AAP: Australian Associated Press, an industry-owned, Australian-based agency supplying news for a fee to the media.
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).
(2) Australian Broadcasting Corporation, (3) the American Broadcasting Company, (4) the Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (Japan) and (5) the Associated Broadcasting Company (Philippines).
ABU (Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union): An international, non-profit, non-government, professional association established in 1964 to support the development of broadcasting in its region, promote the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters and encourage co-operation. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with more than 270 members, it is the worlds largest broadcasting union geographically and demographically.
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’.
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.
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.
anchor intro: (US) See announcer introduction.
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.
announcer introduction: The short part of a radio or television news script, especially in a feature-length segment, that is read by the announcer or presenter to introduce the segment. Also known as presenter introduction or anchor intro in the US. See also back announcement.
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.
app (application): A software program or collection of programs used to undertake specific tasks with a computer or mobile device. Contrast to system software, which is used to run the computer.
artificial intelligence (AI): Intelligence displayed by machines making their own decisions, sometimes independent of human intervention. AI machines are usually independently aware of the environment in which they operate and can solve problems without being told to.
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.
audience ratings: In audience surveys, the percentage of total potential audience members - whether tuned into any program or not - who are listening to or watching a particular program or station at a given time. Compare with audience share.
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/teleprompter.: 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.
a streamer /banner: A headline stretching across the width of a page, usually at the top.
BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation, Britain’s national broadcaster.
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.
beat-up: A news story that might once have been based on facts but which is then exaggerated so much that it becomes innacurate or even false. The whole process is called sensationalising.
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, politics etc.
blogger: A person who writes a blog. They can be professional commentators or amateur Internet users.
blogosphere: (1) All blogs. (2) A virtual world or community created by bloggers and blogging.
blogroll: A list of blogs, usually on the front page of a website, the author thinks readers might wish to visit.
body type: The style of newspaper type used in the body of a story, not in headlines, where it is called display type.
bounce rate: A measure of web traffic, it is the percentage of visitors who only visit the front page, i.e. they do not go any further into the site.
break:
(1) A story that is first published while the event is still happening. Sometimes called breaking news.
(2) A short news bulletin which interupts a radio or television program to bring the latest news. See news break.
(1) A story that is first published while the event is still happening. Sometimes called breaking news.
(2) A short news bulletin which interupts a radio or television program to bring the latest news. See news break.
breaking news: Reports of events that are coming in while a newspaper is in the final stages of being published or while a radio or TV bulletin is on air.
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.
browse: In new media terms, to look for information on the Internet using a browser, usually by starting in a general area (such as a search engine) then focusing in on specific results.
browser: A software application for retrieving and presenting information on the World Wide Web, usually by finding and presenting web pages. Also called a web browser. Well-known browsers include Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera and Firefox.
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.
byline: The writer’s name, printed at the beginning or end of an article.
cable television: A TV service delivered into the home through a cable, usually for a fee. A form of pay TV.
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.
chat room: An interactive, often private part of a website where visitors can write messages to each other in real-time.
cheque book journalism: The practice of paying the participants in an event a large sum of money for the exclusive rights to their story, to beat competitors. US English: checkbook journalism.
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.
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 orcuttings library.
closed captions: A kind ofsubtitle that can be activated on a screen by the viewer, typically when the audio is difficult to hear or the viewer is deaf or hard of hearing.
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’.
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.
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.
continuity: Announcements between radio or television programs, often back announcingthe 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.
cookie: A small file that is downloaded to a person’s computer when they visit a website, so the site can remember details about the computer for next time.
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.
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.
crowdsourcing: A business model in which an individual, company or organisation appeals to the general public for help in completing a task or project. People who take up the offer to help may be rewarded in some way (e.g. by feeling virtuous), though seldom with money.
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.
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.
data visualisation: Turning information or data into pictures, graphs or graphics for easier understanding by readers and viewers.
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.
deadline: The time the editor or producer sets by which the reporter must submit a finished story.
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 print or broadcast something bad about a person which does them harm. Also called libel and slander. See The News Manual chapters on defamation.
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.
desktop publishing: Using a personal computer and page layout software to create documents.
desktop publishing point (DTP): The smallest unit of measuring fonts in desktop publishing, as opposed to the point measure used when printing. Also called PostScript point. It is approximately 0.35 mm.
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).
digital divide: The gap between people who have access to a wide range of digital communications systems and those who do not for reasons such as income, economic development, education and age.
digital media: Media produced and distributed using computers and/or the Internet, as opposed to media either produced using mainly pre-digital processes (e.g. printing presses) or distributed in physical, non-digital form (e.g. printed newspapers or analogue television).
digital signature: a special code within a digital message or document proving its authenticity, i.e. that it was created by a known sender and was not changed in transit.
digital tool: A tool is a device for doing a job, so a digital tool is piece of software usually designed to perform a specific function, often within a larger program or as part of a digital platform.
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.
direct marketing: Sending advertising material directly to potential customers either by post, fax, email or telephone, not using mass media.
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 or double-page 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.
download: To receive and save a file over the Internet. Contrast with upload, which is to send a file via the Internet to another system or server, where it can be stored for replaying or downloading.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
editorialise: A derogatory description for writing in an opinionated, subjective manner.
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.
embargo: Limitation on the earliest time when a news item given to a journalist can be published or broadcast, usually a date.
embedding:
(1) In journalism, to embed or place a reporter within an organisation (usually military) so he or she can report from within it.
(2) In new media, displaying and playing audio or video directly on a website, rather than linking to it.
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.
exclusive: Popularly called a 'scoop'. An important or significant story that 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.
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.
fake news: (1) a made-up story that has been written or presented to seem like genuine news; (2) an accusation made fashionable by US President Donald Trump to undermine the validity of genuine news stories he disliked.
FCC (Federal Communications Commission): A US agency that regulates interstate communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The five commissioners are appointed by the US President.
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 documentarie.
feed: (1) In traditional journalism, 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. (2) On the Internet generally (also known as webfeeds or blog feeds), it is information drawn automatically from a remote source, often summaries of news stories or blog posts, that include web links to longer versions. Feed reader programs can combine the contents of multiple web feeds for display on one or more screens. RSS is one form of feed.
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.
filter bubble:
A phenomenon where an individual’s search for information on the Internet is “learned” by the search engine or a website’s programming algorithms, which then return results for similar material that fits the person’s profile and not for material which is different. It can lead to people living increasingly within an existing worldview without it being challenged. See also confirmation bias.
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.
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.
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.
(2) Raw, unedited film or video materials.
forum: An online site, also known as a message board, where people can hold discussions
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.
Geotagging: (Also known as geolocation) Data attached to a photo, video, or message containing information about the location at which it was created or uploaded.
get: A very good or exclusive interview.
GIF: Graphics Interchange Format, a file format for taking digital images and sending them on the Internet. GIF and JPEG (JPG) both compress files to make them smaller to store and send. GIF is considered better for sending images that have solid colours in graphics, text or line art; JPEG is considered better for photographs. See also PNG.
Google: The world’s most used search engine.
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: A technician who assists with camera and lighting in TV production.
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.
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.
hashtag: The “#” symbol followed by a word or phrase, used to mark a topic in social media messages so people with an interest can find it and other messages like it. On most social networks, clicking a hashtag will reveal all the public and recently published messages that also contain that hashtag.
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.
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.
host: (1) The main or central on-air or on-screen person employed in a radio or television program, hosting guests or people on a panel. (2) In computing, the device or program that stores data or websites centrally, making them accessible over the Internet.
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.
HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language): The standard computer language for creating web pages and web applications.
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.
hyperlink: A word or phrase in web text containing the address of material that can be found elsewhere on the page or website or on other websites and which can be accessed by clicking on it or sometimes hovering a pointer over it. Hyperlinks (or links) typically appear as differently formatted text, often underlined.
impressions: In online media, the number of times an advertisement is loaded onto a web page, whether or not a viewer clicks on it.
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): A major supplier of news to independent television companies and other television content distributors in Britain.
Independent Television (ITV): The biggest 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.
interactive TV: Digital television broadcasts that have added mechanisms to feed information back-and-forth between the viewer and the TV station, such as to download content or to vote on something using the television remote control.
Internet: The global network of interconnected computers. The World Wide Web and email are two parts of the Internet.
Internet of Things: A network of machines, devices and appliances that have some level of computerisation inside them that enables them to interact through the Internet to perform some functions. A popular household example is a fridge that can re-order food and drink without being told by a human.
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:
(1) The first paragraph of a news story, usually containing the most newsworthy part of it. In features and documentaries the intro may just lead the reader or listener into the story. Known as a lead in the US.
(1) The first paragraph of a news story, usually containing the most newsworthy part of it. In features and documentaries the intro may just lead the reader or listener into the story. Known as a lead in the US.
intro: (2) In a broadcasting, the part of a script that introduces the next segment (report), it is usually read by the program presenter or announcer. See introduction and announcer introduction.
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.
IPTV: Internet Protocol television is the delivery of television content over the Internet.
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.
JPEG: (Also JPG) One of several file formats for making and sharing digital images by compressing them into smaller files. See also GIF.
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.
junk mail: Unwanted and unasked for paper messages sent or delivered to people’s physical mail boxes promoting a product or service. Electronic versions sent via the Internet are usually called spam.
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.
keyword: A word that can be used by a search engine to find all references containing it. Keywords can be used to find words within digital documents, on web pages or on the Internet.
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. .
kill fee: A reduced fee paid to a freelance journalist for a story that is not used.
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.
legacy media: Media organisations and production systems such as broadcasting and print that pre-date digital production and distribution such as online publishing, blogging, podcasting and social media etc, usually called new media.
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: (pronounced LINE-ij) 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.
linear editing: See non-linear editing.
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.
link rot: The process by which hyperlinks on individual websites or the Internet in general point to web pages, servers or other resources that have become unavailable. See also broken links.
Linotype: A machine used to make type for printing before computer typesetting. See hot metal type.
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'.
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.
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.
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.
mashup: A web page or web application that automatically brings together content from more than one source to create a single new service, such as names of local businesses shown in locations on a map.
mass media: Media technologies such as radio, television, newspapers and magazines that reach large audiences via widespread or mass communication, usually by broadcasting, physical distribution or on the Internet. Compare with social media.
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.
megapixel (MP): A million pixels, a measure of the number of pixels in a digital image, the higher the number the clearer and sharper the image.
metadata: Data about data (information about information) that describes how the data (information) is identified, put together and/or used.
microblog: A small or short Internet blog that allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links. Examples include Twitter and Facebook.
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.
MPEG: A suite of internationally agreed standard data formats that allow the recording and transmission of video and audio compressed to use less data.
MP3: A digital audio format (MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) that compresses sound for faster and smaller storage - especially on portable devices - or transmission over the Internet. It uses far less data than the other principal digital audio format WAV.
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.
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.
new media: Usually defined as media of mass communication that came into being because of computers. This contrasts with "old media”, "legacy media" or "traditional media" that predate the computer age, even though they may now use computers as part of their production or distribution. Websites are new media, newspapers and even television are said to be old media. See also digital media.
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 aggregator: A web application which gathers syndicated web content - such as online newspapers, blogs, podcasts, and video blogs (vlogs) - in one location for easy viewing. See also RSS.
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.
news value: The qualities or criteria that journalists use to assess whether an event, development or opinion is worthy of preparing and presenting as news. Criteria include whether it is new, unusual, interesting or significant and about people.
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. See also news value 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’.
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.
offline: (1) Not connected to the Internet or another electronic network. (2) “To go offline” means to have a discussion that is not official or on the record. See also off the record.
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-attributableinformation. NB. Journalists should check exactly which of these conditions the source expects.
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.
open source: A system of innovators working together – often remotely over the Internet - to create digital products or services. The open source material they produce is also usually free for people to use, though it is not necessarily copyright-free.
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.
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..
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.
(3) An abbreviation of out-take, see below.
(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.
(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.
outro: (1) (Uncommon) Another term for a back announcement. (2) A popular music term for a section at the end of a piece of music or song, such as an instrumental or a repetitive musical phrase that fades. In clasical music it is more commonly known as a coda.
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.
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 view: A way of measuring Internet traffic on a site by the number of individual web pages visited. Clicking on three separate pages on a web site counts as three page views. Compare with hits, which counts the number of individual elements (e.g. photos, text boxes etc) on a page.
pan: Slowly moving a television camera left or right in an arc parallel to the ground.
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'.
paste up: An older method of printing stories and pasting them onto a page ready to be printed, before computerised desktop design.
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.
PDF (Portable Document Format): A common standardised file format for documents to be reproduced exactly as they appeared when created.
peer-to-peer (P2P): A network where two or more computers are connected to share resources without going through a separate server computer.
phone-in: A type of radio program which invites listeners to telephone with information or comments for broadcast. See also talkback.
Photoshop: A popular computer program used to edit and organise photographs.
pic: Short for photograph.
pica: A unit of measurement for type, approximately 4.23 mm. It is divided into 12 points.
picture feeds: Video provided by news agencies that media organisations, pay to use.
pilot: A trial episode of a proposed television series, to see whether there is audience demand for a full series.
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.
pixel: A pixel is the smallest individual element that can be programmed when creating a digital image. The resolution or quality of a digital screen image is determined by how many pixels there are in a specified area, often expressed as horizontal and vertical dimensions.
plagiarism: To use the work of another person as if it was one’s own, without attribution.
platform: a specific electronic technology for delivering content to audiences. Originally used to distinguish between different computer systems, platforms generally include audio (radio, podcasts etc), video (television, film, videostreaming), text (usually on websites, electronic billboards or public display screens), mobile devices (such as smart phones, GPS navigators etc).
PNG: A graphics file format designed for transferring images via the Internet with minimal loss of quality through compression. See also GIF and JPEG.
podcasts: Digital audio files available on a broadcaster’s website for download by listeners using special software.
point: The smallest unit of measuring type fonts and other items on a printed page. A modern standard point is 1/72nd of an inch or 0.35 of a mm. There are 12 points in a pica. See also desktop publishing point (DTP).
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.
pop-up: An Internet advert that pops up on screen. When unwanted, these can be blocked with a small program called a ‘pop-up blocker’.
portal: A web page through which visitors are encouraged to enter the main website for more pages and services.
post: A single item added to a website, blog, forum or social media page, such as a Facebook status update.
presenter: A person who presents a radio or television program on air. Called an anchor in US.
Press: The collective name for newspapers and magazines.
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.
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.
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.
public service media (PSM): Radio, television and other media whose primary mission is public service. Sometimes called public-sector media. PSM usually receive their funding from government budgets, licence fees or public subscriptions, although some accept commercial advertising and/or sponsorship. Many are established to be editorially independent of government, though some – usually called state media - are government controlled.
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.
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.
Radio mic: A microphone which uses radio waves instead of cables to transmit signals to a receiver.
rate card: A published list of a media organisation’s standard rates for advertising, including deadlines and specifications.
ratings: See audience ratings.
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.
reach: In advertising and audience research, reach is a measure of the potential size of an audience. It is not a measure of the actual number of people watching, listening or reading a program, publication or website. See also audience ratings.
reader:
(1) Someone who reads a newspaper or magazine. This can apply to both print and online versions, although online they are often also called visitors or viewers.
(2) A person employed by a printer to check for errors in proofs, before the newspaper or magazine is actually printed. Also called proof readers or copy readers.
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.
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, not-for-profit organisation founded in 1985 that fights for press freedom around the world.
repurpose: To revise existing content for a different delivery format or platform. For example, video footage shot for broadcast may be repurposed for a website.
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-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.
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.
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 TV. 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 story published or broadcast before other competing media know of it.
Scrum: A gathering of reporters around a person, all competing to ask questions or take photographs. Compare with a media conference.
search engine: computer software which enables a user to search for information on the Internet. Popular search engines include Google, Bing, Baidu and Yahoo!
search engine optimization (SEO): Techniques and software for improving how a website ranks on search engines.
segue: (Pronounced SEG-way) In broadcasting, a transition from one topic to another using a word, idea or theme common to both.
segment: Part of a larger radio or televisoon program that is self-contained, often produced by a reporter or producer other than the main program presenter.
selfie: A self-portrait photograph, usually taken with a smartphone or similar portable device and then shared on social media.
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.
server: A central computer or program providing services such as website hosting to other computers or devices called clients.
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.
simulcast: To broadcast the same program at the same time (simultaneously) on different channels or platforms.
single column centimetre (SCCM): See column centimetre.
Skype: A popular free Internet telephone and videoconferencing program.
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.
social media: Web-based tools (i.e. computer programs) that people use to create and share information, opinions and experiences with other users. Originally used by people to keep in touch with family and friends, social media are now also used by print, broadcast and online media and journalists as quick, unstructured tools for communicating.
social networking: The use of online platforms to build social networks or social relations with other people who share similar personal or career interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections.
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 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.
(1) Where information comes from, usually a person who gives a journalist information.
(2) In live television, the signal from a camera.
spam: Unwanted and unasked for email or social media messages promoting a product or service. See also junk mail.
spike: To not publish a submitted article. Derived from a metal spike on which such rejected stories were impaled. See also to kill.
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.
state media: Media for mass communication that are wholly controlled by the state. Compare with public service media.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
tag: a term or keyword assigned to a piece of information - such as an Internet bookmark, digital image, database record or computer file - which helps to describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching.
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’s 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.
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.
thread: a series of Internet posts on a single topic.
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.
timestamp: digital information about the date and time that an event was recorded, such as when the file was created or modified, the photo taken or the message was posted to a social network.
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.
top head:
(1) Headline at the top of a column of text.
(2) A banner headline on a web site.
(1) Headline at the top of a column of text.
(2) A banner headline on a web site.
trackback: A method of linking two websites, usually to tell one website (or blog) when another website (or blog) links to it. Pingbacks are automatic trackbacks.
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.
trend: An indicator that a topic is popular on social media at a given moment. It is said to be “trending”.
troll: A social media user who writes deliberately offensive or annoying posts with the aim of provoking another user or group of users.
Trust Chain: A method used by journalists to ensure that every stage in reporting, producing and distributing news about an event or issue is accurate and reliable from beginning to end. Not to be confused with “Chain of Trust”, a computing system to ensure security of data.
tweet: A Twitter message that can contain up to 140 characters of text, as well as photos, videos and other forms of media. Tweets are usually public.
Twitter: A social network and media platform that provides a forum for real-time discussions on events or breaking news through users posting tweets.
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, a sans serif font.The typeface of this sentence is Times New Roman, a serif font.
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.
unidirectional mic: A microphone which picks up sound from only one direction. Compare with omnidirectional and bidirectional microphones.
unique users: The number of individual, separate users who visit a web site.
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.
upload: See download.
upper case: Capital letters. Abbreviated to u.c. or caps.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator): The address of a resource on the Internet, such as a web page or Internet site. World Wide Web URLs begin with http://.
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.
user Interface (UI): The part of a software application or website that users see and interact with.
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.
viral: (describing content) to spread rapidly and widely from one person to many in an ever-widening circle, especially using the Internet and social media.
viral marketing: To use social media to spread advertising messages by creating excitement among targeted audiences.
viral video: A video clip that gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email, messaging, blogs and media sharing websites.
visits: A measure of the number of people visiting a website. Compare with page viewsand hits.
vlog: An online blog that uses video for presenting all or part of a story.
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.
Web 2.0: Technologies which, as a group, are one stage advanced from the early Internet tools and platforms. They include social media and networks, blogs, microblogs, podcastsand vodcasts, amongst others.
Web 3.0: The next stage in the development of Internet-based technologies in which computers make more decisions of their own. As well as current Web 2.0 tools and platforms, Web 3.0 is expected to include more artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things.
web scraping: Software which trawls web sites for content it can copy to its own site.
webcast: A broadcast delivered over the Internet, usually live. Participants can view and hear streaming media, and may be able to take part in real-time online chats.
webinar: A seminar, lecture or presentation delivered over the Internet to remote audiences.
widget: A piece of software that appears as an image or symbol on a website or computer screen to perform a single, specific function when pressed or clicked by a user.
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: A type of public access website that allows readers to edit and contribute content directly as part of a collaborative process, building information and knowledge.
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.
WordPress: A free website building and blogging software system.
wrap:
(1) In broadcasting, 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.
(3) In filming, a phrase used by the director to tell talent and crew that filming of a particular scene, report, program, film, etc. has finished, e.g. “It’s a wrap.”
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.
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