A Compendium of Newsroom Lingo, Slang, Shorthand, and Catchphrases [entries|friends|calendar] newslingo [ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ] [ calendar | livejournal calendar ]

News Lingo (not in any kind of order yet) [23 Aug 2005|10:26am] Common lingo: Nut graf - The paragraph containing the gist of a story, explaining the basics. Distinct from "lede." Graf - Short for paragraph. The phonetic spelling is common in journalism lingo, as in "lede," "foto," etc. Briefs - Short articles (generally from 1 to 5 inches) that usually do not carry a byline. Brights - Short, anecdotal articles often run in conjunction with an annual, non-newsy event, like a Christmas toy drive. Also, articles written with a wry perspective, or removed in some way from the traditional standpoint of a straight news article. Slug - A form of shorthand used to "name" stories in computer systems or on paste-up pages for purposes of editing and layout. Cutline - See also: Caption. Caption - The information identifying people or events in a photo or graphic. See also: Cutline. Byline - The attribution that accompanies a story, whether a reporter's name or the name of an organization, known as a Staff Byline. Dateline - The location where the action of a story takes place. Hed or head, and headline, too - Large text that usually runs above a story summing up in as few words as possible the gist of the story. Lede, lead - The first paragraph in a news story, generally considered the most important paragraph, although not always the paragraph where most of the news goes. Masthead - The part of a newspaper that identifies the editorial staff and what departments they work in; not to be confused with a Flag or a Nameplate. Flag - The logo of a newspaper that runs at the top of page one. See also: Nameplate. Folio - The date on which a newspaper is printed, printed on the top corners of each page. Drop quote, pull quote, liftout quote - Usually a sentence of text taken from the body of a story and enlarged, and set out from the other copy. Infographic - A graphic that illustrates some piece of information from a story, or which stands alone in presenting one-shot information about a topic. Photocap - See Cutline, Caption. Newshook - The element of a story that makes it newsworthy; especially used in writing features without immediately apparent hard news elements. Local angle - The element of a story that connects a regional, national, or international story to a news organization's coverage area. Follow-up, folo - Either a longer meditation on a first day breaking news story or a story relating the latest developments. Evergreen - A feature story without a strong timed element, that does not have to run immediately. Banner - A headline that runs across the top of a page. Broadsheet (14 x 23) - The standard format of most newspapers. Copy - The text of a news story; also a description of a writer's output, used in the way novelists use the word "prose." Flack - A public relations employee or official spokesperson. Mug - A photograph of someone generally featuring only their face, as in "mug shot." Feature - A longer story that is not based on breaking news. Graf - Abbreviation for "paragraph." Jump - When a story is continued from one page of the paper to another; can be used as a verb or a noun. Sidebar, mainbar - When elements of a story are broken into more than one story, sometimes they're laid out together. The mainbar is the most important element of a story, while a sidebar is a shorter examination of an element of lesser importance. Package - A presentation of a larger story or a thematically linked series of stories along with sidebars, photos, graphics, etc. The wire - Often used to describe the Associated Press, this can mean any news service that previously provided copy to organizations by telegraph, i.e. "the wire." Drive-by edit - A bad or sloppy editing job. Magic Box - A story that is presented in a non-traditional format, i.e. in a dialogue, a narrative, By-the-Numbers, etc. Freak - A very short story. See also: Brief. Style - A newspaper's standardized set of rules and guidelines. Newspapers have styles for grammar, punctuation, headline codes, design principles, etc. Question as to whether an item is too prurient to appear in the paper: Cereal test - As in, Would I would my family to see this at the breakfast table? See also: Breakfast Test The cage – the city desk. Small paragraphs of information, promos, and boxes are sometimes called: Info nachos Chunky type The accordion box Slinky Gizmo Reader magnet Pullout boxes DESIGN AND LAYOUT Agate – small type (usually 5.5 point) used for sports scores, stock tables, classified ads, etc. Air – white space used in a story design All caps – type using only capital letters Armpit – An awkward-looking page layout where a story’s banner headline sits on top of a photo or another headline. BAG: Abbreviation for Big-Ass Graphic. Baseline – an imaginary line that type rests on. Billboard - A stand-alone photo teasing to the inside. Body type, body copy – Type used for text, usually 8 to 10 points Bug – element used to label a story, often indented to the text, also called a sig or a logo. Bumping/butting heads – Headlines from two stories that collide with each other. Also called tombstoning. Camera-ready art – Finished page elements ready for printing. Column – Vertical stack of text, also called a leg. Column inch - A way to measure the depth of text or ads; it's an area one column wide and one inch deep. Column logo - A graphic device that labels regularly appearing material by packaging the writer's name, the column's name and a small mug or drawing of the writer (also bug or sig). Compre (short for comprehensive) - A stand-alone photo with an “overline” (headline) and a cutline (a large compre is sometimes called a supercompre). Deck - A small headline running below the main headline; also called a drop head. Dingbats - Decorative type characters (such as bullets, stars, boxes, etc.) used for emphasis or effect. Descender - The part of a letter extending below the baseline (as in g, j, p, q, y). Display headlines - A non-standard headline (often with decorative type, rules, all caps, etc.) used to enhance the design of a feature story, photo spread or news package. Doglegs – L-shaped columns of text that wrap around art, ads, or stories. Double truck - Two facing pages on the same sheet of newsprint, treated as one unit. Downstyle - A headline style that capitalizes only the first word and proper nouns. Dummy - A small, detailed page diagram showing where all elements go. Em - An old printing term for a square-shaped blank space that's as wide as the type is high; in other words, a 10-point em space will be 10 points wide. Filler - A small story or graphic element used to fill space on a page. Flag - The name of a newspaper as it's displayed on Page One; also called a nameplate. Folio - Type at the top of an inside page giving the newspaper's name, date and page number. Gutter - The space running vertically between columns. Hammer head - A headline that uses a big, bold word or phrase for impact and runs a small, wide deck below. Header - A special label for any regularly appearing section, page or story; also called a standing head. Hot boxes - Front-page items with photo and text that refer to a story inside (also called hypes, big ol’ hype). Kerning – Tightening the space between letters. Kicker - A small, short, one-line headline, often underscored, placed above a larger headline. Lead-in - A word or phrase in contrasting type that precedes a cutline, headline or text. Masthead - A block of information, including staff names and publication data, often printed on the editorial page. Offset - A printing process, used by most newspapers, where the image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then printed on paper. Orphan - A short word or phrase that's carried over to a new column or page; also called a widow. PFADs – Picassos for a Day, or what designers strive to create (see also: daily miracle). Pagination – The process of generating a page on a computer. Paste-up - A page assembled for printing where all type, artwork and ads have been placed into position (usually with hot wax). To paste up a page is to place those elements on it. Pica - A standard unit of measure in newspapers. There are 6 picas in one inch, 12 points in one pica. Pork chop – A half-column mug shot. Proof - A copy of a pasted-up page used to check for errors. To check a page is to proofread it. Pyramid ads - Advertisements stacked up one side of a page, wide at the base but progressively smaller near the top. Refer, reefer - A line or paragraph, often given graphic treatment, referring to a related story elsewhere in the paper. (See also: Earnhart – Big refer) Skyboxes, skylines - Teasers that run above the flag on Page One. If they're boxed (with art), they’re called skyboxes or boxcars; if they use only a line of type, they’re called skylines. Stand-alone - A photo that doesn't accompany a story, usually boxed to show it stands alone; also called wild art or free art. Subhead - Lines of type, often bold, used to divide text into smaller sections. Summary deck - A special form of deck, smaller and wordier than most decks, that capsulizes the main points of a story. Teaser - An eye-catching graphic element, on Page One or section fronts, that promotes an item inside; also called a promo. (See also: BATs – Big Ass Tease) Tip the paint pot - Putting a color screen behind a package with photo or columnist sig. Trapped white space - An empty area, inside a story design or photo spread, that looks awkward or clumsy. LOCALIZED DESIGN TERMS Wongs – Square bullets, named after Nashville Tennessean staffer Ray Wong The strip - The six-column story at the top of page A1, also called the overlay (Concord Monitor). The stick – The lede story below the strip (Concord Monitor). The River – The green promo box below the nameplate, named in honor of the Chicago River, which is dyed green on St. Patrick’s Day (Chicago Sun-Times). Blurbs – Small paragraphs of information, promos, and boxes (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Arnie Pye (after the helicopter traffic reporter on The Simpsons) - A jokey lead or headline that isn't all that funny (New Jersey Jewish News). Violin - The lede story of a big package (Institutional Investor). 17 comments|post comment

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