Jargon of the day: jump
Jump is the part of a story that continues on another page. Lets say that a story about a murder is on the front page of the paper. Obviously, there are other stories that made front page, so they cant have the full story on the front page because it would take up too much space. What they do is, put part of the story on the front page and then continue it on another page.
At the bottom of the story on the front page, there will be a little bold line telling you what page the story continues on. This is called the jump line. It gives readers directions as to where the rest of the story is. The jump is also commonly known as a break.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Where's your beat?
Jargon of the day: beat
A beat is a reporters topic area. It might be a section of a town, courts, religion, or some part of the education system. Anytime a story comes up in a reporters beat it is their job to cover that story.
Reporters should get to know people in their beats for contacts. If their beat is an education district, the reporter should get to know the superintendents, teachers, principals or anyone else that might be valuable when covering a story.
Making a list of contacts is important because you can refer to this list when you need people to interview for a story.
A beat is a reporters topic area. It might be a section of a town, courts, religion, or some part of the education system. Anytime a story comes up in a reporters beat it is their job to cover that story.
Reporters should get to know people in their beats for contacts. If their beat is an education district, the reporter should get to know the superintendents, teachers, principals or anyone else that might be valuable when covering a story.
Making a list of contacts is important because you can refer to this list when you need people to interview for a story.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Paraphrase. In your own words.
Jargon of the day: Paraphrase
To paraphrase something, is to break it down from its original form, into your own words. Journalists use paraphrasing to break down long quotes they might use for a story. When using quotes, you have two choices -paraphrase and direct quote. Usually, paraphrasing makes more sense if:
To paraphrase something, is to break it down from its original form, into your own words. Journalists use paraphrasing to break down long quotes they might use for a story. When using quotes, you have two choices -paraphrase and direct quote. Usually, paraphrasing makes more sense if:
- the quotation is long and wordy
- the words in the quotation are not powerful enough
- the source of the quotation is unknown
- you are capable of making a good paraphrase without making it seem like plagiarism
Monday, April 13, 2009
The two-legged story.
Jargon of the day: leg
No, no. I'm not talking about those two long things that you walk with. I'm talking about a different type of leg. In the wonderful world of newspapers the word leg refers to a column in a story. If the story has one column, it has one leg. If the story has two columns, it has two legs.
Here is a picture of a newspaper article I found on google:
This article has two legs, because there are two columns in the story. A headline that only takes up two columns would be considered a two-legged story.
No, no. I'm not talking about those two long things that you walk with. I'm talking about a different type of leg. In the wonderful world of newspapers the word leg refers to a column in a story. If the story has one column, it has one leg. If the story has two columns, it has two legs.
Here is a picture of a newspaper article I found on google:
This article has two legs, because there are two columns in the story. A headline that only takes up two columns would be considered a two-legged story.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
First reference. The full name.
Jargon of the day: First reference
When someone is first mentioned in a news story, their first and last name should be typed out. From then on, their last name can be used as a reference to that person. When the first and last name of a person is used as the initial reference to that person, this is called first reference.
The purpose of only using the persons last name through out the rest of the story, is to keep the article brief and straight to the point. Lets say the person in question was Joe Smith. It would be repetitive and sort of annoying to write out Joe Smith every time the story referred to that person. Instead, just Smith would be used after the first reference.
Here is an example of a first reference in a recent story from the Pocono Record. The story is about the ending of the TV show ER.
When Dr. Peter Favini started working in the emergency room 23 years ago, he constantly heard the same question.
"Everyone used to ask, 'So when are you leaving (the ER)?'" said Favini, the chief of emergency medicine at Pocono Medical Center in East Stroudsburg. "I kept telling people, 'This is what I do, emergency medicine is what I'm trained in.' People didn't understand that."
Notice how the doctors full name is used the first time his name is mentioned, and the second time, only his last name is used.
When someone is first mentioned in a news story, their first and last name should be typed out. From then on, their last name can be used as a reference to that person. When the first and last name of a person is used as the initial reference to that person, this is called first reference.
The purpose of only using the persons last name through out the rest of the story, is to keep the article brief and straight to the point. Lets say the person in question was Joe Smith. It would be repetitive and sort of annoying to write out Joe Smith every time the story referred to that person. Instead, just Smith would be used after the first reference.
Here is an example of a first reference in a recent story from the Pocono Record. The story is about the ending of the TV show ER.
When Dr. Peter Favini started working in the emergency room 23 years ago, he constantly heard the same question.
"Everyone used to ask, 'So when are you leaving (the ER)?'" said Favini, the chief of emergency medicine at Pocono Medical Center in East Stroudsburg. "I kept telling people, 'This is what I do, emergency medicine is what I'm trained in.' People didn't understand that."
Notice how the doctors full name is used the first time his name is mentioned, and the second time, only his last name is used.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Copy boy. The dirty work.
Jargon of the day: Copy boy
Copy boy, is an older term for a man or woman that keeps the newsroom running smoothly by answering phones, tending to office machines, organizing paper work, or running around town to get photos or other material for stories.
Since is sort of, undermining , to call a 45 year old man a "copy boy" the term has transformed into copy aide, or office assistant. These people do lots of jobs. They keep the newsroom from backing up and being unorganized. There might be 3-4 "copy boys" in a newsroom at once. Usually, they are out running errands for the paper, like collecting photos, gathering information or picking up material for stories.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Spread. The package deal
Jargon of the day: Spread
A spread is a big story with accompanying pictures and sidebars (mentioned in previous blog entry) that goes across the crease of two facing pages to combine them. Spreads are commonly found in magazines, but they can also be found in newspapers too.
A common spread that might appear in papers every year would be the day after the super bowl. In the sports section you might find a spread depicting the winning team with a story that covered the game and the big win for whatever team. There would be many pictures that goes along with this story and some sidebars, maybe about the teams stats or bio's on the star players.
A spread is a big story with accompanying pictures and sidebars (mentioned in previous blog entry) that goes across the crease of two facing pages to combine them. Spreads are commonly found in magazines, but they can also be found in newspapers too.
A common spread that might appear in papers every year would be the day after the super bowl. In the sports section you might find a spread depicting the winning team with a story that covered the game and the big win for whatever team. There would be many pictures that goes along with this story and some sidebars, maybe about the teams stats or bio's on the star players.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Nut Graf. The imporant stuff
Jargon of the day: nut graf
The nut graf in a news story is the paragraph that tells readers what the story is about and why they should care. Some papers have rules as to how close this paragraph should be to the beginning of the story.
Nut graf is short for "nutshell paragraph." Meaning, in a nutshell, this paragraph will tell you what the rest of the story will be about. Some newspapers prefer that they nut graf come in the second or third paragraph into the story. Other papers prefer that the nut graf be the first paragraph in the story.
Lately, I have been following a story in the Pocono Record about a shooting in Saw Creek. The most recent story talks about the convection of two suspects in the case. The nut graf in this story comes in the third paragraph and said the following:
"After six days of seeing evidence and hearing testimony from 40 witnesses, the jury deliberated for less than four hours Wednesday before finding Harinarain, 19, and Culver, 20, guilty of second-degree murder, robbery, burglary, criminal conspiracy and carrying guns without licenses. They convicted Culver also of prohibited possession of a gun, since Culver has a juvenile criminal record."
This paragraph could be considered the nut graf because it pretty much sums up the rest of the story and informs the reader what is going on.
The nut graf in a news story is the paragraph that tells readers what the story is about and why they should care. Some papers have rules as to how close this paragraph should be to the beginning of the story.
Nut graf is short for "nutshell paragraph." Meaning, in a nutshell, this paragraph will tell you what the rest of the story will be about. Some newspapers prefer that they nut graf come in the second or third paragraph into the story. Other papers prefer that the nut graf be the first paragraph in the story.
Lately, I have been following a story in the Pocono Record about a shooting in Saw Creek. The most recent story talks about the convection of two suspects in the case. The nut graf in this story comes in the third paragraph and said the following:
"After six days of seeing evidence and hearing testimony from 40 witnesses, the jury deliberated for less than four hours Wednesday before finding Harinarain, 19, and Culver, 20, guilty of second-degree murder, robbery, burglary, criminal conspiracy and carrying guns without licenses. They convicted Culver also of prohibited possession of a gun, since Culver has a juvenile criminal record."
This paragraph could be considered the nut graf because it pretty much sums up the rest of the story and informs the reader what is going on.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sidebar. A little extra.
Jargon of the day: sidebar
The sidebar is a story that accompanies the main story. This story might detail a specific angle or aspect of the main story.
Say your local paper is running a story about a local fire fighter who saved a bunch of people from a burning building. A sidebar for that story might be a brief history about the fire fighters life. This would talk about how he became a fire fighter and maybe mention some other heroic things that he had done. The main story is about the fire fighters heroic act of saving people from the fire, but the side bar is just a little bit of history and information about him. Get it?
Okay, so now that you know what a side bar is, lets talk about a story that actually used a sidebar that worked well. This winter, I read a story in the Pocono Record about ice that had slid off of someones roof into the windshield of the car behind them. The person driving the car was not hurt, but the car had serious damage and the person driving could have been killed.
The sidebar that went along with this story was about how to be safe while driving in the winter, and gave a detailed description on how to safely clean your car off to prevent ice sling off your roof onto other cars. This worked well because it was directly related to main story about the driver almost getting killed, and it gave helpful tips on how to stay save in the winter.
The sidebar is a story that accompanies the main story. This story might detail a specific angle or aspect of the main story.
Say your local paper is running a story about a local fire fighter who saved a bunch of people from a burning building. A sidebar for that story might be a brief history about the fire fighters life. This would talk about how he became a fire fighter and maybe mention some other heroic things that he had done. The main story is about the fire fighters heroic act of saving people from the fire, but the side bar is just a little bit of history and information about him. Get it?
Okay, so now that you know what a side bar is, lets talk about a story that actually used a sidebar that worked well. This winter, I read a story in the Pocono Record about ice that had slid off of someones roof into the windshield of the car behind them. The person driving the car was not hurt, but the car had serious damage and the person driving could have been killed.
The sidebar that went along with this story was about how to be safe while driving in the winter, and gave a detailed description on how to safely clean your car off to prevent ice sling off your roof onto other cars. This worked well because it was directly related to main story about the driver almost getting killed, and it gave helpful tips on how to stay save in the winter.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Inverted pyramid. The important stuff first
Jargon of the day: Inverted pyramid
The inverted pyramid is a form of news story where the important facts of the story are listed first and then the smaller details follow. This method is used so that people get the heart of the story right off the bat. After someone has read all the important information in the story, they will most likely keep on reading all the smaller, less important bits of information.
The most important thing to remember when writing a news article is that you want to keep your readers attention. By using the inverted pyramid, your readers are engaged from the beginning.
Check out this story on the Pocono Record that uses the inverted pyramid style of writing to talk about a protest on the campus of ESU.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090226/NEWS/90226013/-1/NEWS
The inverted pyramid is a form of news story where the important facts of the story are listed first and then the smaller details follow. This method is used so that people get the heart of the story right off the bat. After someone has read all the important information in the story, they will most likely keep on reading all the smaller, less important bits of information.
The most important thing to remember when writing a news article is that you want to keep your readers attention. By using the inverted pyramid, your readers are engaged from the beginning.
Check out this story on the Pocono Record that uses the inverted pyramid style of writing to talk about a protest on the campus of ESU.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090226/NEWS/90226013/-1/NEWS
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Check out the "mug" on this one
Jargon of the Day: Mug
If someone in a newsroom says "get me a mug" they don't mean a cup of coffee. A mug is a mugshot or a small photo of someone. These small photos help illustrate the story.
Typically, these "mugs" accompany stories where someone was arrested, or someone was charged with a crime. Their picture will usually run along with the story to show who the person in question is.
Everyone knows Lindsay Lohan right? Last July, Lohan was arrested for drunk driving and cocaine possession. The actress, 21, was driving at high speeds down a highway in Santa Monica. When she was pulled over she failed a field sobriety test and was found with cocaine in her pants.
This mug shot surfaced and accompanied almost every article that covered this story.
Photos like these help capture the essence of the story. The picture allows the reader to see that Lohan was less then "together" at the time of her arrest.
If someone in a newsroom says "get me a mug" they don't mean a cup of coffee. A mug is a mugshot or a small photo of someone. These small photos help illustrate the story.
Typically, these "mugs" accompany stories where someone was arrested, or someone was charged with a crime. Their picture will usually run along with the story to show who the person in question is.
Everyone knows Lindsay Lohan right? Last July, Lohan was arrested for drunk driving and cocaine possession. The actress, 21, was driving at high speeds down a highway in Santa Monica. When she was pulled over she failed a field sobriety test and was found with cocaine in her pants.
This mug shot surfaced and accompanied almost every article that covered this story.Photos like these help capture the essence of the story. The picture allows the reader to see that Lohan was less then "together" at the time of her arrest.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
As "a-matter" of fact ...
Jargon of the day: A-matter
When the background of a story is outlined without having specific or important details about the story, that's called a-matter. It is also sometimes called a b-copy. It is useful to have the basics of a story outlined before your write it because 1) you have something to work with before you start writing and 2) it saves time when your working on a deadline.
The a-matter is basically the who, what, when, where and why of the story. After you have this information, the rest of the details will come later to make a complete story.
In the case of the 14-year old chimp who Mauled a woman in Connecticut, the a-matter of the story would be:
- where this took place: Connecticut, at the home of the chimps owners
- Who was involved: the victim Charla Nash and the owner of the chimp
- When it happend: Monday, Feb. 16th
- Why: reasons unknown
Basically, this chimp who was trained to do very human-like things attacked a friend of its owner out of no where and bruatally mauled her. This is why I dont have pets.
When the background of a story is outlined without having specific or important details about the story, that's called a-matter. It is also sometimes called a b-copy. It is useful to have the basics of a story outlined before your write it because 1) you have something to work with before you start writing and 2) it saves time when your working on a deadline.
The a-matter is basically the who, what, when, where and why of the story. After you have this information, the rest of the details will come later to make a complete story.
In the case of the 14-year old chimp who Mauled a woman in Connecticut, the a-matter of the story would be:
- where this took place: Connecticut, at the home of the chimps owners
- Who was involved: the victim Charla Nash and the owner of the chimp
- When it happend: Monday, Feb. 16th
- Why: reasons unknown
Basically, this chimp who was trained to do very human-like things attacked a friend of its owner out of no where and bruatally mauled her. This is why I dont have pets.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Teaser. Want to know more?
Jargon of the day: teaser
Have you ever read the news paper and noticed a brief line or two that mentions something about a story inside the paper? That is called a teaser.
These little two liners are usually found in the corner of the paper somewhere, and they would say something like "sex scandal questions need answers see A2"
If you were to find this interesting, you might open up the paper and flip to A2 and see what this article is all about. Those two little lines can be more intriguing then the photos on the front page. This my friends, is how they lure you into reading the rest of the paper. Because once you find that article interesting, you might read on some more.
Have you ever read the news paper and noticed a brief line or two that mentions something about a story inside the paper? That is called a teaser.
These little two liners are usually found in the corner of the paper somewhere, and they would say something like "sex scandal questions need answers see A2"
If you were to find this interesting, you might open up the paper and flip to A2 and see what this article is all about. Those two little lines can be more intriguing then the photos on the front page. This my friends, is how they lure you into reading the rest of the paper. Because once you find that article interesting, you might read on some more.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Dateline. Where did that happen again?
Jargon of the Day: Dateline
Dateline, is the location a story happened, usually found in the beginning of an article in all caps. It gives the readers a sense of location when they are reading the story.
A recent story from the Pocono Record started off this way ...
"RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) -- A Long Island woman who ran over and killed her husband with a sport-utility vehicle while she was drunk has been sentenced to prison."
Riverhead NY would be the dateline in this case. Now the reader can continue to read the article, knowing that this crazy woman was from Riverhead. Apparently the woman was drunk and arguing with her husband. When he tried to stop her from leaving the parking lot, she ran him over crushing his chest. Talk about tough love.
Dateline, is the location a story happened, usually found in the beginning of an article in all caps. It gives the readers a sense of location when they are reading the story.
A recent story from the Pocono Record started off this way ..."RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) -- A Long Island woman who ran over and killed her husband with a sport-utility vehicle while she was drunk has been sentenced to prison."
Riverhead NY would be the dateline in this case. Now the reader can continue to read the article, knowing that this crazy woman was from Riverhead. Apparently the woman was drunk and arguing with her husband. When he tried to stop her from leaving the parking lot, she ran him over crushing his chest. Talk about tough love.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Inside. Phelps reaches new high?
Jargon of the day: inside.
Meaning, maybe we shouldn't run this story about Michael Phelps smoking from a marijuana pipe at a house party on the front page. Let's run the story inside.
Yes, its true. Mighty Mike was photographed inhaling from a marijuana pipe at a house party while visiting the University of South Carolina. His proud sponsors, Speedo and Swiss watch maker Omega, are letting this "little" incident slide since he openly and sincerely apologized for his actions.
If I were the editor of a news paper, I would not run this story on the front page of the paper. I would throw it on the inside of the sports section. I mean, so what- the Olympic hero smoked a little grass, I'm not going to exploit the poor guy.
When it comes to newspapers, editors have to be very selective on what they choose to put on the front page and what they choose to run inside. The day after the superbowl, a photo of the winning team is always on the front page of the papers, because that's what people care about, thats the big news of the day. I don't think people care as much for Mr. Phelps and his frat party slip up. Well leave that up to the Enquirer to tackle.
Meaning, maybe we shouldn't run this story about Michael Phelps smoking from a marijuana pipe at a house party on the front page. Let's run the story inside.
Yes, its true. Mighty Mike was photographed inhaling from a marijuana pipe at a house party while visiting the University of South Carolina. His proud sponsors, Speedo and Swiss watch maker Omega, are letting this "little" incident slide since he openly and sincerely apologized for his actions.If I were the editor of a news paper, I would not run this story on the front page of the paper. I would throw it on the inside of the sports section. I mean, so what- the Olympic hero smoked a little grass, I'm not going to exploit the poor guy.
When it comes to newspapers, editors have to be very selective on what they choose to put on the front page and what they choose to run inside. The day after the superbowl, a photo of the winning team is always on the front page of the papers, because that's what people care about, thats the big news of the day. I don't think people care as much for Mr. Phelps and his frat party slip up. Well leave that up to the Enquirer to tackle.
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