Mass Communication Glossary

Glossary

Some terms can be useful in providing a common vocabulary with which to discuss journalism.
Advertisement

• the promotion of a product or service

Advertising manager

• the person who oversees the sales representatives who sell space to advertisers, and ensures that ads are in the appropriate section

Advertorial

• an advertisement section in a magazine that looks like an article or a feature

Advocacy

• a style of journalism in which a reporter takes sides in controversial issues and develops a point of view
• a style of journalism which is opposite of mainstream journalism, in which reporters are expected to be objective

Angle

• particular emphasis of a media presentation, sometimes called a slant

Attribution

• credit given to who said what or the source of facts

B-roll

• video images shot specifically to be used over a reporter’s words to illustrate the news event or story, to cover up audio edits of quotes (to avoid the jerking head effect), or to cover up bad shots (out of focus, poorly lighted, etc.)

Background

• information that is not intended for publication

Bias

• a position that is partial or slanted

Broadcast feature

• longer than usual broadcast news story that gives reporters 5-25 minutes (compared to usual 30-60 seconds) to develop a deeper look at a news event, trend, or individual
• the broadcast equivalent of a newspaper feature story; also known as "television magazine piece" or radio feature

By-line

• the name of the reporter

Canadian press

• National news agency set up by the daily newspapers of Canada to exchange news among themselves and with international news agencies

Caption

• copy which accompanies a photograph or graphic

Classified ads

• categories of products or services
• short, direct text ads which clearly indicate WHAT is being advertised, the PRICE, WHERE, and HOW the advertiser can be contacted

Column

• an article in which a writer or columnist gives an opinion on a topic

Commercial

• an advertisement that is presented on television, radio, or film

Conflict of interest

• the conflict that is created when a writer allows personal interests (friendship, family, business connections, etc.) to influence the outcome of the story

Copy

• the words of an article, news story, or book
• any broadcast writing, including commercials
• any written material intended for publication, including advertising

Copyreader

• the person who "proofreads" copy as it comes in, checking for spelling, punctuation, accuracy of style, and clarity

Credibility

• believability of a writer or publication

Date line

• the place the story was filed

Deck

• a smaller headline which comes between the headline and the story

Display ads

• ads that include a visual image to advertise a product or service

Editor

• the person who "edits" a story by revising and polishing
• the person whose job is to approve copy when it comes in and to make decisions about what is published in a newspaper or magazine

Editorial

• an article expressing a newspaper or magazine owner’s or editor’s position on an issue

Facts sheet

• a page of significant information prepared by Public Relations people to help news media in covering a special event

Feature article

• the main article on the front page of a newspaper, or the cover story in a magazine

Five Ws and H

• the primary questions a news story answers --Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

Gatekeepers

• people who determine what will be printed, broadcast, produced, or consumed in the mass media

Gobbledygook

• language that is unnecessarily complicated, unclear, wordy, or includes jargon

Gutter

• narrow margin of white space in the center area in a magazine, newspaper, or book, where two pages meet

Hard news stories

• factual accounts of important events, usually appearing first in a newspaper

Headline

• the "title" of a newspaper or magazine story

Human interest story

• a story that focuses on the human side of news and often appeals to the readers’ emotion

Inverted pyramid

• the structure of a news story which places the important facts at the beginning and less important facts and details at the end, enabling the editor to cut bottom portion of the story if space is required

Investigative journalism

• a story that requires a great amount of research and hard work to come up with facts that might be hidden, buried, or obscured by people who have a vested interest in keeping those facts from being published

Jargon

• any overly obscure, technical, or bureaucratic words that would not be used in everyday language

Journalese

• a type of jargon used by newspaper writers
• language used by journalists that would never be used in everyday speech

Jump line

• line of type at the bottom of a column which directs the reader to somewhere else in the paper where the story is completed, allowing more space for stories to begin on the front page

Kicker

• an ending that finishes a story with a climax, surprise, or punch line

Layout editor

• the person who begins the layout plan, considering things like placement and amount of space allotted to news and advertising copy, graphics, photos, and symbols

Lead

• the first sentence or first few sentences of a story

Libel

• publishing in print (or other media) false information that identifies and deframes an individual

Managing editor

• the person who co-ordinates all news departments by collecting all copy and ensuring that all instructions for printer or typist are clear and consistent
• the person who meets and consults with the staff to make a plan

Masthead

• the "banner" across the front page which identifies the newspaper and the date of publication
• the publication information on the editorial page

Media relations

• a function of public relations that involves dealing with the communications media in seeking publicity for, or responding to media interest in, an organization

Morgue

• newsroom library

News angle

• the aspect, twist, or detail of a feature story that pegs it to a news event or gives it news value for the reader

Newspaper styles

• styles of various newspapers including dailies, tabloids, and weeklies

Newsspeak

• language that distorts, confuses, or hides reality

Off the record

• something a source does not want repeated in a news story

Op-ed page

• a page in a newspaper that is opposite the editorial page, and contains columns, articles, letters for readers, and other items expressing opinions

Package

• a completed television news story on tape, which is edited before a news show goes on air and contains reporter’s stand-ups, narration over images, and an out-cue for the anchor to start speaking at the end of the tape

Paraphrase

• an indirect quote or summary of the words the news maker said

Photos

• still images which communicate the photojournalist’s angle or perceived reality

Pix

• short for pictures

Plagiarism

• using the work of another person (both written words and intellectual property) and calling that work your own

Public affairs

• various activities and communications that organizations undertake to monitor, evaluate, influence, and adjust to the attitudes, opinions, and behaviours of groups or individuals who constitute their publics

Reporters

• the people who gather facts for the stories they are assigned to write

Rules

• lines used to separate one story from another on a newspaper page

Screens

• shaded areas of copy in a newspaper

Sidebar

• a column of copy and/or graphics which appears on the page of a magazine or newspaper to communicate information about the story or contents of the paper

Slander

• similar to libel, but spoken instead of published

Soft news

• stories that are interesting but less important than hard news, focusing on people as well as facts and information and including interviews, reviews, articles, and editorials

Sound bite

• the videotaped quote in television news

Source

• a person who talks to a reporter on the record, for attribution in a news story

Spin

• hidden slant of a press source, which usually casts the client in a positive light

Stand-up

• a reporter’s appearance in a TV news story
• usually a head and shoulders shot which features the reporter talking into a microphone at the scene of the news event, often used as a transition, or at the beginning or ending

Style

• conformity of language use by all writers in a publication (e.g., AP style is conformity to the rules of language according to the Associated Press)

Summary lead

• the traditional journalism tool used to start off most hard news stories
• the first few sentences of a news story which usually summarizes the event and answers the questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

Super

• a video effect that allows the television station to print and superimpose the name of a news source over his or her image when the source is shown talking in a news story

Tabloid

• technically, a publication half the size of a standard newspaper page; but commonly, any newspaper that is splashy and heavily illustrated
• a "supermarket" tabloid that stresses dramatic stories, often about sensational subjects

Target audience

• a specific group of people that media producers or advertisers want to reach

Transition

• a rhetorical device used in writing to move the story smoothly from one set of ideas to the next by finding a way to connect the ideas logically

Trend story

• a feature story that focuses on the current fads, directions, tendencies, and inclinations of society

Video press release

• a press release for television, prepared on tape, complete with images and sound which can be used by the news media without additional permission or editing

Voice

• a writer’s development of distinctive characteristics and idiosyncrasies of language use that make his or her writing as easily recognizable as the inflections, tone, and pronunciation of speech that make a person’s vocalized speech pat terns distinctive

Wire services

• services that provide news from around the world to publications that subscribe for a fee (e.g., Associated Press, Canadian Press, Reuters, and United Press International)
• co-operatives that share news stories among members (e.g., Canadian Press)

World Wide Web

• large directory of information on the Internet