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Newspaper Vocabulary

• Motivational Activity: Students will read Handout 4: Newspaper Vocabulary . Teacher will have overheads of newspaper pages and will ask which words are confusing? Further clarification and examples will be given. Question to consider: As beginning journalists, why is it important to know and use proper terminology?
• Group Activity (3-4 students per group):
  • Using Vocabulary and main section of the daily paper, each group will use post-it notes to identify and label terms in the news.
  • Groups will exchange papers to review vocabulary identification labels. The "editing" group should check work, note any problems/corrections, and label any additional terms.
  • Groups will conference to discuss problems and additions.
  • All work will be displayed for a Gallery Walk by the larger class.
• Extended Assessment: For homework, students will complete an individual identification of terms with a new paper. Multiple copies of papers will be assigned in order to form groups for Front Page Analysis.

NAME _____________________ DATE _______________

Handout 4: Newspaper Vocabulary
(Adapted from TAJE Journalism Curriculum Guide & Newspaper Curriculum Guide )

• 5W'S & H The essentials of any story: who, what, when, where, why, and how
• ADVERTSING Space in a publication sold to other businesses; display ads usually contain headlines, illustrations, copy, a call for action and information to identify the business
• ALIGNMENT Refers to the justification of text at its margins; left, right, centered, justified
• BEAT A specific area assigned to a reporter for regular coverage
• BOLD Type which appears darker than surrounding type of the same family; used for emphasis
• BY-LINE Indicates who wrote the story; often includes the writer's title
• CAPTION The portion of the layout which explains what is happening in a photograph. Also called cutlines. Often includes a photo credit.
• COLUMN A vertical division of layout which aids in giving structure to a page
• DOMINANT The largest photograph on a layout
• EDITOR Has overall responsibility for the publication
• EDITORIAL A type of story which serves to express an opinion and encourage the reader to take some action
• ETHICS A standard of conduct based on moral beliefs
• FACT A statement that can be proven. Not an opinion
• FEATURE A story written with some interpretation that goes beyond just reporting the facts
• FLAG The name of the paper that usually appears at the top of page one
• GRAPHICS The use of lines, screens, boxes, large initial letters etc. to enhance a design by breaking up areas
• GRID SYSTEM A system of layout in which the page is divided into small units which are filled in
• HAMMER A form of headline consisting of a few very large words over a smaller subheadline
• HEADLINE Large type designed to summarize a story and grab the reader's attention
• HUMAN INTEREST An element of news that includes people or events with which the audience can identify; stories that are just interesting
• INTERVIEW A question and answer session between a reporter and source to get information for a story
• INVERTED PYRAMID A style of writing most commonly applied to news stories in which the most important facts appear early in the story and less important facts later in the story
• KICKER A short (one or two word) statement at the beginning of a caption that serves to grab the reader's attention
• LEAD The beginning of the story which serves to summarize the story and/or grab the reader's attention
• LIBEL Written defamation; damaging false statements against another person or institution that are in writing or are spoken from a written script
• NEWS Information delivered about an event shortly after it has occurred
• OP-ED Opinion/Editorial; refers to the pages in a publication that express the opinion of the writer
• OPINION A statement which cannot be proven.
• QUOTATION A statement make by another person included in a published story. A direct quotation is exactly what the person said and appears inside quotation marks. An indirect quote is a paraphrase of what a person said and does not appear in quotes.
• REPORTER Person who researches and generally writes stories assigned by editors
• REVIEW A form of editorial written to comment on a play, movie, piece of music or some other creative work
• SANS SERIF Type with no extension at the letters which is easier to read at large sizes
• SERIF An extension at the end of certain letters which make the type easier to read at text sizes
• SLANDER Spoken defamation; damaging false statements against another person or institution that are spoken
• SPREAD Two facing pages that are designed as one unit
• STAFF BOX A box containing the names of the staff members
• STORY A block of text on a single topic beginning with some form of a lead followed by the body that contains quotations and transitions
• TEXT WRAP Adjusting the appearance of text to follow the shape of a graphic
• TRANSITION The portion of the story which helps the reader move from one point to the next: helps a story flow, adds information, and explains other items in the story
• UNDERLINE A smaller headline set under the main headline that is approximately the same length as the main headline
• WHITE SPACE The portion of a page with nothing on it used to draw a viewer into the other elements on the page