Ever wonder what those words mean? Here are definitions of some of the most common terms in newspapers. Let us know if you want others defined!
Job Titles: anchor bureau chief business editor business reporter cartoonist city/metro editor columnist contributing editor copy chief copy editor design editor designer desk assistant editor editorial cartoonist editorial page editor editorial writer education reporter executive producer feature writer features editor field producer general manager graphic artist graphics editor investigative reporter layout editor makeup editor managing editor network correspondent news director news editor news executive off-camera reporter ombudsman/public editor online producer page designer photo chief photo editor photographer press agent publisher recruiter reporter senior editor senior writer show producer sports editor sports reporter videographer writing coach
Journalism Terms:
30 absolute privilege absolutism actual malice actual malice test ad add advance advertising department anecdotal lead anecdote angle antinomianism
AP

APME arraignment
ASNE average background background (or on background) backgrounder beat bias blotter books brightener bureau business department byline chain change of venue circulation department civil law clips closed-ended question conditional privilege
Consumer Price Index control copy copy desk copy editing cover criminal law cub cutline database deadline deep background delayed-identification lead dependent variable design desk developing story dialogue dig diversity documentary editing editorial editorial cartoons editorial department editorial page editorialize entertainment journalism fair comment and criticism features felony field experiment
First Amendment follow foreshadowing free press-fair trial controversy
Freedom of Information Act futures file graf
Graphics and design handout hard lead hard news human-interest story hypothesis immediate-identification lead independent variable indictment inflation information graphic invasion of privacy inverted pyramid investigative reporting
IRE

journalism ethics lay out (v.) layout (n.) lead lead story lead-in libel maestro margin of error (also called sampling error) median misdemeanors more morgue multiple-element lead narration negligence test new media news conference news release news room news story news value not for attribution nut paragraph obscenity off the record op-ed page open-ended question open-meetings laws open-records laws parallelism paraphrase participant observation payola per capita percentage photography piece plagiarism play poll population preliminary hearing press press box press conference press release prior restraint privilege production department profanity profile proportion public figure public journalism
Pulitzer Prize qualified privilege quote randomization rate records column rewrite roundup sample scenic lead second-cycle story series service journalism set-up shield laws sidebar situation ethics slug sniff soft lead soft news

sources spot news spreadsheet story stringer stylebook substantial truth summary lead sunshine laws take tickler tie-back tip transition undercover reporting universal desk update
UPI variable videoprompter vulgarity wrap-up
Writing
Ever wonder what those words mean? Here are definitions of some of the most common terms in newspapers. Let us know if you want others defined!
anchor One in the television studio who ties together the newscast by reading the news and providing transitions from one story to the next. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri
Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
Job Titles:
bureau chief The director of a newspaper's news operations in a remote site or bureau. Source: News
Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of
Bedford/St. Martins.
business editor The editor overseeing business coverage for a newspaper.
business reporter A reporter that focuses on business-related beats, sometimes assigned by industry or company.
cartoonist An cartoonist is an artist who specializes in drawing cartoons. In newspapers, they are generally associated with comic strips.
city/metro editor The individual (also known as the metropolitan, or metro, editor) in charge of the city desk, which coordinates local news-gathering operations. At some papers the desk also handles regional and state news done by its own reporters. Source: Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the
Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
columnist A person who writes a regular column giving a personal opinion
contributing editor Magazine columnist who works under contract and not as an employee of the magazine. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999.
Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
copy chief The chief copy editor who oversees final editing of stories and the writing of headlines and captions. See also: news editor.
copy editor A person who checks, polishes and corrects stories written by reporters. Usually copy editors write headlines for those stories, and sometimes they decide how to arrange stories and pictures on a page.
Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by
permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
design editor The supervising editor for design of a newspaper.
designer A journalist who creates visually appealing and clear news pages using stories, photos and art.
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. Source: News Reporting &
Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St.
Martins.

editor The top-ranking individual in the news department of a newspaper, also known as the editor in chief.
The term may refer as well to those at any level who edit copy. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth
Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
editorial cartoonist An artist who works on editorial page cartoons.
editorial page editor The individual in charge of the editorial page and, at larger newspapers, the op-ed
(opposite editorial) page. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright
1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
editorial writer An individual who writes editorials for a newspaper.
education reporter A reporter who focuses on students, schools, education and local school boards.
executive producer The television executive with overall responsibility for the look of the television newscast. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999.
Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
feature writer A reporter who primarily writes features, often for the newspaper's feature section, but also for section fronts and the front page.
features editor The supervising editor for a newspaper's feature section, also known as the lifestyle section.
field producer Behind-the-scenes television reporter who often does much of the field work for a network's on-camera correspondents. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group.
Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
general manager The individual responsible for the business operations of a newspaper. Some newspaper chains award this title to the top-ranking local executive. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition)
by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
graphic artist An individual who creates non-photographic illustrations in a newspaper, including information graphics, maps and illustrations.
graphics editor Usually, the editor responsible for all non-photographic illustrations in a newspaper, including information graphics, maps and illustrations. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by
the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
investigative reporter An individual who reports information that has been concealed, such as evidence of wrongdoing.
layout editor See design editor.
makeup editor See design editor.
managing editor The individual with primary responsibility for day-to-day operation of the news department. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999.
Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
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. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth
Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
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. Source: News Reporting
& Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St.
Martins.
news editor The supervisor of the copy desk. At some newspapers, this title is used for the person in charge of local news-gathering operations. See also: copy chief. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth
Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
news executive An individual with supervisory authority over news coverage in a news organization, generally at the corporate level.
off-camera reporter One who gathers news for television but does not report on the air. Source: News
Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of
Bedford/St. Martins.
ombudsman/public editor A neutral individual employed by a news organization to receive, investigate, report on and (in some instances) resolve reader or viewer complaints against that organization.
online producer Someone who creates online pages, sometimes using existing newspaper content and sometimes creating new content.

page designer One who designs newspaper or magazine pages. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth
Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
photo chief Someone who supervises the photography department of a newspaper. See also: photo editor.
photo editor The individual who advises editors on the use of photographs in the newspaper. The photo editor also may supervise the photography department. See also: photo chief. Source: News Reporting &
Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St.
Martins.
photographer Someone who takes photographs professionally.
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. Source: News
Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of
Bedford/St. Martins.
publisher The top-ranking executive of a newspaper. This title often is assumed by the owner, although chains sometimes designate as publisher the top local executive. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth
Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
recruiter A specialized newsroom editor who works to woo newly graduated journalists and those from other newsrooms into joining his or her news organization.
reporter A person whose job it is to gather and write the news for a publication or a broadcast outlet.
Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by
permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
senior editor One who edits sections of major magazines. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition)
by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
senior writer A title reserved for a magazine's best and most experienced reporters. Source: News
Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of
Bedford/St. Martins.
show producer Television news specialists who produce individual newscasts and report to the executive producer. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999.
Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
sports editor A person who supervises sports coverage for a newspaper.
sports reporter An individual who reports on sports and sporting events.
videographer A television camera operator. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the
Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.
writing coach A person who helps train staffers on a newspaper how to write better.