News Reporting Terms – Flashcards
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And addition to a story already written or being written.
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Add
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An order to a reporter to cover an event.
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Assignment
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Identification of the person being quoted. Also, the source of information in a story. Sometimes, information is given on a not-for-attribution basis.
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Attribution
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Material in a story that gives the circumstances surrounding or preceding the event.
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Background
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An exclamation point. Something called a bang. Avoid. Let the reader do the exclaiming.
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Banger
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Headline across the top of all or most of a newspaper page. Also: line, ribbon, streamer, screamer.
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Banner
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Bottom section of a story written ahead of an event that will occur too close to deadline for the entire story to be processed. The B copy usually consists of background material.
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B copy
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Location assigned to a reporter for regular coverage.
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Beat
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Type in which most of a newspaper is set, usually 8- or 9-point type.
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Body type
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When a news development becomes know and available.
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Break
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Short amusing story.
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Bright
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Early edition, usually the first of a newspaper.
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Bulldog
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Name of the reporter who wrote the story, placed atop the published article.
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Byline
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The use of online research or data analysis for a news story. Also called database reporting, analytic reporting, and precision journalism.
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Computer-Assisted Reporting
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Written form in which a news story or other material is prepared.
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Copy
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After a reporter finishes a story, it moves to the city desk, where the city editor reads it for major errors or problems. If it does not need further work, the story is moved to the copy desk for final editing and a headline. It then moves to the mechanical department.
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Copy Flow
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Reporter who sends news from outside a newspaper office. On smaller papers, often not a regular full-time staff member.
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Correspondent
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Reporting that ignores or treats lightly negative news about friends. Beat reporters sometimes have a tendency to protect their informants to retain them as sources.
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Crony Journalism
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Any descriptive or explanatory material under a picture.
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Cutline
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Name of the city or town and sometimes the date at the start of a story that is not of local origin.
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Dateline
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One version of a newspaper. Some papers have one edition a day, some several. Not to be confused with issue, which usually refers to all editions under a single date.
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Edition
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Article of comment or opinion, usually on the editorial page.
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editorial
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All material in the newspaper that is not advertising.
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editorial material
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Story, often initiated by a reporter, that digs deeper than the usual news story.
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Enterprise Copy
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Story emphasizing the human or entertaining aspects of a situation. A news story or other material differentiated from straight news.
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Feature
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To send a story to the office.
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File
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Material used to fill space. Small items used to fill out columns where needed. Also called column closers and shorts.
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Filler
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Printed title of a newspaper on page 1. Also known as logotype and nameplate.
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Flag
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Story that follows up on a theme in a news story.
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Folo
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Use of names of businesses and products not essential to the story.
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Free advertising
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Date book in which story ideas, meetings and activities scheduled for a later occurrence are listed.
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Futures Calendar
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An expression meaning there is nothing further for the reporter from the desk for that day. Reporters call in when the take breaks. Desks need to know where their reporters are incase of breaking stories.
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Good Night
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Abbreviation for paragraph.
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Graf
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Newspaper Guild, and international union to which reporters and other newspaper workers belong.
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Guild
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Written publicity or special-interest news sent to a newspaper for publication.
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Handout
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Spot News; live and current news in contrast with features.
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Hard News
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Hold For Release. Material that cannot be used until it is release by the source or at a designated time. Aka. Embargoed material.
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HFR
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Material placed inside a story. Usually a paragraph or more to be place in material already sent to the desk.
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Insert
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Technique used to unearth information that sources often want hidden.
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Investigative Reporting
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to delete a section from copy or to discard the entire story; also, to spike a story.
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Kill
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First paragraph in a news story. Summarizes main facts in a hard new story. Delayed lead in features.
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Lead
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To emphasize the names of persons from the local community who are involved in events outside the locality.
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Localize
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Lead To Come. Usually placed after the slug. Indicates the written material will be given a lead later.
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LTK
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Formal statement of a newspaper's name, officers, place of publication and other descriptive info. No the flag or nameplate.
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Masthead
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Space in a newspaper allotted to news, illustrations and other non-advertising material.
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News Hole
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Material offered to a reporter in confidence.
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Off-The-Record
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Abbreviation for the page opposite the editorial page.
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Op-ed page
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Emphasis given to a news story of picture - size and place in the newspaper of the story.
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Play
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Arrangement whereby limited numbers of reporters and photographers are selected to represent all those assigned to the story.
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Pool
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Story written prior to an event; also, the section of a story preceding the lead, sometimes set in italics.
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Precede
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publicity handout, or a story given to the news media for publication.
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press release
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Reproduction of type on paper for the purpose of making corrections or alterations.
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Proof
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Publicity that contains unwarranted superlatives.
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Puffery
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Person who takes the facts of stories over the telephone and then puts them together into a story and who may rewrite reporters' stories.
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Rewriteman
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A story that joins two or more events with a common theme.
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Roundup
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A story that attempts to correct a previous story without indicating that the prior story had been in error or without taking responsibility for the error.
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Rowback
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Event that develops and is covered over a period of time.
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Running Story
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Presentation a reporter make to impress the editor with the importance of his or her story; also, editors sell stories to their superiors at news conferences.
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Sell
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Short, related story added to the end of a longer one.
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Shirttail
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Filler, generally of some current news value.
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Short
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Story that emphasizes and elaborates on one part of another nearby story.
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Sidebar
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Story that pulls together a continuing event for the reader who might not have kept track it unfolded. The situationer is helpful with complex or technical developments or on stories with varied datelines.
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Situationer
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To write a story so as to influence the reader's thinking. To editorialize: to color or misrepresent.
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Slant
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Word placed on copy to identify the story, usually in top left of page.
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Slug
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Front page of an inside section; also known as the break page and second front page.
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Split page
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Correspondent, not a regular staff member, who is paid by the story or by the number of words written.
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Stringer
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Same as Running Story
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Sub
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One-line and sometimes two-line head (usually in boldface body type ) insterted in a long story at intervals for emphasis or to break up a long column of type.
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Subhead
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Verbatim report of a speech or public statement.
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Text
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Refers to a paper so crowded with ads that the news space must be reduced. It is the opposite of the wide open paper.
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Tight
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Information passed to a reporter, often in confidence.
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Tip
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To reduce or condense copy carefully.
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Trim
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Synonym for press associations, the AP and UPI.
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Wire Services
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An on-the-scene report.
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Actuality
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A long shot usually cut in at the beginning of a sequence to establish
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Cover Shot
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A signal in script of by word or gesture to begin or to stop. Two types: incue and outcome
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Cue
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Introductory statements to film or tape of actual event. Sets up the actuality by giving context.
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Lead-in
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Copy that comes immediately after tape of film of an actuality.
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Lead-out
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combining two sound elements into one.
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Mix
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On Camera
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O/C
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A taped or live broadcast from a location outside the studio. Also the unit that originates such a broadcast.
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Remote
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Sound on film.
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SOF
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Sound on tape.
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SOT
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Reporter's voice over.
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V/O
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Videotape recording.
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VTR
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A summary of a story on a news website. Links to the full story.
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Blurb
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(Deep Web) Databases and websites not accessible by standard search.
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Invisible Web
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A good quote that is pulled out and made larger than the text.
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Pull Quote
