This Is A Basic Term In Journalism

JOURNALIST spend a lot of time trying to keep the jargon of police, doctors and lawyers out of the paper, yet they use a lot of it themselves.

These are a few terms that, if you're new to a newsroom, may be confusing. The list is not complete, there are many local variations and other terms but this will give you a good start.

beat
A reporter's topic area. Courts, religion, education and Macomb County are all beats. Think of reporters covering their areas as a cop might walk a beat.

box
A sidebar or extra information.

breakout (highlighted text box)
The synopsis of the story. Key highlights of the story that stand out.

brief
A small or tiny story.

brite or bright
A funny, short story.

broadsheet
The size of most dailies, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today and the Free Press. Folded in half, it's a tabloid, or tab.

bullet
Arrows, dots or squares that point out key topics of the story.

byline
The name of the writer, appearing at the top of an article. Artists and photographers typically get credits. When the reporter's name appears at the end, it often is preceded by a dash and  is called a signer.

column inch
One inch tall and one column wide. It is used to measure ads and articles.

copy desk
The desk where articles are edited, headlines and captions are written, newspaper style is enforced and deadlines are either made or missed.

cutline
A caption. The term comes from the day when engravings or "cuts" were used to make the impression on the page.

dateline
The city or place designation at the beginning of a story. Some newspapers strictly enforce a  rule that the dateline must say where the reporter was when the story was gathered. A foreign  story gathered by phone at home, then, might run with no dateline.

deadline
Every paper has dozens in a day for the hundreds of parts that go into it. You might ask what the deadline is for the piece you're working on, the deadline for the last type to be set or the time when the presses should start.

double truck
An ad or editorial project that covers two facing pages. If it prints across the gutter between the two pages, and if the pages are on the same sheet, rather than two adjacent sheets, it might be called a "true" double truck. This name comes from the days when the heavy forms for newspaper pages, largely filled with lead type, were rolled around the composing room floor on heavy carts called trucks. Two pages for one project meant a double truck.

first reference
The first time someone is mentioned in an article, and generally should have their full name.

flag
The newspaper's name on page one. Also called the nameplate.

FOIA
Used as a noun or a verb (when it is done to balky government officials), it is the Freedom of  Information Act.

folio
The page number, newspaper name and date appearing in the corner of a page.

graph
A paragraph.

gutter
The space between two columns.

inside
Not on the front page, as in, "we'll run this story inside."

jump
The part of a story that continues on another page. Also called a break. The readers get directions from jump lines.

lead
The start of a story, usually 60 words or less for hard news. A features lead may be an anecdote followed by a nut graph. Pronounced lede, and sometimes spelled that way, too.

leg
A column of type. A two-column headline will likely have two legs of type under it.

masthead
The box on the editorial page with the names of top editors which may include phone numbers  and contact information. Usually appears on the editorial page or one of the first inside pages.

mug
A mug shot or a small photo of someone. If someone says, "get me a mug," don't come back  with coffee.

nut graf
After a delayed lead it’s the paragraph in a story that tells readers what the story is about and  why they should care. Some papers have rules about how close this should be to the top of the  story. Also spelled nut graph.

oped
Opposite of the editorial page. May contain columns and guest viewpoints.

paraphrase
To summarize or rewrite in your own words a quote. Paraphrasing should not have quote marks.

pool
A certain number of reporters or one reporter who goes out and represents everyone else. For example, a high-interest court case, a presidential appearance or a concert may not have room for all the journalists who want to cover it, so the organizers may restrict coverage to a press pool. Pool coverage is usually shared with other media outlets.

proof
Any printed copy before it goes to press. Usually made on a printer or photocopy machine.

refer
Pronounced reefer, but spelled this way, it refers readers to inside or related stories. At some  papers, these have been called whips.

rim
The copy editors, collectively. Dates back to the days when the copy desk was a horseshoe shaped piece of furniture with rim editors around the outside and slot editors on the inside,   doling out and checking work.

scoop
As a noun, a story no one else has; as a verb, to do it to the competition.

sidebar
A story that accompanies the main story, detailing a particular angle or aspect, such as the hero's early childhood.

slot
One of the people on the copy desk who checks over the copy editors' work before committing  it to type. Also used as a verb: "Hey, Terry, slot me on this, will you?"

slug
An internal name for a story, usually just one word. Elex might be the slug for a story on school  elections.

spike
To kill something. At one time, when editors were finished with a piece of paper, such as a story, headline or page proof, they would slam it down on an upright nail on their desk. Then, they would know they were done with it, but could go back to it later if they needed to. Today, many newsroom computers have a "spike" key for killing a story or file.

skybox
A term for promotional boxes that are usually above the nameplate of the newspaper. Also known as a teaser.

stringer
A writer or photographer who is not a full-time employee, but who is paid by the job. The term comes from the days when a writer would get paid by the column inch and would measure his or her contribution by holding a string along the story to measure its length, knot it, measure the next column or story, and so on, reporting the final length for pay.