About MediaMiser Company Information Careers Executive Bios Products MediaMiser Enterprise Media Content Turnkey Management Media Analysis Social Media Support/Services Support Information Solutions/Consulting Customization News/Events Media Releases Events Resource Center Article Archive PR Glossary MediaMiser Blog Contact Us		MediaMiser Home > Resource Center > PR Glossary > Newswriting Terms     Print Media News and Newswriting Terms Angle - The approach or perspective from which a news fact or event is viewed, or the emphasis chosen for a story. Assignment - Instruction to a reporter to cover an event. Attribution - Identification of the source of a fact, judgment or quotation. Beat - The area or subject field assigned to a reporter. Standard beats include city hall, education, labour, police and sports. Breaking story - Currently happening or impending news. Byline - The writer’s name, usually at the head of the story. Call sheets - A list of organizations beat reporters call on a regular basis. Call sheets generally list who to call, when it is best to call and phone numbers (office and home) to use. These calls help reporters check story details, fish for potential stories and keep track of developing stories. Column – A regularly appearing signed story of opinion or analysis. Copy – Anything written for publication. Copy desk - The desk used by copy editors to read and edit copy and write headlines (if necessary). Correction - Errors that reach publication are retracted or corrected if they are serious or if someone demands a correction. Crop - To edit photos by trimming off unwanted parts. Cutline - The caption under a photograph. Ears - The upper corners of page 1. Editorial - An opinion piece written by the editorial page editor or members of the editorial board, generally appearing on the editorial page. A guest editorial is one written by an outsider. Editorial classifications - The subject areas or departments, such as business, food, news and sports. Editorial environment - The overall appearance, content tone and philosophy of a publication. Editorialize - To express opinion towards a news story. Editorials are properly confined to the editorial or Op-Ed page or to signed columns elsewhere in the newspaper. Editorial material - Refers to the non-advertising portion of a publication. Embargo - An embargoed story is one the media does not use until an agreed upon or specified time. Endmark - A symbol (usually -30- ) typed at the end of a news story to indicate that it is complete. Exclusive - A story one reporter has obtained to the exclusion of the competition. Feature - Unlike straight news, a feature is a longer story emphasizing the human or entertaining aspects of a situation rather than its hard news value. The bridge column, crossword puzzle and comics also are called features. File - To write a story. Fillers – Small items used to fill out columns or space where needed. Flag - The printed title of a newspaper on page 1. Also known as the nameplate. Flare - The main story on page 1. Also known as line or splash. Graphics - All visual materials such as artwork, charts, maps and still photos. Hard news - Timely news that is important to a considerable share of the audience. This includes spot news. Headline (head) - Display type above a news story. Inverted pyramid - The basic print news story form with a summary of the story at the beginning and facts presented in order of descending importance. Investigative reporting - Unearthing information that sources may want hidden. This type of reporting involves the examination of documents and records and the cultivation of informants. Investigative reporting often seeks to expose wrongdoing. Jump - To continue a story from one page to another. Jump head - A headline on a jump. Jump line – A line where a jump occurs to tell readers where it continues. Kill - To not use a story. Lead - The opening paragraph of a news story. Localize - Emphasizing the names of persons from the local area who are involved in events outside the region. Masthead - The formal statement of the newspaper's name, officers, place of publication and other descriptive information, usually found on the editorial page. News hole - Space in a newspaper allotted to news. News peg - The hook on which the news story hangs. Not for attribution - The newsmaker's comments can be used but not attributed directly to that source. Off the record - The reporter cannot use the information provided by the source in any way. The information is strictly for the reporter's background information. One-shot - A story that is not part of a series or continuing coverage. Op-Ed page - The page opposite the editorial page. It can contain staff or syndicated coIumns, guest opinion pieces and related illustrations. Placeline - The placeline (OTTAWA, NORTH BAY, Ont.) identifies the geographical location of the news story. It is at the beginning of the lead. Also called the dateline. Play - The emphasis given to news. A story or photo may be played up or played down. Pool – A small group of reporters chosen to cover an event for other reporters when the number allowed is limited. Running story - A news development continuing for two days or longer. Seasonableness - Timeliness tied to a period of the year that keeps coming back (i.e. Christmas, Ramadan, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, Halloween, etc.) Sidebar - A secondary story that explores an interesting or unusual angle that doesn't fit into the main story. Skylight - The small photographs at the top of page 1 that are indexes to the stories inside. Slug - Word or words placed on all copy to identify the story. Soft news - Feature articles and other journalistic material. Unlike hard news, soft news is not urgent and not necessarily timely or related to a major event. Source - Person, record, document or event that provides information for a story. Spot news - News about a current event printed as soon as possible after it occurs. Update - A story that brings the reader up to date on a situation or personality previously in the news. Wire service – A news service, such as Canadian Press (CP) or Associated Press (AP). Although still called wires, these news services feed their reports to broadcast newsrooms via satellite into high-speed printers or into newsroom computers.
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