternative to MySQL, another free and open-source relational database management system on the Internet. PostgreSQL is preferred by some in the technology community for its ability to operate as a spatial database, using PostGIS extensions. This enables developers to create applications that sort information based on geography, which can mean sorting by whether various places are within a certain county or pointing out the places that are geographically closest to the user. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Pork - Material held for later use, if needed. PPA - Periodical Publishers Association. Industry body representing UK magazine publishers. Portal - A busy site often used as a starting point online through services such as messaging, news and searches. Programming language — A special type of language used to unambiguously instruct a computer how to perform tasks. Programming languages are used by software developers to create applications, including those for the web, for mobile phones, and for desktop operating systems. C, C++, Objective C, Java, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python and Ruby are examples of programming languages. HTML and XML are not programming languages, they are markup languages. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Proof - Copy of a laid-out page ready to be corrected. Prosumer - Marketing term used to describe professional consumers. Puff piece - A news story with editorialised, complimentary statements. PTC - Periodicals Training Council - The lead body for best practice in training and development for the magazine and business media sector. Primary accreditation body for magazine journalism courses. Pulldown - Web text that is activated by a down arrow on a web menu. Pulitzer Prize - American journalism awards. There are fourteen prizes for journalism. The prizes have been awarded by Columbia University since 1917. Pulitzer-Prize-winner - An article of surpassing artistry or investigative virtuosity, usually of considerable length, written for Pulitzer jurors rather than the readership of the publication, despite the unlikelihood that the former group will have read it in its entirety before bestowing the laurels. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Pull-out quote - Selected quote from a story highlighted next to the main text. Often used in interviews. Python — A sophisticated computer language that is commonly used for Internet applications. Designed to be a very readable language, it is named after Monty Python. It first appeared in 1991 and was originally created by Guido van Rossum, a Dutch computer programmer who now works at Google. Python files generally end in .py. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Q QuarkXPress - Desktop publishing program. Quote - Record of what a source or interviewee has said. R Radio spectrum - Total capacity of radio frequencies that can be received. Rate card - A list of advertising rates provided by a publisher. reader - An article devoid of immediate news interest that will supposedly be of interest to the readership. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Recto - Right-hand page. Relational database — A piece of software that stores data in a series of tables, with relationships defined between them. A news story might have columns for a headline, date, text and author, where author points to another table containing the author's first name, last name and email address. Information must be structured, but this allows for powerful queries. Examples include MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL and SQLite. Most modern websites use some kind of relational database to store content. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Redletter - Exclusive, breaking news coverage of a major news event, printed in red type. refer - A short summary attached to an article indicated a related story elsewhere in the publication. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Reporter - Someone who writes and researches news stories. Reporters without borders - An organisation founded in 1985 that fights for press freedom around the world. Retraction - A withdrawal of a previously-published story or fact. Revision - A re-written or improved story, often with additional quotes or facts. Rich media - Artwork formats such as Flash, Java and DHTML that allow interactive or multimedia content. Rim editor - A copy editor, a nonentity. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Roadblock - The sale of all the adverts on your home page to one advertiser. RSS - This began life as Rich Site Summary in 1999, then mutated to Really/Real Simple Simple Syndication in 2002, then Real Simple Synchronisation in 2005. Ruby — An increasingly popular programming language known for being powerful yet easy to write with. Originally introduced in 1995 by Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, Ruby has gained increasing traction since 2005 because of the Ruby on Rails development framework, which can create websites quickly. Ruby is open source and is very popular for content-based sites (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Ruby on Rails — A popular Web framework based on the Ruby programming language that makes common development tasks easier “out of the box”. The power of Ruby on Rails, which was developed by the Chicago-based firm 37 Signals, comes from how quickly it can be used to create a basic website. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Run - To publish a story. S SaaS (Software as a Service) — A pricing strategy and business model, where companies build a software solution, usually business-to-business, and charge a fixed monthly rate to access it on the Internet. It is a type of cloud computing. Salesforce.com is the best example, but other notables include Mailchimp and even Amazon Web Services. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Sacred cow - News or promotional material which a publisher or editor demands be published, often for personal reasons. Satellite television - TV received through a satellite dish. Scoop - An exclusive or first-published story. Scoopt - the world's first citizen journalism photograph agency owned by Getty Images. Scribd — A document-sharing site that is often described as a “YouTube for documents” because it allows other sites to embed its content. It allows people to upload files and others to download in various formats. Recently Scribd, which is based in San Francisco, moved from Flash-based technology to HTML5 standards. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Scripting language — A programming language designed to be easy to use for everyday or administrative tasks. It may involve trade-offs such as sacrificing some performance for ease of programming. Popular scripting languages include PHP, Perl, Python and Ruby. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Search box - A tool that allows users to enter a word or phrase to search a database. Sell - Short sentence promoting an article, often pulling out a quote or a interesting sentence. See also Pull-out quote. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) — A suite of techniques for improving how a website ranks on search engines such as Google. SEO is often divided into “white hat” techniques, which (to simplify) try to boost ranking by improving the quality of a website, and “black hat” techniques, which try to trick search engines into thinking a page is of higher quality than it actually is. SEO can also refer to individuals and companies that offer to provide search engine optimization for websites. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) SEM (Search Engine Marketing) — A type of marketing that involves raising a company or product's visibility in search engines by paying to have it appear in search results for a given word. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Semantic web — A vision of the web that is almost entirely machine readable, in which documents are published in languages that are designed specifically for data. It was first articulated by Tim Berners-Lee in 2001. In many implementations, tags would identify the information, such as

or . While there has been progress toward this front, many say this vision remains largely unrealized.(Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Server-sid — Referring to when network software runs in a central location, the server, rather than on the user's computer, often known as the client. (Also see client side). (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Serif and Sans serif - Plain font type with or without (sans) lines perpendicular to the ends of characters. Server - A computer that hosts the pages of a web site. Shockwave - Software that allows the user to play multimedia animations; published by Macromedia. Sinatra - A lightweight framework written in Ruby that can be used to set up web services, APIs and small sites at lightning speed. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Skype - Popular free internet telephony tool sometimes used to produce Skypecasts, or broadcast conference calls. Skyscraper - A vertical banner advert, usually at one side of a web page and 60 x 468 pixels in size. Slot editor - On a copy desk, the copy editor who checks and corrects the copy of other copy editors before approving it for publication. The term arises from the obsolete furniture of the newsroom, where once a horseshoe-shaped desk enabled the slot editor to hand out paper copy to the copy editors on the rim, the outside of the horseshoe. To slot (v.) is to check an article that has been copy edited before approving it for typesetting. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Slug - A line of type set in metal on a Linotype machine. Also the one-word working title of an article as it moves through production. SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) is a familiar slug for an article about a Supreme Court decision. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Social bookmarking - A service that allows users to store interesting website addresses publicly on a web page and lets users network and pool recommendations. Social graph — A mapping of the connections between people and the things they care about that could provide useful insights. The term originally promoted by Facebook and is now gaining broader usage. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Social media — A broad term referring to the wide swath of content creation and consumption that is enabled by the many-to-many distributed infrastructure of the Internet. Unlike legacy media, where the audience is usually on the receiving end of content creation, social media generally allows three stages of interaction with content: 1) producing, 2) consuming and 3) sharing. Social media is incredibly broad and refers to blogging, wikis, video-sharing sites like YouTube, photo-sharing sites like Flickr and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Source - An individual who provides information for a story. Spadia - An annoying flap of advertising copy that wraps around a portion of the front page of a section, preventing the reader from seeing the full page. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Spider - Also known as a crawler or ant, a program that uses hyperlinks to make methodical searches of the web to provide information about pages for search engines. spike - The spindle on which paper copy that was not to run was impaled, giving rise to the verb to spike, to kill a story. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Spike - Not to publish a submitted article. Splash - Front page story. Standfirst - Line of text after the headline that gives more information about the article. stet - (From the Latin) Let it stand; let the original copy go as written. The hardest word for a copy editor to use. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Sticky content - Content that encourages users to stay on one site for as long as possible. Strapline - Similar to a subhead or standfirst, but used more as a marketing term. Streaming - Watching or listening to video or audio in real time, rather than downloading files. Structured thesaurus — A group of preferred terms created for editorial use to normalise and more effectively classify content. For example, the AP Stylebook is similar to (but includes more rules than) a structured thesaurus in that it gives writers preferred terms to use and standards to follow, so everyone following AP Style writes the word “website” the same way. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Sub-editor - The person that checks and edits a reporters' work and adds headlines and standfirsts. Subhead - A smaller one-line headline for a story. Superstitials - A type of rich media advert that downloads gradually without obscuring other content on the page; usually more popular than pop ups. S3 — An online storage system run by Amazon that's often used as a cheap way to store (and serve) photos and videos used on websites. It is short for Simple Storage Service. Its fees are often pennies per month per gigabyte, depending on location and bulk discount. The service is often used in conjunction with other Amazon Web Services, such as EC2, to allow customers to process large amounts of data with low capital investment. The New York Times used S3 with EC2 in this way to process its archives. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) T Tabloid - Smaller print newspaper size. Tag — A common type of metadata used to describe a piece of content that associates it with other content that has the same tag. Tags can be specific terms, people, locations, etc. used in the content it is describing, or more general terms that may not be explicitly stated, such as themes. The term “tag” is also used in the context of markup languages, such as . (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Take - A section of an article. An article that is transmitted to the copy desk or the composing room as it is being written is sent in takes. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Taxonomy — A hierarchical classification system. In the world of content, this can be a hierarchy of terms (generally called nodes or entities) that are used to classify the category or subject content belongs to as well as terms that are included in the content. In many cases, website navigation systems appear taxonomical in that users narrow down from broad top-level categories to the granular feature they want to see. An ontology is similar to a taxonomy in that it is also a classification system with nodes or entities, but it is more complex and flexible because ontologies allow for non-hierarchical relationships. While in a taxonomy a node can be either a broader term or narrower term, in an ontology nodes can be related in any way.(Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Technobabble - Confusing technical jargon. Technorati - Powerful blog search engine. Teeline - A form of shorthand. Telegraph section - The section, in which national and foreign news was acquired by telegraph in the remote past. The copy was edited on the telegraph desk, a component of the copy desk. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Terrestrial television - TV sent through a beam transmitter directly into the home. Testimonial - Endorsement of a product, often by a celebrity or well-respected client. Thirty - A numeral indicating the conclusion of a take of copy. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Tick-tock - A step-by-step account of how a particular event or phenomenon developed. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) TK - Proofreader's insertion mark for data to come. Sometimes written as TKTK. Tie in - Placing the facts of a new story within the context of past events. Also known as a tie back. Tip - A lead of piece of new information about a new story. Tombstoning - In page layout, to put articles side by side so that the headlines are adjacent. The phenomenon is also referred to as bumping heads. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Top heads - Headlines at the top of a column. Traffic - Amount of users recorded by a website. Transparency — In the context of news and information, a term describing openness about information that has become increasingly popular. In many cases it is used to refer to the transparency of government releasing data to journalists and to the public. It is often used in the context of journalists being open about their reporting process and material by sharing with their readers before the final project emerges or providing more context in addition to the final product. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Tumblr — A free short-form blogging platform that allows users to post images, video, links, quotes and audio. The company is based in New York City and competes with Posterous.(Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Twitter - A service that allows users to send 140 character messages to 'friends' via mobile SMS, website or Instant Messenger. U UI (User Interface) — The part of a software application or website that users see and interact with, which takes into account the visual design and the structure of the program. While graphic design is an element of user interface design, it is only a portion of the consideration. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Unique users - The number of individual users, as identified by unique computer addresses, that visit a web site. Upload - To publish a file on the internet. URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) — The way to identify the location for something on the Internet. It is most familiarly in “http:” form, but also encompasses “ftp:” or “mailto:” (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) URL - Uniform Resource Locator, technical name for a web address. User - A visitor or reader on a web site. User-generated content - Material created and submitted to sites by its users - such as photographs, video footage, comments, articles etc. UX (User Experience) — Generally referring to the area of design that involves the holistic interaction a user has with a product or a service. It incorporates many disciplines, including engineering, graphic design, content creation and psychology. User interface is one element of user experience. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) V Verso - Left-hand page. Video blogger/Vlogger - A blogger who mainly uses video and publishes on the internet. Video journalist - A journalist who publishes video reports on TV and/or on the internet. Vertical search engine - A search engine containing information on a specific subject area. W WAP - Wireless Application Protocol - an international standard for the application that enables access to a wireless internet network using a mobile device. Web scraping - Automated process of finding content on web pages and converting it into another form for use on another web site. Warblogs - Opinionated and political web logs. Webcasting - Online visual and/or audio broadcasts, usually in real time. Webmercials - Similar format to television adverts used online. WebOS — Operating system used on the latest generation of Palm smart phones, including the Pre and the Pixi. Apps for webOS are developed using web standards (HTML, Javascript and CSS), which means there is a low barrier to entry for web developers to create mobile apps for webOS as compared to other mobile platforms. It allows for having several applications open at the same time, unlike the current iPhone. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Webinar/Web conference - A seminar, lecture or presentation delivered over the internet. Web 2.0 — Referring to the generation of Internet technologies that allow for interactivity and collaboration on websites. In contrast to Web 1.0 (roughly the first decade of the World Wide Web) where static content was downloaded into the browser and read, Web 2.0 uses the Internet as the platform. Technologies such as Ajax, which allow for rapid communication between the browser and the web server, underlie many Web 2.0 sites. The term was popularized by a 2004 conference, held by O'Reilly Media and MediaLive, called Web 2.0. (Also see Ajax) (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Web 3.0 — Sometimes used to refer to the semantic web. (Also see semantic web) (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Widget - application available to download or embed on a desktop, homepage or social network. Allows you to share content, which will be automatically updated e.g. Journalism.co.uk's news headlines. Widow - Last line of paragraph appearing on the first line of a column of text. Wiki — A web site with pages that can be easily edited by visitors using their web browser, but generally now gaining acceptance as a prefix to mean “collaborative.” Ward Cunningham created the first wiki, naming it WikiWikiWeb after the Hawaiian word for “quick.” A wiki enables the audience to contribute to a knowledge base on a topic or share information within an organization, like a newsroom. The best-known wiki in existence is Wikipedia, which burst onto the scene around 2000 as one of the first examples of mass collaborative information aggregation. Other sites that have been branded “wiki” include Wikinews, Wikitravel, and WikiLeaks (which was originally but is no longer a wiki). (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) Wire service - (also the wire) The Associated Press or other news service whose dispatches are transmitted electronically to the publication. (courtesy of John E McIntyre) Wi-fi - Wireless internet or network connection. Wiki - An information site that can be edited and added to by readers. See Wikipedia - an online Wiki encyclopedia. Wires - Stories or photographs sent electrically to your desktop. Here is a list of wire news services. Wob - White text on a black or other coloured background. WordPress — The most popular blogging software in use today, in large part because it is free and relatively powerful, yet easy to use. First released by Matt Mullenweg in 2003, WordPress attracts contributions from a large community of programmers and designers who give it additional functionality and visual themes. Sites that use WordPress include the New York Times blogs, CNN and the LOLCats network. It has been criticized for security flaws. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) X XML (Extensible Markup Language) A set of rules for encoding documents and data that goes beyond HTML capacities. Whereas HTML is generally concerned with the semantic structure of documents, XML allows other information to be defined and passed such as , , , , for a car. It is the parent language of many XML-based languages such as RSS, Atom, and others. It gained further popularity with the emergence of Ajax as a way to send back data from web services, but has since lost ground to JSON, another data encoding format, which is seen as easier to work with. (Courtesy of Hacks/Hackers Survival Glossary) AAP: Australian Associated Press, an industry-owned, Australian-based agency supplying news for a fee to the media. active proceedings (sub judice): Legal proceedings are said to be active – with constraints on reporting, such as contempt laws - when a person has been arrested or charged, or a warrant or summons has been issued. ABC: (1) Audit Bureaux of Circulations, industry-owned companies which audit (and verify) print media circulation figures. The ABCe (Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic) audits traffic figures for online publications. Also: (2) Australian Broadcasting Corporation, (3) the American Broadcasting Company, (4) the Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (Japan) and (5) the Associated Broadcasting Company (Philippines). actuality: In radio, the sound of something actually happening, people speaking etc. Can also mean specifically audio material recorded out of the studio on location, either voices or other sounds such as ambient noise. Sometimes called a sound bite. In television sometimes called sync. ad: Short for advertisement. add: Additional copy, to be added to a story already written. ad-lib: Unscripted talking, usually by a broadcaster. From the Latin ad libitum ‘at one's pleasure’. advance: (1) A story looking ahead to a future event. (2) To bring a story forward in a bulletin or earlier in a newspaper. (3) An up-front payment for commissioned work, such as a longer article or a book. advertorial: An advertisement written in the style of a news item or feature, often provided by the publisher to complement adverts sold on that page. Ethically, advertorials should be clearly identified as such. advocacy journalism: A type of journalism in which journalists openly and intentionally takes sides on issues and express their opinions in reporting. It attempts to be factually based and is not to be confused with badly-practised objective journalism or propaganda. all caps: A printing instruction to set a word or sentence using all capital letters. ambiance or ambient sound: The background sound in a place where a recording is made, e.g. traffic in a street interview. See also atmos. analogue television and analogue radio: The original method of transmitting television or radio signals using radio waves, increasingly being replaced by higher quality digital broadcasting (television and radio), transmitted in a digital data stream. anchor: A person who presents a news bulletin from a television studio, usually on a regular basis. See also newsreader and presenter. angle: Short for news angle, it is that aspect of a story which a journalist chooses to highlight and develop. Usually the most newsworthy of its key points. Also called hook or peg. AP: Associated Press, the world’s largest independent news agency supplying news services for a fee to media around the world. AP Stylebook: Associated Press Stylebook, a standard reference source for American journalists on word usage and spelling, including names in the news. assignment: A job given to a journalist by an editorial supervisor, such as a news editor. atmos: Short for atmosphere, this is background noise recorded on location. In television it is sometimes also called actuality. Sometimes called ambient sound. attribute: To identify who said something, either as a quote or as reported speech. Attribution is important to maintain credibility. audit: An independent assessment of the accuracy of newspaper sales and circulation figures, especially so advertisers can decide where to place their business. See ABC above. Autocue: A system of lenses, mirrors and angled glass in front of a studio television camera lens which displays a newsreader’s script as a scrolling image so they can read it without looking down at their script. Also known as a Teleprompter. B back announcement: In broadcasting, when the presenter gives viewers or listeners brief information about something they have just watched or heard, for example the name of the reporter or of the piece of music which was just played. back bench: American term for senior production journalists on a newspaper. background: (1) Information which is not part of the news event but which helps to explain more about the situation and the story. (2) Another name, usually US, for off-the-record. A backgrounder is the story written. balance: A basic journalism principle of giving both sides of an argument in a fair way so readers or listeners can make up their own mind. bandwidth: Quantity of data that can be transferred along cables or through wireless connections, including transmission or the Internet. Measured in bits per second (digital) or hertz (analogue). banner: A headline stretching across the width of a page, usually at the top. Also called a streamer. BARB: Broadcasters' Audience Research Board, which compiles television ratings (viewer) statistics in the United Kingdom. BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation, Britain’s national broadcaster. beat: (US) A specialist area of journalism that a reporter regularly covers, such as police or health. See also round. bidirectional mic: A microphone which picks up sound from two directions, front and rear. Compare with omnidirectional and unidirectional microphones. bill: Short for 'newspaper billboard'. A large sheet of paper on a board placed where newspapers or magazines are sold, with eye-catching headline text or graphics promoting a story in that edition. blind interview: A published interview where the interviewee is not named, e.g. ‘a senior official’, sometimes called non-attributable. See also off-the-record. Also, to conduct an interview not knowing the subject matter. blob: A bullet point in type , used in text layout to list points or to make a separate point at the end of a story. blockline: A caption for a photograph. blog: Short for web log, an online commentary or diary often written by individuals about their specialist interests, hobbies, family etc. blogger: A person who writes a blog. They can be professional commentators or amateur Internet users. blogosphere: Collective name for the medium of bloggers. blooper: See out-take below. blurb: Brief information about the writer, usually either at the top or bottom of the article. body type: The style of newspaper type used in the body of a story, not in headlines, where it is called display type. box: (1) The solid frame put around a print story to give it prominence. (2) The short article inside the box frame, often associated with some aspect of a major story on the same page. Also called a breakout. See also sidebar. box brackets: See square brackets. break: (1) A story that is first published while the event is still happening. Sometimes called breaking news. (2) A short news bulletin which intrrupts a radio or television program to bring the latest news. See news break. breakout: See box above. bridge: Music or sound effects used to link one item to the next. broadcast: Transmission to a large number of people by radio or television. broadsheet: A large format newspaper, usually measuring at least 56 cm (22 inches) long. Also used to describe more serious, less sensational styles of newspaper journalism. Compare with tabloid. bulletin: A organised collection of news stories broadcast on radio or television at a regular time. Can also include elements such as sports reports, stock market information, weather reports etc. In US, more commonly called a newscast. bump: To move the position of a story, either up or down the scale of priority or position in a bulletin. byline: The writer’s name, printed at the beginning or end of an article. C cable television: A TV service delivered into the home through a cable, usually for a fee. A form of pay TV. Compare with terrestrial television and satellite television. call-out: See pull-out quote. cans: Headset or headphones. cap: Short for capital letter. Also known as upper case. caption: In print, short pieces of text placed below or beside pictures to describe them and identify the photographers and/or owners. Also called a cutline. In television, information superimposed over a picture, usually at the top or bottom of the screen, describing what is being shown. Often used to name and describe the person speaking. chief reporter: The most senior reporter in a newsroom. In larger newsrooms, may be called a news editor. chief of staff: A senior journalist in a newsroom who assigns stories to reporters and organises and monitors how they do their work. Often second-in-command to a news editor. chief sub: Short for chief sub-editor. The person in charge of sub-editors, who assigns work to down-table subs. chroma key: A process by which a person is filmed in front of a blank screen, onto which is then added still or moving pictures, often to make it appear they are at the scene. Also called greenscreen, bluescreen or Colour Separation Overlay (CSO). churnalism: Journalism that churns out rewrites of media releases. circulation: Number of copies sold by newspapers and magazines. See ABC, The Audit Bureau of Circulations above. citizen journalism: Journalism outside the established media, usually by ordinary citizens without professional training or organisational experience. Compare to professional journalists. Citizen journalism is commonly practised through blogs and social networking web sites and not requiring the large resources of media organisations. Also called participatory journalism and networked journalism. classified ads: Small newspaper advertisements usually paid for by individuals or small businesses and grouped under different classifications, e.g. houses, cars etc. clip: (1) A single graphic or short excerpt of video, often used on Web pages. (2) A cutting of a newspaper story. clippings: Also known as clips or cuttings. Saved copies of published articles, traditionally cut or clipped from the newspaper or magazine itself. Often kept in a clippings library or cuttings library. closed captions: See subtitles below. closed question: A question which can be answered with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Contrast with open questions, which require longer, more involved answers. ‘Can you tell me?’ is a closed question. ‘What can you tell me?’ is an open question. colour: Extra details in a story which help the reader or listener get a fuller picture of what has happened or what a person is like. column: (1) In typography, a column is a vertical block of text on a page, separated by margins and/or rules. (2) A regular feature often on a specific topic, written by a person known as a columnist. column centimetre or column inch: A measurement of text based on the length of a single standard column of type in a specific newspaper or magazine. Also called a single column centimetre (SCCM). commentator: A broadcaster who is a specialist in a specific area, e.g. cricket or politics, who describes events or games as they are happening or who comments on recent events. commercial broadcasting: Television or radio networks funded wholly or mainly from advertising. Commercial broadcasters are usually owned by individuals or by companies answerable to shareholders. Compare with public broadcasting. commercials: Paid for advertisements on television. Radio usually calls these ‘ads’. compositor: See typesetter. conflict of interest: When a journalist allows something with which he or she has a personal stake to interfere with their duty to be fair and objective in covering a story. For example, having shares in a company could make a finance reporter say uncritically good things to boost that company. Conflicts of interest can be real or perceived. Even perceived conflicts of interest should be declared openly. contact: A person a reporter will visit or telephone (i.e. 'contact') for information on a topic they are researching. Contacts are usually sources journalists keep in touch with and approach for information on a regular basis. contacts book: A book which lists people a journalist knows may be useful, together with their telephone numbers, email addresses, fax numbers, addresses, or whatever other information is needed to contact them. contempt of court: Disregarding a court's orders or in any way interfering with the way the court does its job. content management system (CMS): A program for creating, editing and publishing content such as text, images, audio files and videos on Web sites. continuity: Announcements between radio or television programs, often back announcing the previous program or looking forward to forthcoming programs. convergence: The bringing together of different media technologies such as radio, print, video and the Internet so they work together to improve communications. For example, playing video reports on Web pages or print journalists recording interviews for broadcast online. copy: Written material for publication. In broadcasting also called a script. copy editor: A person on a newspaper or magazine who corrects or edits copy written by a reporter, writes headlines and places the story on a page. The copy editor ensures the text flows, makes sense, is fair and accurate, and poses no legal problems. Also called a sub-editor. copyreader: A person who checks typeset proofs and/or computer printouts to detect errors such as spelling mistakes and bad punctuation before the final printing of a publication. Also called a proof reader. copyright: The legal right to control the use of a literary, musical, dramatic or artistic work, more specifically by making or using copies of that work. copy taster: A senior sub-editor who looks at incoming copy and decides what will be used. copywriting: Writing the text for advertisements. correspondent: A journalist who writes from a position of expertise, either in a subject matter or geographical area, e.g. arts correspondent or European correspondent. cover line (or coverline): A caption on a magazine cover. cover story: The most important story featured on the front cover of a magazine, often by an illustration. crawl: Type moving across the top or bottom of a television screen. Used by news stations to show the main headlines of the moment, stock exchange prices, the weather or other useful current information. credit line: Text next to or following a story or picture acknowledging its source. crop: To cut unwanted portions from a photograph for publication. cross fade: To move from one audio or video source to another, by fading down the first while fading up the second. crosshead: A word or phrase in larger type used to break up long columns of text. Crossheads often use a fragment of a strong quote from later in the article. cross promotion: To use one outlet of a media company to promote something in another outlet. For example, to promote a magazine story on a radio station owned by the same company. cross talk: Interference from one sound source breaking into another. cub: Old-fashioned term for a trainee journalist. Also known as a rookie. cue: (1) To prepare a piece of audio or video so that it starts at the beginning at the press of a button. (2) A signal in a studio that an item is about to start or end. cue sheet: A radio script containing the introduction to a report, details about any inserts, any back announcements and durations of segments. curtain raiser: Story written before a predicted event, setting the scene for when it happens. Often used at the start of an election campaign, sporting competition or season etc. cut: (1) To remove text from an article or whole stories or to reduce the length of a program item. (2) Another word for a grab or separate segments of audio in a sequence, e.g. Cut 1, Cut 2 etc. (3) Short for 'cutting', see clipping above. cut-away or cutaway: A technique in television editing to break up a lengthy shot on one subject, to hide a join where footage has been cut or to make a transition between two scenes. In long interviews, the camera may ‘cut away’ to a shot of the interviewer (See noddy) then return to the interviewee. cutline: See caption above. cuttings: See clippings above. cuttings job: An article written using mainly material from other articles, with little or no original input by the writer. A shoddy or lazy form of journalism. cyber-journalist: A journalist working on the Internet. D DAB: See digital broadcasting. dateline: A line in contrasting type at the top of a story stating the city and/or country from which the story was filed. Used mostly with foreign stories, with the reporter’s byline. Rarely also contains the date of filing. dB: Short for decibel. Unit of measurement of loudness of sound. dead air: An extended unwanted silence on radio, often caused by technical or operating errors. deadline: The time the editor or producer sets by which the reporter must submit a finished story. death-knock: An assignment in which a reporter calls at the home of a bereaved relative or friend when gathering information about a death. Also known as door-stepping. deck: (1) The number of rows in a headline. (2) A sub head(line) below the main headline, describing a key part of the story. See also sub head. defamation: To say something bad about a person which does them harm. Also called libel and slander. delay: Equipment in a radio studio which stores seven seconds of program in memory before sending it to the transmitter. Delay is used during phone-ins and talkback programs so if a caller says something that should not go on air (e.g. defamatory comments), the presenter can press a dump button which effectively deletes the preceding seven seconds and returns the program to real time transmission. delayed intro: See drop intro. desktop publishing: Using a personal computer and page layout software to create documents. diary: (1) A large book or application on a newsroom computer system into which journalists put information about forthcoming events which might make a story. (2) A regular newspaper column of gossip or short human interest stories. digital broadcasting: An advanced system of broadcasting radio (DAB or DRB) or television (DTV) in digital pulses rather than waves and which gives improved quality and/or more channels of content. There are currently two quality levels in television, standard definition (SDTV) and high definition (HDTV). dinkus: A small drawing or symbol used to decorate a page, break up a block of type or identify a regular feature in a newspaper. direct quote: The exact words used by a person, written within quotation marks and usually attributed to them. director: In TV news, the director is usually a studio director, in charge technically of getting the bulletin to air. The editorial decisions are made by a producer. display type: A size of newspaper type larger than that used for the main body of a story, usually in headlines, advertisements etc. digital radio broadcasting (DRB): Also called digital audio broadcasting (DAB), a method of transmitting radio signals in data streams giving a much higher quality than the old analogue system and allowing more programming channels within the same amount of spectrum. Special radio receivers are required. digital television (DTV): The modern method of transmitting sound and images in a data stream. DTV is higher quality than the old analogue TV. High definition digital TV (HDTV) is higher quality still. Special television sets are required to receive and display it. documentary: Sometimes shortened to ‘doco’. A longer radio or television report of half-an-hour or longer, usually explaining and analysing a single issue using multiple elements, multiple interviews and other audio and images. donut: A television interview in which the studio presenter hands over to a journalist on location who interviews guests before handing back to the presenter in the studio. Term used mainly by the BBC. See also two-way. door-stepping: To turn up at a person’s home or place of work without warning or prior arrangement to get an interview. Door-stepping implies the person may be reluctant to speak and may be confronting. Some broadcasters also use the term for an unheralded phone interview. See also death-knock. double-ender: An interview between a presenter in the studio and guest somewhere else. double-spread: Two facing pages of a newspaper or magazine across which stories, pictures, adverts and other components are spread as if they were one page. draft: The first version of an article before submission to an editor. double-page spread (DPS): Two facing pages in a newspaper or magazine that are designed as one unit of interrelated articles. Also called a spread. downtable sub: A sub-editor who works under the direction of more senior sub-editors, preparing copy for publication or broadcast. DRB: See digital broadcasting. drop intro: Also called a delayed intro. A style of intro writing in which the main key point is not mentioned until the second or third sentence. Used for effect, often in humorous stories. drop out: To lose audio or video signal. dub: To re-record sound and/or vision onto another tape. See also over-dub. dummy: See layout below. dump: To drop a caller during a phone-in or talkback program. See delay above. E edit: To prepare raw material - such as text or recorded vision - for publication or broadcast, checking aspects such as accuracy, spelling, grammar, style, clarity etc. See also sub-editor. edition: A newspaper or magazine printed in a single run of the presses. It may be changed for different purposes, e.g. country edition, city edition, final edition etc. editor: (1) The person - usually a journalist - in charge of the editorial content and direction of a newspaper, magazine or other news outlet. (2) A person in charge of a special section of news output, e.g. sports editor, political editor etc. (3) Someone who prepares material for print or broadcast. See also news editor. editorial: (1) An article written by, or on behalf of, an editor, giving the news organisation’s opinion on an issue. (2) An adjective describing issues relating to news content as opposed to advertising or other non-news aspects of a newspaper or magazine. editorial cartoon: A cartoon which appears on the editorial page, commenting on a current controversy. editorial conference: A meeting of senior editorial managers and staff to plan the day's coverage. editorialise: A derogatory description for writing in an opinionated manner. editorial page: A page where the newspaper or magazine's editorial (1) is printed, often with letters to the editor. Also called an opinion page. edit suite: A small room equipped with specialist television or radio editing equipment where pre-recorded material can be processed into a final news report, feature or documentary. effects: Shortened to FX. Sound effects added to vision or natural sound during the editing process on radio or TV. EFP, EJ and ENG: Electronic field production, electronic journalism and electronic news gathering. Television news gathering which replaced film couriered back to the newsroom with electronic methods such as video and microwave links to the studio. embargo: Limitation on the earliest time when a news item given to a journalist can be published or broadcast, usually a date. end or ends: Typed at the end of copy to signify the end of the article and there is no more to come. See also "more". endnote: A paragraph in a different type after the end of an article giving additional information about the writer or – the case of a review – the publication or performance details. ENG: See EFP above. exclusive: Popularly called a 'scoop'. An important or significant story which no other news outlet has. executive producer (EP): The editorial person in charge of a production unit or a series of programs, having control over content, production and, in many cases, staff. See also producer. ezine: (Pronounced e-zeen). An Internet magazine. F face: See typeface below. fact: Something which is true and can be proved to be true by objective methods. Compare with opinion. fade: In broadcasting, to gradually change the intensity of a sound or picture. Fade-up or fade-in increases the intensity (e.g. volume of a sound or brightness and clarity of a picture), fade-down or fade-out decreases it. fairness: In journalism, fairness requires not favouring one viewpoint over another in collecting and presenting news and opinion. Different viewpoints are presented accurately, even those with which the journalist personally disagrees. feature: A longer article or radio story, usually in greater depth and complexity than a simple news item. Features may grow from a current news event or simply be examining a timeless issue. Features which are not strongly connected to hard news events are often called soft features. In radio, features usually have a mixture of elements, including the reporter’s voice, interviews and other sounds. Longer features may be called documentaries. feed: The transfer of information from a source to a recipient, whether raw information from reporter to studio or finished reports fed to a transmitter or another station for broadcast. feedback: An unwanted noise created when the output of an audio speaker feeds back into a microphone in the same system and is amplified as this happens in an increasing loop, resulting in a high-pitched squeal. Also called howl-round. file: To send a report from a reporter on location to the newsroom or studio. file footage: Segments of video or film footage kept in tape libraries - or on newsroom computer archives - to illustrate either (1) general events such as crowds shopping or aeroplanes taxiing at airports or (2) past events used in current stories. See also stock footage. filler: (1) A short news item or advertisements, usually timeless, used to fill small spaces in a newspaper or bulletin. (2) Also called fill-in, a short piece of mujsic to fill a gap between program elements. five Ws and H: See WWWWW and H below. flash: (1) A brief news story which interrupts normal radio or television programming, usually to tell of a major breaking event. (2) A short message from a news agency alerting subscribers to a major breaking event, about which they will shortly provide more detailed coverage. See also snap. flatplan: Traditionally a sheet of paper showing the proposed layout of items such as stories and adverts on a newspaper or magazine page or double spread. Increasingly, these are laid out on computer screens using special flatplan software. float: Pictures or vision shown on television while the presenter is talking or interviewing a guest. They ‘float’ over the presenter’s voice to illustrate aspects of what the presenter or guest is talking about. Sometimes called out of vision (OOV) or underlay. flub: See out-take below. flush: See unjustified text. Freedom of Information (FOI): Laws which require a government body to release information to the public on request or to state why requested information will not be released. follow-up: A story which is written to report new or more detailed information on a story which has already been published or broadcast. font: In printing, a set of characters - letters, numbers and punctuation marks - of a single size and style of a particular typeface. footage: (1) Video or film recordings, originally on tape and measured in feet. See also stock footage. (2) Raw, unedited film or video materials. freelance journalist (freelancer): Usually a reporter or editor not formally employed by any media organisation, instead working on projects under contract or paid individual amounts for work accepted for publication or broadcast. See also lineage. freesheet: A usually cheaper publication that is circulated free readers, making its revenue from advertising or from grants of gifts. free-to-air: Television broadcast on public spectrum which is free to viewers. It is usually funded by taxpayers (public broadcasting) or advertising (commercial broadcasting). Occasionally also used to describe normal radio broadcasts which are free to listeners with conventional radio receivers. Compare with pay TV or subscription radio. Freeview: A free-to-air digital television partnership, (1) in Britain between the BBC, BSkyB and Crown Castle and (2) in Australia between commercial and public broadcasters. FX: See effects. G get: A very good or exclusive interview. gobbledygook: Language which sounds as if it makes sense but is either meaningless or confusing to the listener or reader. An extreme form of jargon. grab: A short piece of recorded sound, usually taken from a longer interview and used in a news item. graphic: An illustration in a newspaper, magazine or web page explaining part of a story in a visual way, e.g. troop movements in a battle or a calendar of a sequence of events. graphics: Often shortened to Gfx, words, diagrams or other illustrations that appear on the television screen. graf: Mainly US, short for a paragraph of text, which may also be known as a par. Gregg: A system of shorthand used mainly in the US and associated countries. grip and grin: Mainly US, derogatory term for photographs where people shake (grip) hands and smile (grin) at the camera, often at ceremonies to open facilities or receive gifts. guerrilla marketing: A relatively low cost marketing technique which uses surprise or shock to promote a product or service, especially one which interrupts a consumer to pay special attention. Also used to describe unusual methods which actually do not look like advertising to the consumer. gutter: A vertical margin of white space where two pages meet gutter journalism: A derogatory term for media which use sensational reporting without concern for the harm it will do individuals. H hard copy: Something printed on paper. Compare with soft copy, where words or pictures exist in computerised form as data. hard news: Immediate and factual accounts of important events or developments. Compare with soft news. hard out: In broadcasting, a sudden and inflexible ending of material in a bulletin, usually determined by a fixed-length pre-recorded segment or a pre-programmed computer event. headline or head: A word or short phrase in large type at the top of an article designed to either summarise the news or grab the reader’s attention and make them want to read it. In broadcasting, headlines are short summaries of a few important stories that will follow in full in the bulletin. Closing headlines come at the end of a bulletin. HDTV: See digital TV above. hits: A popular but misleading method of counting viewing of websites. Hits counts the number of downloads of every element of a web page, not the page as a whole. A page with 30 text boxes, images, menus and other graphics will count as 30 hits. Page views are a more reliable measure of web traffic. home page: The main or central page of a website. Other pages on the website will usually link back to the home page. hook: See angle above house style: An organisation’s set of rules for how language and other elements are used, usually contained in a style guide available to all editorial staff. Style guides can vary from basic rules on spelling and grammar to complex documents on how words are used and pronounced. howl-round: See feedback. human interest story: A news story or feature which focuses on individual people and the effects of issues or events on them. Human interest stories are often used to make ideas more real and concrete in the minds of the viewer, reader or listener. Human interest stories can also cover unusual and interesting aspects of other people's lives which are not particularly significant to society as a whole. I ident: See station ID. imprint: Information printed in a newspaper or magazine showing the publisher details. in-cue: A written note of the first few words of a piece of pre-recorded of audio (report or interview) to signal to the presenter or production staff how it will start. See also out. Independent Television News (ITN): The main supplier of news to independent television companies in Britain. Independent Television (ITV): The major commercial television network in Britain. index: In newspapers, a table of content, usually on the front page or page 2. indirect speech: See reported speech. insert: (1) Additional text inserted into a story after it has been written, usually to give additional details. (2) Another term for audio used to illustrate a radio report. See also grab. Internet: The global network of interconnected computers. The World Wide Web and email are two parts of the Internet. interruptible feedback (IFB): A method by which radio or television presenters - and sometimes guests - can hear the program output as well as messages from colleagues through an ear piece or headphones. interview: A formal, usually structured conversation between a journalist and a source to get information for a story. intranet: A private computer network within a company or organisation for internal users only. intro: The first paragraph containing the most newsworthy part of a news story. In features and documentaries the intro may just lead the reader or listener into the story. Known as a lead in the US. introduction: In broadcasting, a few words or sentences read by the presenter, telling listeners or viewers about the report which immediately follows. inverted pyramid: The most common structure for writing a news story, with the main news at the start and the rest of the detail following in decreasing order of importance. investigative journalism: Finding, reporting and presenting news which other people try to hide. It usually takes longer and requires more research that ordinary news reporting. J jargon: Specialised language concerned with a particular subject, culture or profession. It is not usually found in the everyday speech of ordinary readers or listeners and so should be avoided in the general media if possible. jingle: Short piece of music played on radio to identify a regular feature, program or product being advertised. journalism: The communication of current issues and events to an audience in a structured way, usually in relation to a set of generally agreed social principles such as accuracy. journalist: Someone who finds and presents information as news to the audiences of newspapers, magazines, radio or television stations or the Internet. Journalists traditionally work within a set of generally agreed societal principles or within professional codes. Professional journalists are usually trained and receive payment for their work. jump line: A line of type at the bottom of an incomplete newspaper or magazine article which directs the reader to another page where the story is continued. Also the line at the top of the continued article stating the page from which it was continued, also called a ‘from’ line. See also spill. justification: Where each line in a column of text aligns to the same left and right margins. This is achieved by stretching or shrinking the width of letters or spaces between words. Sometimes called fully justified or set full. Compare with unjustified. K kerning: A way of setting printed type so that adjacent characters appear to overlap, reducing the amount of horizontal space they require. key points: Important facts or pieces of information which must be included in a news story. Some will go in the intro, others into the body of the story kicker: (1) The first sentence or first few words of a story’s intro, set in a larger font size than the body text. (2) A small headline in different type above and slightly to the left of the main headline. (3) A few words at the beginning of a caption to grab the reader's attention. (4) An ending that finishes a story or bulletin with a climax, surprise, or punch line (see also tailpiece). kill: To cancel or delete all or part of a story. See also to spike. kill fee: A reduced fee paid to a freelance journalist for a story that is not used. L layout: (1) A plan of how stories, pictures and other elements are to appear on the finished page of a newspaper or magazine. Sometimes called a dummy. (2) A set of stories, pictures and illustrations about a single subject. layout sub: A sub-editor who specialises in planning the layout of pages. lead: (Pronounced ‘leed’) (1) The first story in a news bulletin or on the front page of a newspaper. Also called a 'splash'. (2) In the US, the first paragraph in a story. See also intro. (3) A tip that may lead a reporter to a story. leader: An article written by the editor or a specialist giving the opinion of the newspaper on an issue. See also definition (1) of editorial above. leading: (Pronounced ‘ledding’) Adding space between two lines, from the days when type was set in the metal lead. leading question: A question phrased in such a way as to draw out a specific answer wanted by the questioner. letters to the editor: Letters from readers published by a newspaper or magazine, expressing their views on previous content or current issues. Letters to the editor are read out on radio or shown on screen while being read out on television. level: The loudness or volume of a sound. libel: An older term for defamation. Traditionally, libel was the written form of defamation. Compare with slander. lift: To take a news story, feature or quote from another newspaper or broadcaster and use it in your own report. liftout: A special supplement - often attached to advertising or a promotion - which is inserted into a newspaper or magazine and can be lifted out by a reader. lift-out quote: Copying a quote or partial quote from within an article and highlighting it next to the body of the text using special type or formatting. See also pull-out quote. lineage: A traditional method of paying freelance journalists for the number of lines - or column inches/column centimetres - of their work which appeared in a newspaper according to set rates. line-up: A list of reports, interviews or other material compiled for an upcoming news bulletin or newscast, usually placed in the order in which they will be presented. literal: See typo. live: (Adjective) (1) Being broadcast as it happens. See also on air. (2) A microphone which is switched on and capable of recording sound is said to be 'live'. loaded words or loaded questions: Words which, in some contexts, contain strong value judgments and which indicate the user’s position on an issue. Used by a journalist, they often prompt strong reactions from interviewees but this can obscure useful discussions and prompt accusations of bias. ‘Terrorist’ and ‘lazy’ used in some contexts could be examples of loaded words. lock-up: An agreed process by which journalists are taken to a room to see advance copies of a major announcement, such as a government budget, and in which they stay to prepare stories for release as soon as the budget is delivered in parliament or congress. log: A record of events. (1) In broadcasting, a log (or logger) is a recording of everything which goes to air, kept for legal or regulatory purposes. (2) In television news production, a list of the elements in a report, usually compiled as the material is filed. Similar to a shotlist. lower case: The small letters of the alphabet, i.e. not capital letters. Abbreviated to l.c.. Compare with upper case. M magazine: (1) A publication produced on a regular basis, containing a variety of articles, often with illustrations. Also called a periodical. (2) A radio or television program covering a number of different topics. make-up: See layout. managing editor: The senior editor involved in the day-to-day production of a newspaper or magazine, usually with overall responsibility for the gathering, writing and sub-editing of news. markup: A sub-editor’s written instructions on a piece of copy on how to handle the text. masthead: The name of a newspaper in a banner in special, distinctive type at the top of the front page. media: (1) Short for mass media or news media, publishers or broadcasters bringing news and information to widespread audiences. (2) Plural of medium, different forms of communicating ideas such as digital, visual, sound etc. media conference: Also called press conference or news conference. When reporters are gathered together to question someone in the news, usually taking it in turns to ask questions. Such gatherings are usually organised by an individual or company to deal with all the media in one session or to promote a new product or service. media kit: (1) A set of materials provided to journalists by an organisation to promote their products or services. It may contain written documents, photographs, charts, schedules and other information the organisation wants journalists to focus on. (2) Information on advertising and other service costs made available by media companies to potential advertisers. media officer: Also called press officer, a person employed by a company or other organisation to get positive publicity in the media and deal with enquiries from journalists. media release: Also called a press release, information sent to the media to give an organisation’s views on an issue or promote a product or service. mf: See more below mic: Short for microphone. mojo: Mobile journalists who use light and portable reporting and communications tools such as mobile camera phones, PDAs and notebook wireless computers to record, edit and transmit their work in text, audio, pictures and video while in the field, without using an office. more: Typed at the end of copy to signify that there is more of the story to come, either on another page or later in the process. Often shortened to "mf" for "more follows immediately" or "mtc" for "more to come later". morgue: A newsroom’s library, where old newspapers, clippings and pictures are stored for reference. mtc: See more above. mug shot: A head-and-shoulders photograph of a person facing the camera. multimedia: The way of presenting a subject using different types of media, such as video, audio, text and images in combination. multiplex: A single digital television or digital radio signal comprising several distinct channels of programming. N name super: A type of caption on screen, typically the name and title of the person speaking. Also called supers because they are superimposed over the image of the person who is speaking or cap gens (cg) from creation by a caption generator. They can also be called captions. nat sound (natural sound): (1) The ambient sound recorded at or transmitted from the scene of an event or location report. Also known as wild sound. (2) The sound on a version of a story fed without the reporter’s voice track. narrowcasting: Transmission of information, entertainment etc to a limited audience often sharing a specific interest or locality. NCTJ: The National Council for Training of Journalists is the official UK industry accreditation board for journalism courses. networked journalism: A form of citizen journalism which relies heavily on information shared through the Internet to create stories, often without original research by the writer or producer. neutral question: A question asked in such a way that it does not imply personal opinion or bias. Compare with loaded questions above. news: Information which is new, unusually and interesting or significant to the recipient. It is usually about people or related in some way to their lives. News is produced in a structured way by journalists. news agency: A company that sells stories to media organisations. News agencies may produce news stories or features themselves or collect and redistribute them to media outlets. news agency wires: See wires below. news angle: See angle above. news belt: A round-up of short news stories on television. news break: In broadcasting, a scheduled or unplanned interruption in programming to present a short news bulletin, either previewing an upcoming news program or to give breaking news of an important event. newscast: US for a television bulletin. news conference: See media conference. news desk: The main desk in a newsroom, usually where the news editor and/or other senior journalists sit. news director: The senior person in a television or radio newsroom, in charge of the news output, usually working with or supervising a news program’s executive producer. news editor: The person in charge of which news events are covered and how news stories are gathered and written by reporters in a newsroom. In smaller newsrooms, this is often done by a chief reporter. See also chief or staff. news in brief (NIB): Also punctuated as news-in-brief, a collection of short stories or a single story presented in one or two short paragraphs. In print or on a web page, NIBs may appear in a small box or a specific column at the side or bottom of a page. In broadcasting, they may either be a brief insert into other programming or be presented as a block of short stories within a bulletin. Collectively they may also be known as wraps, round-ups or news belts. news list: A list of stories for coverage in the current edition of a newspaper or forthcoming news bulletin. It is usually prepared by the news editor. Newspaper Society: British industry body representing regional and local newspaper owners. newsprint: A cheap, low grade of paper made from recycled paper and wood pulp, used for printing newspapers. newsreader: (1) The person - often a professional journalist - who presents news bulletins on radio or television. Also called an anchor. (2) Software that helps receive and read RSS blog and news feeds. newsroom: A specially equipped office where journalists work producing news. newsworthy: Aspects of an event or development that make it worth communicating in a news story or feature. NIB: See news in brief above. night editor: In a morning newspaper, the most senior journalist left in charge of a newsroom overnight when the editor has left. noddy: In television, a brief cut-away shot of a reporter or interviewer listening to an interviewee’s answer, often nodding his or her head. Where there is only a single camera, noddies are usually shot after the interview ends and then edited into the finished piece to break up long slabs of the interviewee. non-attributable: Information for publication or broadcast given on agreement that you do not identify the source. See also off-the-record. non-linear editing: A television editing technique in which recorded video and audio information is loaded in digital form as separate shots or sequences into individual files (or bins) in an edit suite’s computer and then pieced together as a news report by an editor without having to wind the source tape backwards and forwards. Tape editing used to be a linear process of dubbing individual shots from a source tape onto an edit master in sequence. nut graf or nut graph: A paragraph telling the essential elements of a story briefly, i.e. ‘in a nutshell’. NUJ: The National Union of Journalists is a British trade union and professional organisation for journalists. O OB: Short for outside broadcast. Radio or television programs broadcast from a location outside the studios, usually live, using an OB van or OB truck. obit or obituary: An article summarising the life and achievements of a person recently dead. objective journalism: A basic type of journalism practiced in democracies in which the journalists do not allow their personal biases to affect their work, they take a neutral stance even on difficult matters and give a fair representation of events and issues. Compare with advocacy journalism. Ofcom: British Broadcasting industry regulator. off diary story: A news story which was not expected or scheduled in the diary. off mic: Short for off microphone. (1) Sounds which are are muffled or faint because they are not directed straight into the microphone. (2) Comments which which are unintentionally picked up by a microphone while it is pointed at another subject. off the record: (1) Information given to a journalist as background on condition that it will not be used in a story. (2) Information given to a journalist for use in a story on condition that the source will not be identified. Type (2) is also called non-attributable information. NB. Journalists should check exactly which of these conditions the source expects. See also background above. omnidirectional mic: A microphone which picks up sound from all directions. Compare with unidirectional and bidirectional microphones. on air: A program being currently broadcast to viewers or listeners. A studio which is 'on air' is said to be 'live'. on diary news: A news story scheduled in the newsroom diary for coverage. online: On the Internet or on a web page. online journalism: Reporting and writing news specifically for use on the Internet. on spec: Article that is written in case it is needed (i.e. speculative), though it may not be used. on the record: Information given by a source who has agreed to be identified in the story. Compare with off the record and non-attributable above. op-ed: Chiefly US, an opinionated story written by a prominent journalist. op-ed page: The page in a newspaper opposite the editorial page, containing opinion columns, sometimes readers letters and other items expressing opinions. open question: Also called an open-ended question, a question which cannot be answered with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, but requires the interviewee to give more information. ‘What happened?’ is an open question. Compare with closed question above. opinion: A person’s thoughts about something it is not possible to prove is true by objective methods or the person does not wish to prove is true. Compare with fact above. opinion page: See editorial page. orphan: A single first line of a paragraph left incomplete at the bottom of a column of text, the rest of the paragraph appearing at the top of the next column of text. Normally avoided in typesetting. See also widow below. out: An ending. (1) The final words or pictures on a radio or TV report or interview, noted to the director or presenter so they know that segment is finished. Also called an outcue. In reports from the field it is often the reporter’s sign-off name and location. (2) An abrupt ending. See hard out. (3) An abbreviation of out-take, see below. outcue: See out above. outlook: A list of events or developments which may be covered in the news that day. First compiled at the start of the newsroom’s day, items may be added or taken away during the day. When actual reports are produced or live interviews are arranged, they are added to the line-up for the upcoming bulletin or newscast. out of vision (OOV): In television, when a person’s voice is heard, either over the end sequence of a program - such as the credits - or while showing pictures or graphics on-screen. See also float. out-take: In broadcasting, recorded material left out of the program that is finally broadcast. Humorous out-takes are often called flubs or bloopers. over-dub: To dub sound on top of another sound, so the original sound can still be heard in the background. Usually used to put voice over background or wild sound or to put a translation in one language over the original words spoken in another language. overrun: A program or report which is too long for its allotted time slot. See also run to time. P pack journalism: When individual journalists competing for coverage of an event or issue act together, like a pack of dogs chasing the same quarry. package: A completed television news story pre-prepared for a news bulletin and ready for transmission. A package will contain a written introduction for the newsreader, the reporter’s edited report complete with vision and sound and an out-cue for the end. pad: To add extra material to a story only to make it longer. page views: A method of measuring the popularity of web sites by counting how many people downloaded a whole web page. Compare with hits. pan: Slowly moving a television camera left or right in an arc parallel to the ground. par: Short for a paragraph of text. paraphrase: A summary of a person’s words given instead of a direct quote for greater understanding by the audience. See also reported speech. partial quote: A quote of which only part of the sentence is used. If words are omitted from within the quote used, their absence is signified by ellipsis (three dots), e.g. He said there was 'every chance...bodies would be found'. patch: See round. pay-per-view: A service in which a person pays only for the individual program or movie they wish to watch. It is usually delivered to the home by cable television or Internet download. pay TV: A television service which viewers pay to receive, usually by subscription or pay-per-view. PDA (Personal Digital Assistant): A small hand-held computer combining a mobile phone, organiser and software to connect to the Internet. peg: See angle above. periodical: See magazine. phone-in: A type of radio program which invites listeners to telephone with information or comments for broadcast. See also talkback. phono: See two-way below. Photoshop: A popular computer program used to edit and organise photographs. pic: Short for photograph. picture feeds: Video provided by news agencies that media organisations, pay to use. pitch: A reporter’s idea for a story as presented in outline to an editor. Pitman: A system of shorthand mainly used in Britain and associated countries. It is regarded as able to achieve faster speeds than systems such as Teeline but is more complex to learn. plagiarism: To use the work of another person as if it was one’s own, without attribution. It is unethical. podcasts: Digital audio files available on a broadcaster’s website for automatic download by listeners using special software. point: A unit for measuring the size of a type font. A modern standard point is 1/72nd of an inch or 0.35 of a mm. popping: Unwanted small explosive sounds caused by a speaker being too close to a microphone when saying words with strong 'p', 't', 'd' or 'b' sounds. post: To put something on a website. pork: Mainly US, material gathered by a journalist but held for later use if required. Periodical Publishers Association (PPA): An organisation representing British magazine publishers. podcast: Audio or video files that can be regularly or automatically downloaded from the website of their producer onto the computers of people who subscribe to receive them. Podcasting is an especially popular method of making radio and television programs available online after they have been broadcast, though some programs are now only produced for download. Once downloaded onto a computer, podcasts can be transferred to portable devices such as the Apple iPod or similar MP3 players. Video podcasts are often called vodcasts. point of view (POV): (1) An event filmed as if through the eyes of a participant. (2) A form of documentary told from the producer’s perspective, without adhering to journalistic standards of impartiality. pointer: Text at the end of an article indicating where in the newspaper or magazine the reader can find related articles. portal: A web page through which visitors are encouraged to enter the main website for more pages and services. POV: See point of view above. pre-roll: In broadcasting, to start recorded material such as a tape or piece of music before the sound or vision is turned on, to assist with timing. presenter: A person who presents a radio or television program on air. Called an anchor in US. press: A printing machine. Press: The collective name for newspapers and magazines. press conference: See media conference. press officer: See media officer. press release: See media release. press room: The large room or building housing the printing machines (presses) for a newspaper or magazine. Also called a 'print room'. press run: The printing of an edition of a newspaper or magazine. Also the number of copies printed. Also called a print run. Press Trust of India (PTI): The largest news agency in India, run as a not-for-profit cooperative providing and exchanging news in English and Hindi among more than 450 newspapers. It also provides a satellite news service. print room: See press room. producer: In broadcast journalism, the person responsible for a particular episode of a news program, a specific documentary or a single segment of a multi-report current affairs program. They usually report upwards to an executive producer. production editor: A senior journalist responsible for making sure content in a newspaper or magazine is printed properly. Usually works in a press room or print room during the press run where he or she is able to make last-minute changes. promo: See trail below. proof: A copy of a page which has been typeset ready for printing, provided to editors, sub-editors or proof readers to correct errors or make final changes before the printing presses start production. proof reader: A person who checks typeset proofs and/or computer printouts to detect errors before the final printing of a publication. Also called a copy reader. propaganda: Information presented intentionally to influence a mass audience to support or oppose something. Propaganda is usually motivated by self interest and can range from being selective in what it chooses to highlight or ignore to actively lying about events and issues. Not to be confused with advocacy journalism. prospects: A list of possible stories for coverage. public affairs: Part of an organisation dedicated to improving relationships with its public, often through the media. Some public affairs departments also monitor public opinion of it. See also media officer. public broadcasting: Radio or television services funded through government by taxpayers or a user licence fee. Compare with commercial broadcasting. publish: To make something available to an audience, usually in a printed or pictorial form, although material on the Internet is said to be published. puff box: A newspaper's own advertisements at the top of the front page promoting articles inside or in future issues. puff piece: A news story or feature written to make the subject seem good. Pulitzer Prizes: America’s highest literary and journalism awards, administered by Columbia University. pull-out quote or pull quote: A specially powerful or significant quote or excerpt from a story, highlighted in a different typeface next to the main text or in gaps within a column. Also called a sell, lift-out quote or call-out. put to bed: When journalists have finished their work on preparing a newspaper and it is sent to the presses for printing. Q Q & A: (1) A conversation or interview printed verbatim in question and answer form. (2) In broadcasting, questions and answers between a studio presenter and someone in another location, either an interviewee or a reporter in the field. quotation marks: Marks in a text to show the start and the end of a quote. Usually either single (') or double (") inverted commas, depending on house style. Sometimes called speech marks. [See Chapter 8: Quotes] quote: (1) The use in a printed story or on television of the exact words spoken by a person, distinguished by quotation marks at the start and finish. (2) Short for quotation marks. Compare with reported speech. R radio mic: A microphone which uses radio waves instead of cables to transmit signals to a receiver. radio spectrum: That part of the electromagnetic spectrum used for carrying radio (and television) signals, ranging from 3 kHz to 300 GHz. radiothon: (alt. radioathon) Special radio programming in which listeners are asked to telephone the station to make donations to a good cause or charity appeal. Typically, whole programs are dedicated to this single function and the names of people who pledge money are read out on air. On television, these are called telethons. ragged: See unjustified text. rate card: A published list of a media organisation’s standard rates for advertising, including deadlines and specifications. ratings: A measure of the popularity of a television or radio program or part of a program by comparing its audience to the population as a whole. raw: In broadcast journalism, material before it has been processed, especially edited. (1) Raw footage is the original sound and vision of a television report before being edited or additional sounds, captions etc are added. (2) Raw feed is this footage transmitted from location to the base studio or to other television stations, where it will be processed. recto: The right-hand page of a newspaper or magazine. Compare with verso. redletter: An important breaking news story. From the newspaper practice of highlighting an exclusive, breaking news story in red type. re-jig: To rewrite a story or reorganise a page, usually by moving elements around. reported speech: A way of reporting what someone has said without using their exact words in a quote. Well-written reported speech allows a journalist to compress and explain a person’s words for greater efficiency and clarity. In grammar, sometimes called indirect speech. Compare with quote. reporter: A journalist who gathers information - including researching and interviewing people - and writes news stories. Reporters Without Borders: An international organisation that fights for press freedom around the world. retraction: Withdrawal of story or part of a story after publication, often because a mistake has been made or a legal problem has arisen. Reuters: One of the world's oldest international news agencies started in London in 1851. Now part of the Thomson Reuters company. review: A description of an event with a critical assessment of how well it was done. Reviews are typically written of plays and other theatre performances, concerts and recitals, new recordings, movies, radio and television programs, books, restaurants, exhibitions and other forms of entertainment. revision: To improve a story by rewriting, updating or correcting information. round: A reporter's specialist area of coverage, such as 'a police round'. Reporters develop personal contacts in these areas who can give them information. Often called a 'beat' in the US or a 'patch' in the UK. round-up: A collection of short stories or summary of information about an event or a day. See also news in brief (NIB). royalties: Money paid to someone for using their work. RSS: Rich Site Summary (also called Really Simple Syndication) are formats for delivering regularly updated web content provided by news sites, blogs, audio, video and other online publishers. Users subscribe to feeds which the RSS reader on their computer or mobile device checks regularly for new material to download. See also podcast. rules: In print, lines used to separate one element from another on a newspaper or magazine page. run: To publish or broadcast a story. See also press run above. rundown: A list of stories for a news bulletin. (1) A television line-up with additional technical information for studio and control room staff. (2) An amended line-up filed after the bulletin including any last-minute changes. running order: The order in which stories appear in a bulletin or current affairs program, giving titles, times and other information.. running story: News which is reported as it happens while events unfold. See also breaking news. run to time: A program or segment which is the correct length to fit into its time slot. A program or report which is too long is said to overrun, while one that is too short underruns. rushes: Early edited version of video or film that needs further editing. S sans serif: A design of print type such as Ariel without small extensions at the ends or corners of letters. satellite television: Television services delivered through satellites, received on the ground by satellite dishes and decoders. Compare with terrestrial television and cable T. In some countries, limited radio services are also delivered via satellite. scare quotes: A word or short phrase put between quotation marks when they are not necessary, usually just for emphasis or to suggest disbelief, e.g. "global warming". scoop: An important or significant news published or broadcast before other competing media know of it. Scoopt: A media agency created to help members of the public sell photographs and videos of newsworthy events to the media. scrum: A gathering of reporters around a person, all competing to ask questions or take photographs. Compare with a media conference. segue: (Pronounced SEG-way) In broadcasting, a transition from one topic to another using a word, idea or theme common to both. sell: See pull-out quote. series: A group of related stories or features on a single topic, generally run in successive or regular editions of a newspaper, magazine or program. serif: A design of print type such as Times Roman with small extensions (serifs) at the ends or corners of letters. set left or set right: See unjustified text. shoot: A pre-arranged or scheduled assignment to take pictures or ‘shoot’ film. shorthand: A writing system which uses short strokes or special symbols to represent letters or words to make note-taking much faster. The most common systems in English are Pitman, Gregg and Teeline. shotlist: In television and film, a list of ‘shots’ or sections of film for planning purposes or for editing. sibilance: Distortion of sounds caused by a person being too close to a microphone when saying words with strong 's', 'z', 'sh', 'ch' or 'zh' sounds. sic: Latin for 'thus' or 'so', is usually written in square brackets as [sic] after an misused or misspelled word or phrase to show they have been reproduced exactly as spoken or written in the original, e.g. He said: 'She gone [sic] to see her mother.' sidebar: A column beside a main story which has more information about - or another angle to - the main story to which it is attached. signature block: See tagline (2). sign-off: In broadcasting, the reporter or presenter’s goodbye at the end of a report or bulletin, often their name and - in - reports from the field - location. single column centimetre (SCCM): See column centimetre. slander: An older term for the spoken form of defamation. Compare with libel. slotman: Outdated US term for a senior or chief copy editor who sat in the "slot" at the centre of the copy editors' table. slug: A key word or phrase that identifies a news story while it is being prepared. snap: A short message from a news agency alerting subscribers to an event about which they will shortly provide more detailed coverage. See also flash. soft copy: Words or pictures which exist in computerised form as data. Compare with hard copy, where they are printed on paper soft news: Stories about topics which are interesting and new but which have little or no material effect on people’s lives. Soft news focuses on interesting individuals rather than on major events or developments which impact on lots of people. Compare with hard news. sound bite: A short segment of someone speaking, usually the most significant or interesting part of what they said. sound effects: See effects. sound on tape (SOT): Sound on a recorded television report, identified as such so a presenter knows when it will start so they do not talk over it. source: (1) Where information comes from, usually a person who gives a journalist information. (2) In live television, the signal from a camera. spike: To not publish a submitted article. Derived from a metal spike on which such rejected stories were impaled. See also to kill. spill: The continuation of a story from one page to another. Called a jump in US. spill line: Text at the bottom of an incomplete article on one page stating where the story is continued ('spilled') later in the newspaper or magazine, e.g. 'Continued on page 12'. spin: Putting a positive slant on something bad or emphasising only the positive aspects while ignoring the negatives. Compare with balance. splash: An exciting front page story given prominence so people will take notice of it. See also lead (1) spread: Two facing pages in a newspaper or magazine that are designed as one unit of interrelated articles. square brackets: Also called 'box brackets'. Used in quotes to denote the words between them have been modified from or added to the original, usually for greater clarity, e.g. The Prime Minister said: 'We will not tolerate weapons [from Russia] to cross our borders.' stab: A short pre-recorded sound inserted into a program or bulletin to create a pause or provide a break between different segments. See also sting below. standby: (1) A program, segment or item held in reserve in case any scheduled items cannot be broadcast for any reason. (2) An instruction in a studio or outside broadcast for everyone to prepare to start a live program or recording. standfirst: A short section of text between a headline and the text that follows. Often in a different type size to the body type, it gives a brief summary of the article that follows. Called a kicker (2) in the US stand-up: a reporter’s appearance in a TV news story. Usually a head and shoulders shot which features the reporter talking into the camera at the scene of the news event, often used as a transition, or at the beginning or ending. station format: Usually applies to the mix of talk and music presented by a radio station. Some stations have a mainly news and current affairs format, others may have a mainly music format or a news/talk format. It can also describe other factors such as local content, sports coverage, talkback etc. station ID (identification): Pre-recorded music and/or words used to identify an individual radio or television station. IDs are usually composed around specific melodies, themes or slogans and made available to presenters in a variety of styles and lengths to suit different purposes in programming. A station ident may contain the station's name and frequency, often accompanied by a musical jingle. Program idents give the program title and/or the presenter's name. stet: Latin for ‘let it stand’, a mark - the word ‘stet’ in a circle - used by sub-editors and proof readers telling the typesetter to disregard a change that had been previously marked. The relevant words are identified by underlining them with a dotted line. still: A photograph or graphic used in television, not a moving picture. sting: A short piece of music (from 5 to 30 seconds) played in program breaks or to add drama. Stings are either dramatic music or based on station identification melodies. A musical form of a stab. stock footage: Shots of common events held in a newsroom’s video library and used to illustrate parts of television stories, e.g. footage of machines printing or counting money to illustrate an economics story. Also called file footage. stop press: In newspapers, the latest available news just in. From a time when printing presses were stopped to put in urgent breaking news before continuing the print run. Papers often had Stop Press boxes in a corner of the front or back page where brief urgent stories could be inserted. storyboard: A sequence of drawings or diagrams used in planning movies or longer television reports, showing approximately how the shots will appear. straight news: A straightforward account of factual news with little or no comment or analysis. strapline: (1) In print and online, a kind of subhead or standfirst immediately following a larger headline. (2) In advertising, a slogan attached to a product brand name, e.g. ‘Heineken: Refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach’. In US called a tagline. streamer: See banner. streaming: Watching or listening to a video or audio file as it is being played from the source site, rather than waiting until it is downloaded and then opened. stringer: A regular contributor to a newspaper or broadcaster who is not a member of staff. Stringers are often paid by the length of stories they provide. style: A consistent way of presenting information. See house style. style guide: A document or online set of rules on how language is used in a particular organisation. See also house style. sub: (1) Short for 'sub-editor' below. (2) The process of sub-editing copy for inclusion in a newspaper, magazine or news bulletin. sub-editor: Journalists who checks and edit a reporters’ work, format stories for the page, add headlines or plan the page layout. See also copy editor. subhead: (1) A small headline below the main headline. (2) A small headline inserted in the body of a story to visually break up a long column of type. sub judice: A legal term meaning ‘under judgment’ to describe matters actively being dealt with by the legal system. In many countries there are restrictions on what the media can report during sub judice periods. subscription radio: A radio service only available by paying a fee and usually transmitted by cable or wirelessly in a code which can only be decoded by special paid-for radio receivers. subtitles: A text version of the words spoken in a television program or movie, displayed at the bottom of the screen as the relevant words are spoken. Mainly used as a way of presenting dialogue from a foreign language as text in the language of broadcast. Subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing are called closed captions. super: Graphics - usually words - superimposed over a television image giving details about it, such as a person’s name or where they are. syndicate: (Verb) To simultaneously sell or otherwise provide a journalist or photographer's work to other newspapers, magazines or broadcasters who subscribe to that service. syntax: The rules by which words in a language are put together in relation to each other to make sentences. T tabloid: A small, compact format newspaper, usually less than 43 cm (17 inches) long. Also used to describe a newspaper style that uses short, simply-written stories and headlines with lots of pictures to illustrate more sensational content. Compare with broadsheet. tagline: (1) Contact information for an article’s author, published to enable readers to provide feedback. (2) Also called a signature line, information about the author appended to the bottom of an email or blog. (3) In US advertising, a word or phrase invented by marketers to help identify a specific brand, e.g. the tagline for the movie Jaws was ‘Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water’. See also strapline. tailpiece or tail-piece: A surprising or humorous observation at the end of a story or bulletin, associated with the story or bulletin but standing apart from it because of its subject matter or tone. Also called a kicker (see definition 4). In printing, an illustration at the end of a chapter. talent: Someone invited to be interviewed on radio or television. talkback: (1) A type of radio program in which the presenter invites listeners to telephone in and speak on air. (2) Two-way intercom equipment by which a radio or television presenter or newsreader in a studio can communicate with producers or directors in a control room. (3) An Australian name for talk radio. talk radio: A radio station whose main format is speech-based programming, not music-based. Talk radio is usually more information oriented, often with news and current affairs services and talkback programs. tape library: A radio or television station’s archive of recorded audio and video tapes. Once holding mainly magnetic tape, increasingly newsroom archives are hold sound recordings and television footage within computer systems tear sheet: A page cut or torn from a newspaper to show someone - such as an advertiser - that a story of picture was used. tease: Material promoting a story which ‘teases’ the reader or listener by hinting at but not revealing the real story, e.g. ‘The story of a man who’d afraid of flowers. We find out why later in the program.’ teaser: A short audio or video segment produced to advertise an upcoming news bulletin or news items. Teleprompter: See Autocue above. Teletext: A news and information text service offered through television sets, accessed through interactive menus on screen. telethon: See radiothon. technobabble:- Confusing technical jargon. Teeline: A simplified system of shorthand used by journalists in Britain and associated countries. It is regarded as easier to learn than Pitman or Gregg, but harder to achieve high note-making speeds with. teleprompter: See autocue above. terrestrial television: Television transmitted from local towers to the home over radio waves. Compare with satellite television and cable TV. testimonial: A statement saying positive things about a product, often by a celebrity or respected client. thirty: The number "30" was once typed at the end of copy in the United States to signify the end of the article. It is seldom used today, the word "end" or "###" now being preferred. throw: Where one person on-air passes (‘throws’) the task of presentation to someone else, e.g. ‘And now we go to our reporter at the scene ...’ thumbnail: A half-column picture in newspapers or a reduced size picture on a web page which, when clicked on, brings up the full sized picture or illustration. tie in: (1) To explaining how a current story can be seen in the context of past events. Also known as a tie back. time check: A announcement on air of the time. tip: Information given to a reporter about a possible story. titles: Text which appears on screen at the beginning - and sometimes the end - of a television program or movie, usually with music in the background. Credits are titles which list the names and jobs of the people involved in the production. TK: Short for ‘to come’, a sub-editor’s mark in text that additional material will be inserted there later, before production and printing. Occasionally written as ‘TKTK’ so it will not be missed. top head: (1) Headline at the top of a column of text. (2) A banner headline on a web site. trail or trailer: In broadcasting, a short segment promoting an item coming later in the program. Also called a promo. transcript: A word-for-word written version of an interview or other spoken segment. Increasingly transcripts are posted online. transition: In news reporting, a way of moving smoothly from one story or section of a story to another. two-shot: In television, a camera angle which includes two people on the screen, usually an interview guest and the interviewer. two-way: An interview conducted by a presenter in the studio with a correspondent in the field. In television they are also called phonos. typeface: In printing, a set of letters, numbers and punctuation marks designed in one particular style. The typeface of this glossary is Ariel. The typeface of this sentence is Courier New. typesetter: In the days before desktop publishing, the person who turned a journalist’s work into metal type for printing. Often called a compositor. typo: An error in typing a story. U underrun: A program or report which is not long enough to fill its allotted slot on the schedule. See also run to time. unidirectional mic: A microphone which picks up sound from only one direction. Compare with omnidirectional and bidirectional microphones. unjustified: Text in columns where the individual lines to not all align to the same left or right margin. Also called ragged. Unjustified text which aligns with the left margin but not with the right margin is said to be set left, flush left or ragged right. Text which aligns with the right margin but not the left is said to be set right, flush right or ragged left. UPI: United Press International news agency, launched in the USA in 1907. upper case: Capital letters. Abbreviated to u.c. or caps. user-generated content: Web sites where most of the content is sent in by its users in the form of articles, comments, video, photographs etc. V verbatim: The actual words used by a speaker. verso: The left-hand page of a newspaper or magazine. Compare with recto. video blogger or vlogger: A blogger who publishes video on the Internet. video journalist (VJ): (1) A reporter who also does his or her own video recording in the field. (2) A journalist who publishes reports illustrated by video the Internet. vodcast: To podcast videos. voice over (VO): A television technique in which a reporter or narrator speaks while vision is being shown on screen. See also out of vision. voicer or voice report: An audio report from a radio reporter, often from the scene of an event. vox pop: From the Latin vox populi ‘voice of the people’, short interviews where several members of the public are stopped at random and asked questions to gauge approximate public opinion about an issue. Also called streeters. VU meter: An instrument showing how 'loud' a sound from a microphone or recording is. Stands for 'volume unit'. W web scraping: Software which trawls web sites for content it can copy to its own site. webcasting: Video or audio broadcast on the Internet, usually live. widow: The final, short line of a paragraph which has become separated from the paragraph in the previous column and therefore appears at the top of the next column. See also orphan above. wi-fi: Wireless Internet or network connection. wiki: An Internet site where information can be edited or added to by readers. wild sound: See natural sound above. windshield: A foam cover protecting a microphone from wind noise. It also helps to reduce popping. Also called a windsock. wires: Stories or photographs provided by wire services for journalists to use in reporting or compiling news for publication or broadcast. Media organisations typically subscribe to wire services for an annual fee. wob: White text on a black or dark coloured background. wrap: In broadcasting, (1) a summary of an evolving issue or the events of a day, often drawing on material in reports which have already gone to air or (2) a collection of news in brief NIBs. wrap-up questions: The final questions in an interview, in which the interviewer clarifies any outstanding issues and checks they have not missed anything, e.g. ‘Is there anything else you can tell me about the crash?’ write-off story: A short, front-page version of a story which is repeated in full with more details inside the newspaper. WWWWW & H: Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? The six most important questions journalists should ask and news stories should answer. X, Y or Z yellow journalism: An old-fashioned US term for sensational journalism.