Taken From: Adams, Julian
&Kenneth Stratton. Press
Time. Prentice Hall:
Englewood Cliffs. 1985.

Journalism
› writing and dissemination of that which is
considered to be “news”

Reporter
› gathers and writes

Editor
› responsible for content. A boss. – Editor in
Chief = CEO

Mass communication –
›

Media
›

distribution of words, pictures, ideas to large
groups of people. – gossip vs. journalism
plural of medium. – channel of
communication
Commentary
›
Interpretation. “Qualified” observer. – end
of broadcast or editorial page

Documentary
› Film. – In-depth analysis

Equal Time Law
› Equal time must be given to “legitimate”
election opponents.

Fairness Doctrine
› Media outlet must present all sides of an
issue
› Recinded 1987

Federal Communications Commission
› Regulates portions of the media. – issues
fines.

Lead
› Opening of article. 1st paragraph. Often only
1 sentence.

Headline
› Title above story. Not a full sentence.
Different author.

Body
› Rest of the article after the lead.

Cutoff Test
› If last paragraphs are removed, does the
article still make sense?

The 5W’s and the H.
› Answered in the article. Not necessarily in
the lead

Key Thought
› The most important fact within the story. –
what the story is really about.

Summary Lead
› Contains more than 1 key thought.

Novelty Lead
› Grabs attention rather than present key info.

Inverted Pyramid
› Standard organizational structure.
› Facts in article go from most important to
least.

Chronological Story
› Not as common
› Facts told in order in which they occurred.

Composite Story
› Story with more than one key thought.

Angle
› One of several approaches towards a
newsworthy topic.
› The direction from which you approach the
topic.

Editorializing
› Expressing of opinion in a news story

Misquote
› Don’t do it!

News English
› The proper style of writing for a newspaper
article. “direct, lively and vigorous”

Direct Quote
› Exact words. Use quotation marks.

Indirect Quote
› The gist, point, or idea expressed by
someone, but not in his/her exact words. No
quotation marks, but credit is given.

Publication Date
› Date of distribution. Write from that
perspective.

Style Book
› “Set of rules governing newspaper writing
style” – creates uniformity. Removes
ambiguity.

Nearness, Timeliness and Importance
› The text book criteria for determining the
newsworthiness of a story.

Human Interest
› Deals with people that are intriguing or
entertaining.
› Often taps into our emotion

Use of Humor
› Be Careful! Only attempt if you are a trained
professional

Beats / Runs
› Place or source where a reporter regularly
goes and covers.

News Source
› A person who gives info about an event

Catch Line
› Pre-Headline working title for an article

Future Book
› Loose Leaf folder with page for each issue of
a school paper. Write down assignment
ideas. – upcoming events etc…

Advance Stories
› Published prior to an event taking place

Follow Up
› Published after an event occurs

Tip
› Suggestion for a story. A heads up or secret.

Interview
› What you need to do a lot of!

Clipping Files / Morgue
› Collection of previously run and old articles.
Good source of info.

Censorship
› Government or outside forces preventing the
publication of something. – Unconstitutional*

Shield Laws
› Protect journalists from being forced to
reveal sources. Don’t always hold up in
court.

Libel
› Writing that exposes someone to unjust
public ridicule or unfairly damages his / her
reputation.

Privilege
› Accurately reported information obtained
from public record is fair game.

Fair Comment and Criticism
› Public performances of public figures is fair
game. – But, you never know.

Copyright
› Legal right of an author that prevents
anyone from copying his / her written work
without permission.

Fact vs. Opinion
› Sometimes hard to tell the difference

Slanted News
› Presenting the news in a biased way

Managed News
› When the powers above try to influence the
way that the news is presented. – Slanted
from above.

Propaganda
› The widespread attempt to influence
people’s thinking or behavior.

Interpretive Articles
› Detailed analysis of a news item. Numerous
facts and quoted opinions. (Not to be confused
with Interpretive dance.)

Byline
› The author of the story

Investigative Reporting
› Uncovering information. Looking into the
background of a story to find out “the truth.”

Spread
› Headline that stretches across multiple
columns
› 2 facing pages in a newspaper

News Peg
› Specific event around which a feature story
or opinion piece is based

Penny Press
› Inexpensive, readable papers – mass
appeal. – Around 1830

Linotype
› 19th century Invention that greatly
accelerated the printing process. – Wider
circulation.

Yellow Journalism
› Sensationalizing the story to sell the paper.
› William Randolph Hearst & Joseph Pulitzer
› The Yellow Kid

Newspaper Chains
› Group of newspapers owned by the same
company. Hearst and Edward W. Scripps

Circulation
› The number of papers sold.
› USA Today – 2.5 million - #1
› Philadelphia Inquirer – 705,965 - #8
(http://www.infoplease.com)
› The Pottstown Mercury – 23,247
(http://www.nationwideadvertising.com)
› The Daily Coruscant - 3.68 Billion

Folio Line
› Line at top of page (except front page) that
gives info: name of paper, date, page
number etc…

Double Truck
› (Centerfold) – The two pages in the very
center of the paper that face one another.

Gutter
› Margin along the inside edge of a page.

Serif
› Little lines at the ends of letters

Sans Serif
› Font without serifs. More simplistic look.

Justified Lines
› Type spaced out so as to line up evenly on
both the right and the left side of the page.

Pulled Quote
› Important quote from story printed in large
type in order to attract attention.

Reverse Type
› White type on a black background.

Page Dummy
› Sketch or mockup of a page in order to
figure out the layout.

Jump Story
› Story that jumps from one page to another.
(“Continued on A9”)

Skyline Streamer
› (Overplay) Story above the nameplate.

Mug shot
› Photo of just a person’s face

Correspondent
› Reporter stationed far away from home
Karlie
office. – Often in another country.

News Briefs
› Single paragraph article outlining a news
event. Usually a bunch grouped together.

Eye-witness Reporting
› Gathering info by actually being at the
event.

Spot News
› Unexpected news story. Reported while
unfolding.

Editorial
› Article explaining the newspaper’s stance on
a given issue.

Editorial Page
› contains editorials columns, political
cartoons. Usually near back of Section A of
paper.

Editorial Board
› Staff members who determine the paper’s
position on debatable or controversial issues.

“Editorial We”
› The perspective from which an editorial is
written; therefore there is no byline (author).

Editorial Cartoon
› Utilizes drawing / artwork to comment on
and often satirize a current event or issue.

Editor – in – Chief
› Responsible for the newspaper as a whole.
The ‘CEO.

Editorial Campaign
› Widespread and concerted effort on the
part of a paper’s staff to promote an idea or
opinion.

Editorializing
› The writer inserting his / her opinion into an
article.

Headline
› The title of an article

Headline Characteristics
› Short
› Attention - Grabbing
› Present Tense
› Strongly worded
› Contains the key thought
› No Articles – eliminate “a” and “the”

Headline Schedule
› The various fonts , marks and spaces that
can be used to construct a headline.

Flush Left Headline
› Lines up with the left side of the column

Single Column Headline
› Runs across just one column
› Formal and traditional look

Horizontal Makeup
› Layout that utilizes headlines, pictures etc..
that extend across two or more columns.

Spread
› Headline that runs across 2-4 columns.
› Or – two facing pages

Deck
› One level in a series of headlines above a
story

Subhead
› One-line bold faced head line placed in
between paragraphs.