News Reporting and Writing 11e by The Missouri Group

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News Reporting and Writing 11e by The Missouri Group is the 11th edition of the textbook authored by The Missouri Group, consisting of Brian S. Brooks, George Kennedy, Daryl R. Moen, Don Ranly, all -- School of Journalism, University of Missouri, and published by Bedford/St.Martin’s, Boston, MA in 2014.

  • Absolute privilege. The right of legislators, judges and government executives to speak without threat of libel when acting in their official capacities.
  • Absolutism. The ethical philosophy that holds that there is a fixed set of principles or laws from which there is no deviation. To the absolutist journalist, the end never justifies the means.
  • Actual malice. Reckless disregard for the truth. Actual malice is a condition in libel cases.
  • Actual malice test. Protection for reporters to write anything about an officeholder or candidate unless they know that the material is false or they recklessly disregard the truth.
  • Add. A printed page of copy following the first page. "First add" would be the second page of printed copy.
  • Advance. A report covering the subjects and issues to be dealt with in an upcoming meeting or event.
  • Advertising department. The newspaper department responsible for advertisements. Most advertising departments have classified and display ad sections.
  • Aggregated journalism. The viral dissemination of the news by members of the public, who often use social media for this purpose.
  • Anchor. A person in a television studio who ties together a newscast by reading the news and providing transitions from one story to the next.
  • Anecdote. An informative and entertaining story within a story.
  • Angle. The focus of, or approach to, a story. The latest development in a continuing controversy, the key play in a football game or the tragedy of a particular death in a mass disaster may serve as an angle.
  • Annual percentage rate. The annual cost of a loan expressed as a percentage. The basic method for computing APR is set forth in the Truth in Lending Act of 1968.
  • AP. The Associated Press, a worldwide news-gathering cooperative owned by its subscribers.
  • APME. Associated Press Media Editors, an organization of managing editors and other editors whose papers are members of the Associated Press.
  • App. Short for computer application. Software, usually for a smartphone or tablet computer, that helps users perform a particular task. For example, a news app might enable users to access a news website efficiently.
  • Arithmetic mean. See average.
  • Assessed value. The amount that a government appraiser determines a property is worth.
  • Assistant news director. The second in command in a television station newsroom.
  • Attribution. Identification of the source of the information or quotation.
  • Average. (1) A term used to describe typical or representative members of a group. (2) In mathematics, the result obtained when a set of numbers is added together and then divided by the number of items in the set.
  • Background. Information that may be attributed to a source by title but not by name; for example, "a White House aide said."
  • Backgrounder. A story that explains and updates the news.
  • Beat. A reporter's assigned area of responsibility. A beat may be an institution, such as a courthouse; a geographic area, such as a small town; or a subject, such as science. The term also refers to an exclusive story.
  • Blog. Short for Web log. A Web-based publication in which articles or diarylike entries, issued periodically, appear in reverse chronological order.
  • Blotter. An old-fashioned term for the arrest sheet that summarizes the bare facts of an arrest. Today this information is almost always stored on a computer.
  • Book. Assembled sheets of paper, usually newsprint, and carbon paper on which reporters once prepared stories. Books are not used with modern computerized processes.
  • Boolean search command. The language of searching computer databases in which the search is narrowed through the use of operators such as AND, OR or NOT.
  • Bureau. A news-gathering office maintained by a newspaper somewhere other than its central location. Papers may have bureaus in the next county; in the state capital; in Washington, D.C.; or in foreign countries.
  • Byline. A line identifying the author of a story.
  • Calendar year. The 12-month period from January through December.
  • Change of venue. The transfer of a court proceeding to another jurisdiction for prosecution. This often occurs when a party in a case claims that local media coverage has prejudiced prospective jurors.
  • Chat room. An online site for meeting and communicating by text and sometimes by webcam (a video camera connected to a computer).
  • Circulation department. The department responsible for distribution of the newspaper.
  • Citizen journalist. One who practices a new form of media in which citizens actively participate in gathering and writing information, often in the form of news. Also called participatory journalist.
  • City editor. The individual (also known as the metropolitan, or metro, editor) in charge of the city desk, which coordinates local news-gathering operations. At some papers the desk also handles regional and state news from its own reporters.
  • Click-through rate. The measurement of how often online readers open individual links/stories.
  • Clip. A story clipped from a newspaper.
  • Closed-ended question. A direct question designed to draw a specific response -- for example, "Will you be a candidate?"
  • Community portal. A website designed as a general entry point for Internet users in a city and its nearby suburbs.
  • Compound interest. Interest paid on the total of the principal (the amount borrowed) and the interest that has already accrued.
  • Conditional privilege. See qualified privilege.
  • Constant dollars. Monetary amounts adjusted for inflation.
  • Consumer Price Index. A tool used by the government to measure the rate of inflation. CPI figures, reported monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, compare the net change in prices between the current period and a specified base period. Reporters should use these data to accurately reflect the actual costs of goods and services.
  • Content aggregator. A company that collects and distributes news from traditional media sources but does little or no independent news gathering.
  • Contextual advertising. Website advertising directed to likely users of the site according to demographic profiles.
  • Contributing editor. A magazine columnist who works under contract and not as an employee of the magazine.
  • Control. To structure an experiment so that the only forces affecting the outcome are the variables you are observing.
  • Convergence. A term defined in different ways by different people in the media industry but generally used to describe the coordination of print, broadcast and online reporting in a news operation.
  • Copy. What reporters write. A story is a piece of copy.
  • Copy desk. The desk at which final editing of stories is done, headlines are written and pages are designed.
  • Copy editor. A person who checks, polishes and corrects stories written by reporters. Usually copy editors write headlines for these stories; sometimes they decide how to arrange stories and pictures on a page.
  • Cover. To keep abreast of significant developments on a beat or to report on a specific event. The reporter covering the police beat may be assigned to cover a murder.
  • Crowdsourcing. The practice of inviting unpaid readers and viewers to submit their own stories, photographs and video and sometimes to lend their expertise to help solve community problems.
  • Cutline. The caption that accompanies a newspaper or magazine photograph. The term dates from the days when photos were reproduced with etched zinc plates called cuts.
  • Deadline. The time by which a reporter, editor or desk must have completed scheduled work.
  • Deep background. Information that may be used but that cannot be attributed to either a person or a position.
  • Delayed-identification lead. The opening paragraph of a story in which the "who" is identified by occupation, city, office or any means other than by name.
  • Desk. A term used by reporters to refer to the city editor's or copy editor's position, as in "The desk wants this story by noon."
  • Desk assistant. An entry-level position in television newsrooms. Desk assistants handle routine news assignments, such as monitoring wire services and listening to police scanners.
  • Developing story. A story in which newsworthy events occur over several days or weeks.
  • Dialogue. A conversation between two or more people, neither of whom normally is the reporter.
  • Direct quote. A quote inside quotation marks that captures the exact words of the speaker.
  • Documentary. In-depth coverage of an issue or event, especially in broadcasting.
  • E-book reader. An electronic device whose primary function is the digital storage of books, though most e-book readers also offer other features.
  • Editor. The top-ranking individual in the news department of a newspaper, also known as the editor-in-chief. The term may refer as well to those at any level who edit copy.
  • Editorial department. The news department of a newspaper, responsible for all content of the newspaper except advertising. At some papers this term refers to the department responsible for the editorial page only.
  • Editorialize. To inject the reporter's or the newspaper's opinion into a news story or headline. Most newspapers restrict opinion to analysis stories, columns and editorials.
  • Editorial page editor. The individual in charge of the editorial page and, at larger newspapers, the op-ed page. See also op-ed page.
  • Executive producer. The television executive with overall responsibility for the look of the television newscast.
  • Explanatory journalism. Journalism that explains not only what happened but how. The use of this technique often distinguishes professional journalism from citizen journalism.
  • E-zine. Magazines and newsletters distributed by email.
  • Facebook. The world's most-used social networking website, which allows people to share updates, photos and news in a series of personalized feeds.
  • Fair comment and criticism. Opinion delivered on the performance of someone in the public eye. Such opinion is legally protected as long as reporters do not misstate any of the facts on which they base their comments or criticism, and it is not malicious.
  • Feature. A story that includes little or no breaking news.
  • Field experiment. A research technique in which the reporter deliberately takes some action to observe the effects. For example, a perfectly tuned automobile could be taken to several repair shops to find out if the mechanics would invent problems that required fixing.
  • Field producer. A behind-the-scenes television reporter who often does much of the fieldwork for a network's on-camera correspondents.
  • Fiscal year. Any 12-month period used to calculate annual revenues and expenditures.
  • Flat-file database. A simple database program that allows users to keep track of almost any type of data. A simple address book is an example.
  • Focus structure. A story organization that begins with the story of an individual person, broadens to include a trend or issue, and then brings the issue back to the person featured at the beginning of the story.
  • Follow. A story supplying further information about an item that has already been published. Folo is an alternate spelling.
  • Foreshadowing. A technique that teases readers with material coming later in the story as a way of encouraging them to keep reading.
  • Freedom of Information Act. A law passed in 1966 to make it easier to obtain information from federal agencies. The law was amended in 1974 to improve access to government records.
  • Free-form database. A database that is not limited in structure and allows almost any type of content to be included.
  • Free press controversy/fair trial controversy. The conflict between a defendant's right to an impartial jury and a reporter's responsibility to inform the public.
  • Full-text database. A database that permits searches of any text in an article.
  • Futures file. A collection -- filed according to date -- of newspaper stories, letters, notes and other information to remind editors of stories to assign. See also tickler.
  • Gatekeepers. Editors who determine what readers or viewers read, hear and see.
  • Graf. A shortened form of paragraph, as in "Give me two grafs on that fire."
  • Graphics editor. Usually, the editor responsible for all nonphotographic illustrations in a newspaper, including information graphics, maps and illustrations.
  • Handout. See news release.
  • Hard lead. A lead that reports a new development or newly discovered fact. See also soft lead.
  • Hard news. Coverage of the actions of government or business, or the reporting of an event, such as a crime, an accident or a speech. The time element often is important. See also soft news.
  • HTML. The abbreviation for hypertext markup language, the coding language used to create text on the Web.
  • Hyperlink. A connection between two places on the Web.
  • Hyperlocal. Information that is intensely local in its emphasis.
  • Hypermedia. Web links to audio, video and pictures.
  • Hypertext. A Web document coded in HTML.
  • Hypothesis. In investigative reporting, the statement a reporter expects to be able to prove, as in, "The mayor took a bribe from that massage parlor." In an experiment, the statement of what a researcher hopes to find.
  • Immediate-identification lead. The opening paragraph of a story in which the "who" is reported by name.
  • Income tax. An annual tax on an individual's income or a business's profit. It is levied by the federal government and in some cases by state and local governments. It is calculated as a percentage.
  • Indirect quote. A paraphrase of the speaker's words. Because it is a paraphrase, the words are not in quotation marks.
  • Inflation. The rising cost of living as time goes by. See also Consumer Price Index.
  • Infomedium. Short for information medium, a term coined to represent the merger of the Internet, television, wireless and other technologies as the medium of the future.
  • Information graphic. A visual representation of data.
  • Interest. (1) A measure of the cumulative effect of all the news values. The more elements of each of the six news values that appear in the story, the more interesting that story will be to readers. (2) Money earned or paid on a base amount and calculated as a percentage.
  • Internet. The vast network that links computers around the world.
  • Interviewing. Having conversations with sources.
  • Intranet. An internal online service accessible only to employees of a particular company or organization.
  • Invasion of privacy. Violation of a person's right to be left alone.
  • Inverted pyramid. The organization of a news story in which information is arranged in descending order of importance.
  • Investigative piece. A story intended to reveal material not generally known.
  • Investigative reporting. The pursuit of information that has been concealed, such as evidence of wrongdoing.
  • IRE. Investigative Reporters and Editors, a group created to exchange information and investigative reporting techniques. IRE has its headquarters at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
  • Lay out (verb). To prepare page drawings to indicate where stories and pictures are to be placed in the newspaper.
  • Layout (noun). The completed page drawing, or page dummy.
  • Lead. (1) The first paragraph or first several paragraphs of a newspaper story (sometimes spelled lede). (2) The story given the best display on Page 1. (3) A tip.
  • Lead-in. An introduction to a filmed or recorded excerpt from a news source or from another reporter.
  • Legacy media. Traditional media outlets such as newspapers, magazines, broadcast television and the like.
  • Libel. Damage to a person's reputation caused by a false written statement that brings the person into hatred, contempt or ridicule or injures his or her business or occupational pursuit.
  • Line-item budget. A budget showing each expenditure on a separate line.
  • Macroediting. Editing for the big picture, such as whether the story is missing anything and whether it is organized properly. See also microediting.
  • Maestro. The leader of a news-gathering team. Reporters, copy editors, editors and graphic designers work with a maestro to create special reports.
  • Managing editor. The individual with primary responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the news department.
  • Margin of error. The difference between results from the entire population (all registered voters in your county, for example) and a random sample of the population. It is usually expressed as plus or minus x points. The x depends on the size of the sample. The larger the sample, the smaller the margin of error.
  • Media fragmentation. A proliferation of media outlets leading to smaller audiences for traditional media and a resulting decline in the ability to target audiences.
  • Median. The middle number in a series arranged in order of magnitude; it is often used when an average would be misleading. (If the series has an even number of items, the median is the average of the two "middle" numbers.) See also average.
  • Metadata. Keywords attached to an online story, but not necessarily within it, that help search engines index material for display in search results. See also search-engine optimization.
  • Microediting. Editing for details such as grammar, punctuation and spelling. See also macroediting.
  • Micropayment. A small payment for reading an article on the Web.
  • Millage rate. The tax rate on property, determined by the government.
  • Mobile media. Portable digital devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers.
  • Moblog. A type of Internet blog in which the user publishes blog entries directly to the Web from a smartphone or other mobile device.
  • More. A designation used at the end of a page of copy to indicate that one or more pages follow.
  • Morgue. The newsroom library, where published stories, photographs and resource material are stored for reference.
  • Multimedia assignment desk. In a converged newsroom, the news desk where the efforts of print, broadcast and online reporters are coordinated. See also convergence.
  • Multimedia editor. An editor responsible for coordinating or producing news content for various media.
  • Multimedia journalist. A journalist capable of producing content in more than one medium, such as radio and newspapers.
  • Multiple-element lead. The opening paragraph of a story that reports two or more newsworthy elements.
  • Narration. The telling of a story, usually in chronological order.
  • Negligence test. The legal standard that requires reporters gathering facts and writing a story to use the same degree of care that any reasonable individual would use in similar circumstances.
  • Network correspondent. A television reporter who delivers the news on camera. Network correspondents do not necessarily do the actual news gathering for their stories.
  • New media. Emerging forms of computer-delivered news.
  • News conference. An interview session in which someone submits to questions from reporters. Also called a press conference.
  • News director. The top news executive of a local television station.
  • News editor. The supervisor of the copy desk. At some newspapers, this title is used for the person in charge of local news-gathering operations.
  • News narrative. A story that sums up the news in the first paragraph or two and then describes events chronologically rather than ranking them in descending order of importance.
  • News release. An item that is sent out by a group or individual seeking publicity. Also called a handout or press release.
  • News story. A story, often written in inverted pyramid style, that emphasizes the facts.
  • News value. The measure of how important or interesting a story is.
  • Niche. A specific subset of a part of a general audience. A magazine or website directed at weavers or bow hunters would be a niche publication.
  • Nominal dollars. Monetary amounts not adjusted for inflation.
  • Not for attribution. An expression indicating that information may not be ascribed to its source.
  • Nut paragraph. A paragraph that summarizes the key element or elements of a story. Nut paragraphs usually are found in stories not written in inverted pyramid form. Also called a nut graf.
  • Off-camera reporter. A reporter who gathers news for television but does not report on the air.
  • Off the record. An expression that usually means "Don't quote me." Some sources and reporters use it to mean "Don't print this." Phrases with similar, and equally ambiguous, meanings are "not for attribution" and "for background only."
  • Online editor. The editor of a website for a newspaper or television station. online media. See new media.
  • Online videoconferencing. An Internet-enabled, real-time communication where participants can both see and hear each other.
  • Op-ed page. The page opposite the editorial page in a printed newspaper, or the corresponding opinion pages in an online publication, frequently reserved for columns, letters to the editor and personality profiles.
  • Open-ended question. A question that permits the respondent some latitude in the answer -- for example, "How did you get involved in politics?"
  • Open-meetings law. A state or federal law, often called a sunshine law, guaranteeing public access to meetings of public officials.
  • Open-records law. A state or federal law guaranteeing public access to many -- but not all -- kinds of government records.
  • Parallelism. A technique of presenting ideas in similar grammatical forms.
  • Paraphrase. A technique that digests, condenses or clarifies a quotation to convey the meaning more precisely or succinctly than the speaker's words do; an indirect quotation. Quotation marks are not used with paraphrases.
  • Participant observation. A research technique in which the reporter joins in the activity he or she wants to write about.
  • Payola. Money or gifts given in the expectation of favors from journalists.
  • PDF file. A computerized document that preserves formatting.
  • Per capita. A Latin term meaning "by heads." A per capita amount is determined by dividing a total figure -- such as a budget -- by the number of people to which it applies.
  • Percentage. A mathematical way to express the portion of a whole; literally, a given part of every hundred. A percentage is determined by taking the number of the portion, dividing by the number of the whole and moving the decimal point two places to the right. For example, 15 divided by 30 equals .50, or 50 percent.
  • Percentage change. A number that explains by how much something goes up or down.
  • Percentage point. A unit of measure used to express the difference between two percentages. For example, the difference between 25 percent and 40 percent is 15 percentage points.
  • Photo editor. The individual who advises editors on the use of photographs in the newspaper. The photo editor also may supervise the photography department.
  • Piece. See story.
  • Plagiarism. The act of using any part of another person's writing and passing it off as your own.
  • Play. A shortened form of display. A good story may be played at the top of Page 1; a weak one may be played inside.
  • Podcasting. A method of distributing multimedia files, usually audio or video, to mobile devices or personal computers so that consumers can listen or watch on demand. The term is derived from Apple Computer's iPod, but podcasts may be received by almost any music player or computer.
  • Population. In scientific language, the whole group being studied. Depending on the study, the population may be, for example, voters in St. Louis, physicians in California or all residents of the U.S.
  • Press. (1) The machine that prints newspapers. (2) Also a synonym for journalism, as in the phrase "freedom of the press." Sometimes used to denote print journalism, as distinguished from broadcast journalism.
  • Press box. The section of a stadium or arena set aside for reporters.
  • Press conference. See news conference.
  • Press release. See news release.
  • Primary source. A person who witnesses or participates in an event, or an authentic document from an event.
  • Principal. The amount of money borrowed.
  • Principled reasoning. Reasoning that reflects ethical principles.
  • Privacy Protection Act. A law passed in 1980 that requires federal, state and local enforcement officers to get a subpoena -- rather than a search warrant -- to obtain documents from reporters and newsrooms, unless the reporter is involved in a crime or immediate action is needed to prevent bodily harm, loss of life or destruction of the material.
  • Privilege. A defense against libel that claims journalists have the right to repeat what government officials say or do in their official capacities.
  • Production department. The department of a newspaper that transforms the work of the news and advertising departments into the finished product. The composing room and pressroom are key sections of this department.
  • Profile. A story intended to reveal the personality or character of an institution or person.
  • Program budget. A budget that clearly shows what each agency's activities cost.
  • Property tax. An annual tax, figured as a percentage, on the value of houses, buildings and land. Property taxes are usually levied by local or state governments.
  • Proportion. An explanation that relates one specific number to another or to the quantity or magnitude of a whole.
  • Public figure. A person who has assumed a role of prominence in the affairs of society and who has persuasive power and influence in a community or who has thrust himself or herself to the forefront of a public controversy. Courts have given journalists more latitude in reporting on public figures than on private citizens.
  • Public information utility. A commercial online service such as CompuServe.
  • Public journalism. The new (or rediscovered) approach to journalism that emphasizes connections with the community rather than separation from it. Among the newspapers best known for practicing public journalism are The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle and The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer.
  • Publisher. The top-ranking executive of a newspaper. This title often is assumed by the owner, although chains sometimes designate the top local executive as publisher.
  • Pulitzer Prize. The most prestigious of journalism awards. It was established by Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University.
  • Qualified privilege. The right of journalists to report what government officials say or do in their official capacities if the report is full, fair and accurate. Also called conditional privilege.
  • Quote. As a noun, a source's exact words, as in "I have a great quote here." As a verb, to report a source's exact words inside quotation marks.
  • Randomization. The mathematical process used to ensure that every member of a population being studied has an equal chance of being chosen for questioning or observation.
  • Rate. The amount or degree of something measured in relation to a unit of something else or to a specified scale. In statistics, rate often expresses the incidence of a condition per 100,000 people, such as a murder or suicide rate. Rate also can reflect the speed at which something is changing, such as inflation or the percentage increase in a budget each year.
  • Records column. A regular newspaper feature that contains such information as routine police and fire news, births, obituaries, marriages and divorces.
  • Relational database. A database program that permits users to determine relationships between two or more dissimilar databases. For example, a relational database program would enable a reporter to compare one database of people convicted of drunken driving with another database of school-bus drivers. The result would show how many bus drivers had drunken-driving convictions.
  • Relevance. The impact of a story as measured by the number of readers it affects and how seriously it affects them.
  • Reporter. A person whose job is to gather and write the news for a publication or a broadcast outlet.
  • Roundup. A story that includes a number of related events. After a storm, for example, a reporter might do a roundup of accidents, power outages and other consequences of the storm.
  • RSS. Short for really simple syndication, a form of content distribution over the Internet that relies on a common markup language, XML (extensible markup language).
  • Sales tax. A tax, figured as a percentage, on the price of goods. It is usually levied by a local or state government and is paid by the consumer to the retailer at the time of purchase.
  • Sample. A portion of a group, or population, chosen for study as representative of the entire group.
  • Search-engine optimization. The practice of writing stories and headlines to increase the likelihood that search engines such as Google will index them. Behind-thescenes metadata also influence SEO.
  • Secondary source. A source who talked to a witness, such as a public safety official investigating a crime. The witness would be a primary source.
  • Second-cycle story. A second version of a story already published, also called a second-day story. It usually has new information or a new angle.
  • Senior editor. A person who edits a section of a major magazine.
  • Senior writer. A title reserved for a magazine's best and most experienced reporters.
  • Series. Two or more stories on the same or related subjects, published on a predetermined schedule.
  • Service journalism. An aspect or type of journalism that recognizes usefulness as one of the criteria of news. Taking into consideration content and presentation, service journalism presents useful information in a usable way -- for instance, by placing key information in a list or graphic box.
  • Setup. In broadcasting, an introductory statement to pique the interest of listeners or viewers. In written accounts, the material between the opening of a narrative story and the body. It generally consists of the transition to the theme paragraph, the nut paragraph, and, when appropriate, the "so what" and "to be sure" statements and foreshadowing.
  • Shield law. Legislation giving journalists the right to protect the identity of sources.
  • Shovelware. Stories posted on the Web exactly as they appeared in print.
  • Show producer. A television news specialist who produces individual newscasts and who reports to the executive producer.
  • Sidebar. A secondary story intended to be run with a major story on the same topic. A story about a disaster, for example, may have a sidebar that tells what happened to a single victim.
  • Simple interest. Interest paid on the principal (the amount borrowed).
  • Situation ethics. The philosophy that recognizes that a set of rules can be broken if circumstances indicate that the community would be served better by breaking them. For example, a journalist who generally believes that deceiving a news source is unethical may nevertheless be willing to conceal his or her identity to infiltrate a group operating illegally.
  • Slug. A word that identifies a story as it is processed through the newspaper plant or at a broadcast news station. A slug is usually placed in the upper left-hand corner of each take of a newspaper story. See also take.
  • Smartphone. A mobile phone with an operating system that expands its uses from just talking and texting to connecting to the Web and using a variety of applications.
  • Sniff. The preliminary phase of an investigation.
  • Social networking. The practice of connecting with others for business or social purposes. Social networking sites make it easy for individuals to connect with others who have similar interests or goals.
  • Soft lead. A lead that uses a quote, anecdote or other literary device to attract the reader. See also hard lead.
  • Soft news. Stories about trends, personalities or lifestyles. The time element usually is not important. See also hard news.
  • Sound bite. An audio recording that accompanies a story in radio or television news or, more recently, that is available even on newspaper websites as a supplement to the printed product.
  • Sources. People or records from which a reporter gets information. The term often is used to describe people, as opposed to documents.
  • Spot news. A timely report of an event that is unfolding at the moment.
  • Spreadsheet program. A computer program used for analyzing numbers. It is often used to track changes in budgets and expenditures.
  • Story. The term most journalists use for a newspaper article. Another synonym is piece, as in "I saw your piece on the mayor." A long story may be called a takeout or a blockbuster.
  • Strategic communication. A "new" name for public relations that emphasizes the stronger role of professionals in this field in conducting research, solving problems and making decisions. Strategic communication sometimes includes advertising.
  • Stylebook. A book of rules on grammar, punctuation, capitalization and abbreviation in newspaper text. The AP and UPI publish similar stylebooks that are used by most papers.
  • Substantial truth. The correctness of the essential elements of a story.
  • Summary lead. The first paragraph of a news story in which the writer presents a synopsis of two or more events rather than focusing on any one of them.
  • Sunshine law. See open-meetings law.
  • Tablet computer. A self-contained, flat-panel computer, like an iPad, that is portable. Most tablets are about the size of a book.
  • Take. A page of printed copy for newspaper use.
  • Teleprompter. A mechanical or electronic device that projects broadcast copy next to the television camera lens so that a newscaster can read it while appearing to look straight into the lens.
  • 30. A designation used to mark the end of a newspaper story. The symbol # is an alternate designation.
  • Tickler. A file of upcoming events kept on paper or stored electronically at the assignment desks of most news organizations. See also futures file.
  • Tie-back. (1) The sentence or sentences relating a story to events covered in a previous story. Tie-backs are used in follow-up or continuing stories or in parts of a series. (2) The technique of referring to the opening of a story in the story's ending.
  • To be sure paragraph. In stories focusing on one person or perspective, a statement reflecting the opinions of those who disagree with the person featured, as in "To be sure, not everyone agrees."
  • Truth. Actuality or reality. Truth is the best defense against libel.
  • Twitter. A microblogging site that allows users to post short status updates in 140 characters or fewer, and follow the updates of friends, celebrities, news organizations and others.
  • Undercover reporting. A technique in which a reporter pretends to be someone else in order to gain access to otherwise unobtainable information.
  • Universal desk. A copy desk that edits material for all editorial departments of a newspaper.
  • Update. A type of follow that reports on a development related to an earlier story. See also follow.
  • UPI. United Press International, a worldwide news-gathering organization that is privately owned.
  • URL. Short for uniform resource locator, the address of an Internet site.
  • Usefulness. A quality of news that increases the impact of the story. The story has information that readers can use to act on, such as notification of a meeting before it occurs.
  • Variable. In an experiment, one of the elements being observed. The independent variable is what is thought to be a cause; the dependent variable is the effect of that cause.
  • Videographer. A television camera operator.
  • Videoprompter. See teleprompter.
  • Viral marketing. The practice of using social networking media such as Facebook or Myspace to seed links to a more traditional media form, thus increasing traffic to the other medium.
  • Webcast. An audio or video report available on a website.
  • Website. A location on the World Wide Web, the Internet service that connects hypertext data.
  • Wi-Fi. Wireless Internet access.
  • Wiki. A type of website that allows users to add or alter content. Wikipedia, for example, is a user-written and userupdated encyclopedia.
  • Wikinews. A wiki on which users can post or update information in news format.
  • Wrap-up. (1) The completion of commentary that comes at the end of a taped segment in broadcasting. (2) A strong ending to a report.
  • You lead. The first paragraph of a story, written using the informal, second-person pronoun "you."
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