The first paragraph or first several sentences of a newspaper story (sometimes spelled lede)

A lead that reports a new development or newly discovered fact. See also soft lead.

The big news

The most current news feature in an on-going story

The first paragraph of a news story in which the writer presents a synopsis of two or more actions rather than focusing on any one of them.

The opening paragraph of a story that reports two or more newsworthy elements.

The opening paragraph of a story in which the "who" is reported by name.

Opening paragraph of a story in which the "who" is identified by occupation, city, office, or any means other than by name.

A newspaper story beginning that uses humor or an interesting incident about a person.

A lead that concentrates on a description of an environment, or paints a picture for the reader.

Gives the result, or effect on people, of a news event. Usually used in a news story.

A lead that uses a quote, anecdote or other literary device to attract the reader. See also hard lead.

Advances the story by reporting a new event in a continuing story (for example, the second death as a result of a fire yesterday).

A report dealing with the subjects and issues to be dealt with in an upcoming meeting or event.

A story that looks more deeply into a current news event and provides context, various opinions of experts or critics and possibly speculates on the future.

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.

that may be attributed to a source by title, but not by name; for example, "a White House aide said." backgrounder Story that explains and updates the news.

Also known as "not for attribution." Information that can be attributed to "a police department official" or "a player on theteam" who is not named.

that explains and updates the news. Source: News Reporting & Writing (Sixth Edition) by the Missouri Group. Copyright 1999. Reproduced by permission of Bedford/St. Martins.

A reporter's assigned area of responsibility. A beat may be an institution, such as the courthouse; a geographical area, such as a small town; or a subject, such as science

An inclination that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation. In journalism, political bias the most common complaint

A direct question designed to draw a specific response; for example, "Will you be a candidate?"

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

The time by which a reporter, editor or desk must have completed scheduled work

Information that may be used but that cannot be attributed to either a person or a position

An article in a publication expressing the opinion of its editors or publishers. In newspapers, it typically appears on the editorial page and is edited by the editorial page editor

Extended articles or items about events, persons or circumstances that go into more detail than most

A law that makes it easier to obtain information from federal agencies and access to government records

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. Human-interest story A piece valued more for its emotional impact or oddity than for its importance

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 analytical story, the statement a reporter will explore in the story

A visual representation of data

Violation of a person's right to be left alone

The organization of a news story in which information is arranged in descending order of importance

The pursuit of information that has been concealed, such as evidence of wrongdoing

A story that emphasizes the facts, often written in inverted pyramid style

News value How important or interesting a story is. not for attribution Information that may not be ascribed to its source

Also known as "on background." Information that can be attributed to "a police department official" or "a player on the team" who is not named

A paragraph that summarizes the key element or elements of the story, or explains the focus. Usually found in a feature story, or a story that is not written in inverted pyramid form

Usually means, "Don't quote me." Some sources and reporters, however, use it to mean, "Don't print this." Phrases with similar, and equally ambiguous, meanings are "not for attribution" and "for background only"

The page opposite the editorial page, frequently reserved for columns, letters to the editor and personality profiles

One that permits the respondent some latitude in the answer; for example, "How did you get involved in politics?"

A story intended to reveal the personality or character of an institution or person

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

As a noun, the term refers to a source's exact words, as in, "I have a great quote here." As a verb, it means to report those words inside quotation marks

Stories about trends, personalities or lifestyles. The time element usually is not important. See also hard news

People or records from which a reporter gets information. The term often is used to describe persons, as opposed to documents.

A type of follow-up story that reports on a development related to an earlier story. Also called a second-day story

A line in a newspaper naming the writer of an article

The line at the beginning of a story giving the place and date of the articles origination

The space between framed panels

A grid of rows and columns in which you enter text, numbers, and the results of calculations

Additional information about the article that isn't essential such as a Q&A or visual

An imaginary line that type rests on

A layout error that occurs when two or more headlines appear adjacent to each other on the same line (also "butting heads" and "warring heads")

A unit of space that is one inch deep and one column wide

A situation in which a person in a position of responsibility or trust has competing professional or personal interests that make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties impartially.

A smaller headline added below the main headline

Type that is used primarily for headlines and titles and more difficult to read as text type

L-shaped columns of text that wrap around art, ads or other stories

First word of headline, all proper words capitalized. Every other word is lower case

The first letter of each word in the headline is capitalized

A large initial letter that drops below the first line of a paragraph, usually used at the beginning of a section or chapter of a book

A dash (—) that indicates the separation of elements of a sentence or clause.

A frame of white space around the layout marked by the outside edge of at least one block of copy or graphic

A margin that keeps a consistent distance between all elements of a page, usually one or two picas

Honest opinion or criticism, labeled as such

Journalistic writing covering people, places and events in greater depth and with less timeliness than an immediate hard news story

an ornamental border, similar to a picture frame, stamped on the front cover of some books

5 freedoms: speech, press, religion, assembly, petition

Signature- a set of 8 or 16 pages printed on a large sheet of paper, which is folded, cut, and bound (with other signatures) into a book

The alignment of text along the left margin, leaving a ragged right margin

A page number with small artwork

Typeface

A large headline of only one or two words, followed by a longer and smaller head underneath

In 1988 Students enrolled in the Journalism II class at Hazelwood East High School were responsible for writing and editing the school's paper The Spectrum. Two of the articles submitted for publication in the final edition of the paper contained stories on divorce and teenage pregnancy. While names were changes, both stories were written about students in school.

A headline for a regular feature in each issue of a publication

A visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data

Horizontal space between two written characters

Similar to libel, but spoken instead of published

Main title section and name at the front of a publication; the banner across the front page that identifies the newspaper and the date of publication. Also the publication information on the editorial page. This term is used to mean three things and can get confusing. It is used to mean the name on page one, for the box on the editorial page with the names of top editors, and for the box of names, phone numbers and addresses that appears in the first few pages of the newspaper

A form of standardization in which component parts are grouped into modules that are easily replaced or interchanged

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

Amount of total space available after advertisement space has been blocked out, typically in newspapers

First line of a paragraph appearing on the last line of a column of text. Normally avoided

Comparison between elements in a design with respect to size

Public property traditionally reserved for the expression of ideas

Records of a public office or agency setting forth

Selected interesting quote from a story that is set in larger text on the page to add visual interest to the page and draw attention to the quote

Horizontal frame members

Pronounced reefer. It refers readers from one story to a related story on a later page

A line used to separate one story from another on a newspaper page

Be familiar with the Supreme Court's ruling

A shaded area of copy in a newspaper. A text box might have a slight grey screen behind it to make it stand out

Plain font type with or without lines perpendicular to the ends of characters. Times New Roman type is a serif font, or with those lines. Arial is sans serif, or without lines

A column of copy and/or graphics which appears on the page to communicate information about the story or contents of the paper. May be supplemental information that couldn't fit into the main text

Similar to libel, but spoken instead of published

A heading given to a subsection of a piece of writing

A term for promotional boxes, words and/or pictures that are usually above the nameplate of the newspaper. It could encourage the reader to read a particular story or a special section. Also called a skybox

Similar to libel, but spoken instead of published

A headline style with a primary headline on the left covering two lines, next to lines of secondary headline

A particular design of type.

A visual element that draws a reader into the page or story

Used in graphic design to emphasize important elements and organize content in a logical manner

The ability of an art element within a composition to draw attention to itself; used to create a feeling of balance.

This "negative space" is the space between elements in a composition

A paragraph-ending line that falls at the beginning of the following page or column, thus separated from the rest of the text

A part of a letter that extends above the main part (as in b and h )

A part of a letter that extends below the level of the base of a letter such as x (as in g and p ).

The height of a lower-case x, considered characteristic of a given typeface or script

The pica contains 12 point units of measure. There are 12 points in a pica

A unit of type size and line length equal to 12 points (about 1/6 inch or 4.2 mm)

Vertical space between two lines of typed text

Adjust the spacing between (letters or characters) in a piece of text to be printed