GLOSSARY

 

 

active voice   a verb is said to be in active voice when the subject is doing the action of the verb rather than being acted on by something else

adjective   a word that modifies a noun or pronoun

adverb   a word that modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb

agenda setters   editors who call attention of the public to important issues

all-cap head   a headline in which all letters are capitalized

antecedent   the noun that a pronoun names

art director   one who oversees the design of the newspaper or magazine

assigning editor   an editor who assigns a writer or reporter to a story

associate and assistant editors   those who assign, write and edit articles for particular departments of a magazine

association publications   magazines produced by associations of various kinds, such as trade- or hobby-related groups

audience fragmentation   the erosion of audience size caused by the proliferation of television channels and other new media

bank   see deck

banner   a headline that spans the width of the page and is placed at the top

bar chart   a chart that helps readers identify quantities

barker   see hammer

bleed   a design technique that pushes illustrations or background screens outside the margin to the trimmed edge of the paper

blog   a journal or opinion website usually in reverse chronological order; short for Web log

blurb   display-sized type pulled from the text to attract the reader’s attention; sometimes called a pullout or a pull quote (if a quotation)

body type   the type used in the text of a story

broadsheet   a full-sized newspaper; contrast with tabloid

browser   a computer program used for navigating the Web

budget   a list of stories being readied for publication

caption   the words that accompany and explain a photograph; sometimes called a cutline

catchline   a headline-sized word or words placed over a caption and designed to help attract attention to a photo, usually a standalone

censorship   when government forces the media to publish or broadcast, or not to publish or broadcast, certain information; the opposite of editorial discretion

chat room   an online interactive discussion forum on the Web

citizen journalism   content provided by the public rather than by professional journalists

city editor   the assigning editor in charge of assigning and editing all locally written stories other than sports and editorials and, depending on the newspaper, perhaps lifestyle-section stories

civic journalism   see public journalism

clause   a group of related words containing a subject and a verb

coaching of writers   a term used for dealing with the human aspects of editor-reporter relationships

collective noun   a noun that is singular in form but that names a group, such as media, committee or council

color piece   a story, often a sidebar or follow, that mainly tries to make the reader feel what it was like to be there

comma splice   something punctuated to look like a sentence but that really consists of two sentences joined with only a comma between them

comparative form of a modifier   the form of a modifier used when comparing two things; comparative adjectives, for example, end in er or have the word more or less in front of the positive form

compound modifiers   two modifiers in a row, with the first modifying the second, and together the two modifying another word; compound modifiers usually have a hyphen between them

conditional mood   a verb that expresses not what’s true now but what could, might, should or would be true if a certain condition were met

conjunction   a word that connects other words, phrases, clauses or sentences

conjunctive adverb   an adverb like although that can join two clauses

contributing editor   a regular freelancer that a magazine often employs who tends to be an expert in the field on which he or she writes

convergence   the practice of sharing and cross-promoting content from a variety of media through newsroom collaborations and outside partnerships

conversational deck   a blurb written in sentence style

coordinate modifiers   two modifiers in a row that are equal (they can be reversed with and between them); coordinate modifiers should have a comma between them

coordinating conjunction   a conjunction that introduces an independent clause, such as and, or, and but

copy desk   the place on a publication where final editing of a story takes place

copy-desk chief   the person in charge of the copy desk at a newspaper or magazine

copy-editing symbols   the symbols used in the copy-editing stage before the stories have been set in type on the page

copy editor   an editor who does the final editing of a story and perhaps writes the headline

copy flow   the steps through which a story moves from reporter to various editors on its way to production

correlative conjunctions   words that must appear together when connecting words, phrases or clauses, such as “not only” with “but also”

correspondent   a writer who writes from a distance for a publication; sometimes a staff member but often a freelancer

cover line   a teaser headline on the cover of a magazine; also known as cover blurb

creative tension   a discredited management technique in which reporters are pitted against each other

crossline   a horizontal headline that covers multiple columns

cub reporter   a beginning, or novice, reporter

cutline   see caption

dangling participle   a participial phrase that has not been placed next to what it modifies, resulting in confusion

dateline   the city—and sometimes the state or country—written before the first line of a story’s lead (city in all capital letters but the state or country, if present, in upper and lowercase); in the past, datelines contained the date of the story, but with modern electronic transmission, the date is almost never included now

deck   a section of a multiple-bank headline

defamation   slander or libel that damages someone’s reputation or business

delayed-ID lead   a brief description of the who of a story in the first paragraph rather than the person’s name (the name often appears at the beginning of the second paragraph); used when the who of a story is not famous or does not appear often in the news

dependent clause   a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence

developing story   a story that is followed each day for a period of time

dingbat   a decorative font mark

display type   headline-sized type

downstyle   a headline writing style that follows sentence-style rules for capitalization

drop cap   a large capital letter at the start of a paragraph, whose top is lined up with the top of the smaller letter to its right

drop head   a second headline between the main headline and the article; also known as second deck or subtitle

editor   anyone who assigns, selects, edits or arranges stories, images or sounds

editor in chief   an editor in the chain of command below the publisher but above the managing editor

editorial-page editor   the editor in charge of writing editorials for the editorial page and selecting columns, cartoons, letters and op-ed pieces for the opinion section; he or she typically reports to the publisher rather than the managing editor

electronic media   broadcast media (radio and television) and the Internet

electronic newspaper   a form of experimental newspaper delivered by computer prior to arrival of the Web

ethics   morality, a code of behavior, principles of right and wrong, doing what’s right even when what’s wrong is legal

executive editor   at a newspaper, an editor above the managing editor but below the publisher; at a magazine, often someone who balances the skills of the managing editor

e-zine   a small, personal magazine published on the Web

feature   a story with a feature lead and a story structure with a dramatic beginning and end

feature lead   a story introduction that tries to dramatically introduce the news rather than telling the news immediately in the first paragraph

feature obit   an obituary written with a feature-story approach focusing on what the deceased’s achievements were or what kind of person he or she was; also called a life story

fever chart   a chart that shows quantities over time

flag   a publication’s nameplate (usually a newspaper term)

flow   smooth movement in a story from point to point, making it easy for the reader to follow

focus group   a representative group of readers or viewers used to evaluate or suggest changes in news content

focus piece   a feature story taking The Wall Street Journal approach of focusing in the lead, and often the ending, on a person whose story exemplifies a particular issue

follow   a follow-up story; a story that updates a previous story

formula obit   an obituary written to a formula a newspaper uses for all obituaries except its feature ones

four-color process   the method of printing photos or graphics of any colors from four basic inks: black, magenta, yellow and cyan

fragment   a group of words that does not have both a subject and verb or present a complete thought

freedom of the press   the idea that the media should be able to publish or broadcast without censorship

fused sentence   a group of words punctuated to look like one sentence but which really consists of two joined sentences without punctuation between them

futures file   a file a reporter or editor keeps of upcoming events and story ideas

gatekeeper   an editor who controls the flow of information to the public

gerund   a form of a verb, usually ending in ing, used in a sentence as a noun

gingerbread   decorative borders and the like that detract from modern design

graphics designer   a person who does page design at a publication

graphics editor   the editor in charge of designing graphics for stories and, at some papers, especially larger ones, in charge of laying out the paper

hammer   a headline with a large word or two designed to attract quick attention

hanging indention   a typesetting style in which the first line is flush left and all subsequent lines are indented

hard-news stories   typically written with a summary lead and an inverted-pyramid structure

headline   the display type designed to attract readers to a story

hoax   a fraud perpetrated as a practical joke; after a while, as with many widely circulated emails, people circulate them thinking they are true

holistic editing   recognizing the various journalism formulas that apply to a particular story and noticing when the story differs from them in nonintelligent ways, helping an editor spot at once various macro and micro problems in a story

hook   anything in any medium that serves to grab attention and hook in the audience’s mind

human-interest story   a story that focuses on an emotionally involving or unusual situation; more broadly, used synonymously with feature

hypertext   a system of coding text that links electronic documents with each other

idiom   common expression in a language

illustration   a graphic artist’s effort to explain something, often a process that normally cannot be visualized

immediate-ID lead   putting the name of the who of a story in the first paragraph; used when the who is famous or appears in the paper often

indefinite pronoun   a pronoun that has no expressed antecedent (all, any, each, everybody, few, nobody), so it is sometimes difficult to tell whether it is singular or plural

independent clause   a clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence

infomedium   a coined term for information medium

information graphics   charts, maps, graphs and other illustrations used to convey relationships, statistics and trends

intensity density   the idea that a work of any kind is usually considered better by its audience the more interesting elements it has in a given amount of space or time

interjection   a word that expresses an emotional outburst

internal blurb   a sample of the story, usually a pull quote, printed in large type inside a story

invasion of privacy   publishing or broadcasting personal information that is embarrassing, trespassing on someone’s property, presenting someone in a false light or using someone’s image or voice for commercial purposes without approval

inverted pyramid   a news-writing style in which information is presented in order of most to least important

irregular verb   a verb that doesn’t follow the normal forms for verbs

keyword method   a headline-writing technique in which the writer seeks to determine which words are most important to include

kicker   a headline style in which a smaller subhead appears above the main headline

layering   a technique for leading readers through a story on a website

lead   the introduction to a story; often the first sentence or first paragraph of a story, but a long lead may sometimes run for several paragraphs

leadership   the process of inspiring employees

leading   the amount of space between lines of type

leg   a column of type under a story

legibility   the ease with which a typeface can be read

libel   a published (or in many states, broadcast) statement that conveys an unjustly unfavorable impression of someone’s reputation or business

line art   a drawing or graphic with little or no shading made up primarily of solid strokes of a pen

linking verb   a verb that draws an equation between the subject of the clause and a noun, pronoun or adjective following the verb

linkmeister   a term coined by Microsoft for a person designated to search for links to place on a website

links   uniform resource locator ties to other pages within a website or outside to other websites

macro editing   looking for big problems in stories, such as accuracy, objectivity, legality, ethics and propriety

main head   the primary headline as opposed to a secondary deck

management   the process of directing employees

managing editor   the editor directly in charge of the newsroom as a whole; reports directly to either the publisher or an editor above him or her with a title such as “executive editor” or “editor in chief”

map   a locator, usually used to locate news events

metropolitan (or metro) editor   the assignment editor in charge of assigning and editing stories relating to the city in which the paper is published

micro editing   looking for small things in stories, such as grammar, usage, spelling and style

misplaced modifier   a modifier not placed next to the word it modifies, resulting in confusion as to what’s being referred to

modifier   a word that describes another one; adjectives, adverbs and interjections are modifiers

morgue   a term used for a publication’s or broadcast station’s library

most-important-element lead   a lead that focuses on the most important news out of several things that happened related to the story

mugshot   a photo of a person’s head and neck, usually one-column or one-half-column wide

multimedia journalist   a person capable of functioning in more than one medium, usually print and broadcast

multiple-element lead   a lead that lists several things that happened related to the story

nameline   a one-line caption under a mugshot

negligence   failure to show enough caution or care in a situation that results in damage or injury to another

news editor   the copy-desk chief

newsletter   a short, newsy publication with a frequent publication cycle and a high degree of specialization; usually distributed exclusively through subscription to a limited circulation

news peg   a timely, newsworthy event on which to base a story

Nielsen Ratings   the results of surveys used to determine levels of television viewership

noun   a word that names a person, place, thing, idea or quality

nut graf   a paragraph that summarizes the bottom line of a feature story, following the lead

object   a noun, pronoun or other substantive that receives the action of a verb, verbal or preposition

objectivity   being factual, neutral, fair and, in a hard-news story, impersonal in style

obscenity   legally defined in the U.S. as something that appeals to the “prurient interest” of (would arouse) the average person, applying contemporary community standards to the work as a whole; that depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; and that lacks, as a whole, serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value

online editor   an editor in charge of content for a publication’s website

parenthetical   in common grammatical terms, “nonrestrictive,” or in AP style terms, “nonessential”; parenthetical, though, more clearly expresses the idea that something is an aside or an afterthought and could be put in parentheses, but since journalists don’t normally use parentheses, they set off parenthetical items with commas instead

participle   a form of a verb, usually ending in ing, that’s used in a sentence as an adjective

passive voice   the subject is not doing the action of the verb but is being acted on by something else

personality profile   a story focusing on a person rather than an event

photo editor   the editor in charge of choosing photos for the paper and recommending their cropping and sizing, as well as designing the photo-story packages

photojournalist   a master of graphic aesthetics as well as a journalist who happens to work with a camera

pie chart   a chart used to show division of the whole

play   the location of a story within a publication; a story on Page One is said to have received “good play”

podcasting   the process of producing audio reports for a website

positive-form modifier   modifiers have three forms, the positive being the one about which no comparison is made to anything else—for example, one person is tall (the “positive” form) but that person is taller than another (the “comparative” form) or the tallest of three or more (the “superlative” form)

possessive   one of the three cases of nouns and pronouns, the one showing ownership

predicate nominative   a noun or pronoun following a linking verb that renames the subject

preposition   a connecting word that combined with its object acts as a modifier; in the sentence “He ran toward the trees,” toward is a preposition, trees is its object, and the phrase toward the trees is a prepositional phrase that modifies “ran”

principal parts of verbs   the main present-tense, past-tense and past-participle forms of a verb

process drawing   an artist’s drawing that helps readers visualize detailed plans

production editor   an editor who follows the work of the assigning editor

pronoun   a word that takes the place of a noun

proof   a copy of a completed page, ready to print except for any last-minute changes you may be able to make

proofreading   reading the proofs of a page after it’s been formatted but before it goes to press, to check one last time for errors

proofreading symbols   the symbols used in the proofreading stage after the stories have already been copy edited and laid out on the page

propriety   the selection and presentation of material that is appropriate for a specific audience

public journalism   journalism that seeks citizen participation in key issues involving a community; also called citizen journalism

publisher   the owner or a person appointed by the owner to be the chief executive officer of a newspaper or magazine, ultimately the person locally in charge of both the news and business operations

pullout   see blurb

pull quote   a quotation from an article repeated in big type as an internal blurb to break up the page

pyramid   a headline style in which lines get progressively wider, emulating the appearance of a pyramid

Q-and-A interview   an interview written not as an article but in the form of a transcript of the questions and answers

race   a broad category of type

ragged right   type that is not justified (not lined up on the right side of the column as on the left)

readership studies   measure of the relative popularity of features in a publication

read-in blurb   a conversational headline element that reads directly into the main headline

read-out blurb   a subhead that comes between the headline and the text; often conversational and sometimes called a conversational blurb

relative pronouns   the pronouns who, whom, whose, whoever, whomever, what, which and that used to connect a subordinate clause to the main clause of a sentence

release date   a date on a press release before which time the information should not be made public

retouching   correcting imperfections in a photograph, usually done with a computer program like PhotoShop

reverse   white letters on a black background; also called reverse type

reverse kicker   see hammer

reverse plate   a headline with white type on a dark background

reviewing editor   see production editor

ribbon   see banner

right to know   the idea that the government must provide certain information to the public

rim editor   a copy editor who edits stories and writes headlines and blurbs

run-on sentence   a group of words punctuated to look like a sentence but that really consists of several run together

sans serif   type without the ending strokes called serifs

second-cycle story   a story appearing for the first time in your publication or broadcast but that follows the appearance of the same topic in another medium

second-day story   a follow story to one appearing earlier in your paper

second deck   a second headline between the main headline and the article; also known as subtitle or drop head

section editor   an editor who looks over a particular section of the magazine, such as letters to the editor, reviews of new products, etc.; also known at magazines as a senior editor

sensitivity   awareness about and concern for how others might perceive something

sentence   a group of related words with a subject and verb, and that expresses a complete thought

serifs   the ending strokes that appear on the ends of letters in some typefaces

service journalism   articles of practical use to a reader in more than a merely informative way; often used synonymously with how-to article

shield laws   laws that shield a journalist’s relationship with a source of information only in states with laws providing such protection

single-element lead   a lead that focuses on the only thing that happened, such as the one topic discussed at a meeting

skyline   a banner headline placed above the flag

slander   spoken defamation that damages someone’s reputation or business

slot person   the copy-desk chief; the person in charge of the copy desk

soft lead   an introduction typical of a feature story or the mixed-approach story in which the writer does not reveal the bottom line in the lead but instead introduces the story dramatically before turning to the bottom line several or more paragraphs later in the story

soft news   another name for features

special-interest publications   magazines devoted to a particular, specialized subject

spread head   a multiple-column headline

staff writers   at a newspaper or magazine, the salaried writers as opposed to freelance contributors

standalone   a photo that stands by itself without an accompanying story

stepline   a headline in which the first line is flush left, the second is centered and the third is flush right; considered outdated

stet head   a standing headline

stick-up initial   a capital letter at the start of a paragraph, whose base is lined up with the base of the smaller letter to its right

story count   the number of articles per page, per issue or per writer

streamer   see banner

stringer   a writer paid by the column inch for contributing to a publication

style   the rules of such things as abbreviation, capitalization, numbers and punctuation

subject of a clause   the noun, pronoun or other substantive that the verb says is doing or being something

subject of an infinitive   a noun or pronoun immediately preceding an infinitive; in the sentence “They mistook her to be Joan,” her is the subject of the infinitive to be

subjunctive mood   the form of a verb used when the speaker or writer of a sentence means to imply that something being expressed is contrary to fact or is a wish, doubt or prayer

subordinating conjunction   a conjunction that introduces a dependent clause, such as because or since

subtitle   a second headline between the main headline and the article; also known as second deck or drop head

summary lead   a lead that summarizes several things that happened related to a story

superlative form of a modifier   the form of an adjective or adverb when comparing three or more items; superlative adjectives, for example, end in est or have least or most in front of the positive form of the adjective

table   an information graphic composed of rows and columns of numbers

tabloid   a half-size newspaper format

talk radio   a radio format featuring discussion rather than entertainment

target marketing   the advertising practice of placement in media designed to reach specific demographic groups

taste   judgment in matters of aesthetics; sensitivity to how your audience is likely to regard something

tie-back paragraph   a paragraph in a follow-up story that transitions from the latest news back to previous developments to update readers who might have missed them or forgotten

timeliness   one of the main characteristics of news; to be news, something must have happened recently or have been recently revealed

title   a term used for headlines, usually in magazines

trade publications   specialized publications aimed at people in a particular field, such as farming, automaking or plumbing

uncountable nouns   nouns with no different singular and plural forms

undated story   a story with no place of origin at the start of the first paragraph; often used for roundups from multiple locations

underline   a one-line caption

uniform resource locator   the location of a site on the Web; most often called URL

update   a follow story looking back weeks, months or years later at what happened since the original story was in the news

upstyle   a headline style in which the first letter of all words except short conjunctions and prepositions is capitalized

urban legend   a tale that is actually modern folklore, although it masquerades as a news story

usage   the use of the correct word; mainly a matter of the meaning of commonly misused words

vague pronoun reference   a pronoun whose antecedent is unclear

verb   a word that expresses action or state of being

videographer   one who operates a video camera

visual literacy   understanding the importance of visually conveying information with photographs and information graphics

vodcasting   The process of producing video reports for a news site

Web editor   an editor in charge of a website or who works on one

Web producer   someone who edits for the World Wide Web

writer-as-expert approach   a how-to story based on the knowledge of the writer

zine   a privately printed, small-run magazine