Unit 7. Newspaper Terminology

Vocabulary

Exercise 1. Make sure that you remember the following words and expressions.

Advice column (agony column) – колонка советов

I prefer to stick to investigative reporting and out of the advice column.

Announcement – объявление

The announcement made a dramatic shift in the government’s approach to freedom of media.

Article – статья

There was an article on legal issues and other topics relevant for the local community.

Artwork – художественные работы; рисунки

They have extravagant artwork on their front page.

Banner headline – центральный заголовок, «шапка»

There were no banner headlines or enthusiastic comments.

By-line – строка с фамилией автора

Was the newspaper report bylined or was it anonymous?

Cartoon – карикатура, комикс

She enjoys reading cartoons in the Sunday paper.

Centerpiece (lead story) – передовая статья, центральный материал выпуска

Up next we have our lead story.

Classified ad – маленькое объявление о купле-продаже, сдаче в наем

First thing he browsed the classified ads for used automobiles for sale in the morning papers.

Color supplement – воскресное цветное приложение к газете в виде журнала

She was sitting in a plastic chair in the clinic waiting room looking through the Sunday color supplement.

Column – колонка

The error appears at the bottom of the second column.

Comic strip – комикс

Usually comic strips are beloved by both children and adults.

Contribution – содействие; статья для газеты, журнала

University newspaper features the contributions of my fellow-students.

Copy – материал для печатания

The printers demand copy at once.

Cover story – заглавная история

Only a few journalists are given the task to write a cover story.

Explainer – статья, объясняющая или поясняющая тему

Our foreign correspondent wrote an explainer about Greek economy.

Exposé – разоблачительная статья

Their combination of shocking exposés, high-profile media work and concerted campaigning throughout Europe had far-reaching effects.

Gossip column – колонка сплетен

If I were you, I would ask my editor someone else look for the gossip column.

Masthead (flag) – выходные данные, сведения о газете

About 35 daily papers use the word Telegram in their masthead.

Obituary – некролог

Obituaries portrayed him as an outstanding but largely forgotten author.

Page Three girl – обнаженная модель; в Великобритании подобные фото публикуются обычно на третьей странице

His biggest ambition was to date page three girl.

Problem page – страница вопросов-ответов

I’m going to write a reply to a letter from the problem page in a newspaper for teenagers.

Profile – короткая статья или репортаж о ком-то

Every week they profile one of their authors.

Quote – цитата, цитировать

Thus ends the quote from the article in The New York Times.

Refer – ссылаться, отсылать, адресовать

Refer to a dictionary if you don’t know the meaning of a word.

Review – обзор, рецензия

The critic gave the film a detailed review.

Shocker – репортаж о шокирующем событии или написанный в сенсационной манере

Their front page story will be a plastic surgery shocker.

Spread – длинная статья

The editor was not willing to allow so much space to his spread on economic crisis.

Exercise 2. Match the words in Column A with their definitions in Column B. Make up your own sentences with these words.

 

A	B
Obituary	Writing that is ready to be published in a newspaper or magazine
Artwork	A magazine printed in color that is given away with a newspaper
Shocker	A short advertisement that you put in a newspaper, for example so that you can sell something
Banner headline	A short statement in a newspaper, often about a birth, death, or marriage
Comic strip	A long article in a newspaper or magazine
Classified ad	A short article or program about someone
A cover story	The name of a newspaper or magazine that is printed at the top of the front page
Profile	Main story in a magazine relating to the picture on the front cover
Masthead	An article in which someone gives their opinion of a play, book, art exhibition
Copy	A report in a newspaper that announces someone’s death
By-line	A very large headline on the front page of a newspaper
Color supplement	A humorous drawing in a magazine or newspaper, often with words written below
Review	Pictures, photographs, or drawings that are used in a book, magazine
Cartoon	A series of drawings that tell a story, especially a funny story
Announcement	A newspaper report about a shocking event, or a report that describes something in a deliberately shocking way
Spread	A line at the top of an article in a magazine or newspaper giving the writer’s name

 

Exercise 3. Match the words in Column A with the words in Column B to make up word combinations. Use them in your own sentences.

 

A	B
Shocker	headline
Cover	page
Color	copy
Page three	a contribution
To edit	a column
Gossip	story
Problem	exposé
Classified	a review
Humorous	purpose
Comic	article
To provide	ad
Nationwide	cartoon
To run	strip
To give	supplement
Eye-opening	column
Banner	girl

 

Reading 1

Parts of Newspaper

Parts or sections of the newspaper include:

· The News Section

· The Opinion Section

· The Entertainment Section

· The Sport Section

· The Classified Section

The following pages will explain what type of information is placed in each part of the newspaper.

The News Section

The News section is always first in a newspaper. News is the reason for the existence of the newspaper so it makes sense that this would be featured most prominently.

The front page is usually devoted to stories from the local community, state, national and international news events. The rest of the section will offer both national and international news.

Next there is a local news section devoted to newsworthy stories from around the region or city the newspaper covers.

A news story always has a lead, which is the first couple of sentences of the article. The lead will always include the most important details of the story: who, what, where, when, why, and how. One can find out what has happened by only reading the lead of an article.

News stories are also supposed to remain objective. The standard of objectivity refers to the prevailing ideology of news-gathering and reporting that emphasizes eyewitness accounts of events, corroboration of facts with multiple sources and balance of viewpoints.

Photojournalism

Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such as documentary photography, street photography or celebrity photography) by the qualities of:

Timeliness — the images have meaning in the context of a recently published record of events.

Objectivity — the situation implied by the images is a fair and accurate representation of the events they depict in both content and tone.

Narrative — the images combine with other news elements to make facts relatable to the viewer or reader on a cultural level.

Like a writer, a photojournalist is a reporter but he or she must often make decisions instantly and carry photographic equipment, often while exposed to significant obstacles (physical danger, weather, crowds).

Opinion Section

Following the local news is the opinion section. Here, the objective, non-biased style of reporting is exchanged for opinion-based editorials.

An editorial is a type of journalism article that is meant to persuade the reader to think a certain way about an issue. Editorials can be written about local, national, or international issues. The opinion section will usually include editorials written by prominent national writers. Also included in this section is letter to the editors, where readers are able to get their opinions and viewpoints about issues published in the paper. Editorial cartoons are always a significant part of this section as well.

Editorial Cartoons

An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration or comic strip containing a political or social message that usually relates to current events or personalities. Recently, many radical or minority issue editorial cartoonists, who would previously have been obscure, have found large audiences on the internet. Cartoons can be very diverse, but there is a certain established style among most of them. Most use visual metaphors and caricatures to explain complicated political situations, and thus sum up a current event with a humorous or emotional picture.

 

Sports Section

The Sports Section of a newspaper features information on local sports events, including high school sports teams. Also, college level sports are covered in this section, both on a regional and national level. National sports leagues like the NBA, NHL, and the NFL are featured on a regular basis. Different days of the week will usually emphasize different sports events. You are more likely to see national teams featured after a weekend when there are more sporting events.

Sports journalism is a form of journalism that reports on sports topics and events. While the sports department within some newspapers has been mockingly called the toy department, because sports journalists do not concern themselves with the 'serious' topics covered by the news desk, sports coverage has grown in importance as sport has grown in wealth, power and influence.

Sports journalism is an essential element of any news media organization. Sports journalism includes organizations devoted entirely to sports reporting — newspapers such as L'Equipe in France, La Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy, Marca in Spain, and American magazines such as Sports Illustrated and the Sporting News, all-sports talk radio stations, and television networks such as Eurosport, ESPN and The Sports Network (TSN).

Sports teams are not always very accommodating to journalists: in the United States, while they allow reporters into locker rooms for interviews and some extra information, sports teams provide extensive information support, even if reporting it is unfavorable to them.

As with reporters on other news beats, sports journalism involves investigating the story, rather than simply relying on press releases and prepared statements from the sports team, coaching staff, or players. Sports journalists verify facts given to them by the athletes, teams, leagues, or organizations they are covering.

Entertainment Section

The Entertainment Section of a newspaper has feature articles that can focus on different aspects of culture.

Human Interest stories are most likely to appear in this section. A human interest story is a feature story that discusses a person or persons in an interactive and/or emotional way. It presents people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about interest or sympathy in the reader or viewer.

Diverse topics as food, fashion, the arts, trends, music, film, gaming, and a variety of other interests are likely to appear in the entertainment section. Comics, advice columns and horoscopes will usually be included in this section.

Classifieds

Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, e.g. free ads papers. Classified advertising differs from standard advertising or business models in that it allows private individuals (not simply companies or corporate entities) to solicit sales for products and services.

Classified advertising is usually text-only and can consist of as little as the type of item being sold and a telephone number to call for more information. It can also have much more detail, such as name to contact, address to contact or visit, a detailed description of the product or products ("pants and sweaters, size 10" as opposed to "clothing", "red 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix" as opposed to "automobile"). There are generally no pictures or other graphics within the advertisement, although sometimes a logo may be used.

In 2003, the market for classified ads in the United States was $15.9 billion (newspapers), $14.1 billion (online) according to market researcher Classified Intelligence. Newspapers have continued their downward trend in classifieds revenue as internet classifieds grow. Research from The Washington Post.com tells us that classified advertising at some of the larger newspaper chains has dropped 14% to 20% in 2007 while traffic to classified sites has grown 23%.

 

Exercise 1. Answer the questions:

1. What kind of news is the front page usually devoted to?

2. How many sentences are there in the lead?

3. What does the term “standard of objectivity” refer to?

4. How does photojournalism differ from the neighboring branches?

5. What is most specific in the photojournalist’s work?

6. Can opinion section contain biased stories or views?

7. What is the main role of cartoons?

8. What are the topics that can be covered in entertainment section?

9. What does a typical classified ad look like?

10. Why are classifieds essential for printed media?

11. Is the classified ads market growing or declining? What is the reason?

Exercise 2. Mark the statements as T (True) or F (False).

1. Local news are always the centerpiece of the front page, while international and national news can be featured in the rest of the section.

2. News stories are likely to be unbiased and based on eye-witness reports.

3. The term “photojournalism” does not refer to video broadcasting.

4. Editorials are written in order to make a reader accept the journalist’s viewpoint about an issue.

5. Cartoons are much more popular in the Internet than in the newspapers.

6. All sports teams are very enthusiastic about being interviewed or reported in media.

7. Sports journalism has nothing to do with investigative reporting.

8. Human interest stories are often featured in entertainment section.

9. Newspapers’ revenue from classified advertising went down in the last few years.

Exercise 3. Choose the expression that best completes the sentence:

Diverse topics, internet classifieds, instant decisions, celebrity photography, newsworthy stories, accurate representation

 

1. Are there any _____________ in the wire? We should select some of them for today’s copy.

2. A reporter’s professional skills include combination of _____________ of events with posing controversial and thought-provoking questions.

3. During University students’ meeting with the prominent writer a whole range of _____________ was discussed.

4. Many websites generate considerable revenue from _____________, but most users find them viral and are not very happy about them.

5. My friend started his career in media as a cameraman, but later switched to _____________.

6. In business, top executives often have to make _____________, as the situation on the market can change any minute.

Reading 2

Parts of a Story

Not all publications use the same jargon, but there’s agreement on most terms. Here are some common elements found in a typical story.

Byline

The reporter’s name, often followed by credentials. Many papers require that stories be a certain length — or written by a staffer — to warrant a byline.

Dateline

Gives the location of a story that occurred outside the paper’s usual coverage area.

Lead

(also spelled lede). The opening of a story. Here, this news lead condenses the key facts of the event into the first paragraph.

Quote

Someone’s exact words, usually spoken to the reporter during an interview.

Attribution

A phrase that tells readers the source of a quote OR the source of information used in the story.

Headline

The big type, written by copy editors, that summarizes the story.

Photo

Photos are either shot by staff photographers or purchased from national wire services. Most newspaper photos run in black-and-white, since color printing is more expensive; online, most photos are in color.

Photo credit

A line stating the photographer’s name (often adding the paper he or she works for.)

Liftout quote

(also called a pullquote). A quotation from the story that’s given special graphic emphasis.

Parts of a Page

Tagline

Contact information for the reporter, enabling readers to provide feedback.

Flag

This is the one front-page element that never changes: the name of the paper, set in special type.

Edition

Daily papers often print one edition for street sales, another for home delivery to subscribers.

Infographic

These informational graphics display key facts from the story in a visual way. At big papers, they’re created by artists; at smaller papers, they’re produced by editors or reporters.

Deck

A subheadline, written by copy editors, that supplements information in the main headline.

Text

The actual story. When text is set into columns of type, it’s measured in inches. This story runs for about seven inches before it jumps.

Jumpline

When a long story is continued on another page, editors run this line to tell readers where the story continues, or jumps.

Cutline

(also called a caption). Information about the photo is often collected by photographers but written by copy editors or reporters.

Teaser

(also called a promo or skybox). This is designed to grab readers’ attention so they’ll buy the paper and read this story in the sports section.

Refer

This alerts readers that there’s another story on the same topic in another part of the newspaper.

Wire story

A story written by a reporter working for another publication or a national news service, then sent (by telegraph, in the old days) nationwide.

Mug shot

A close-up photo of someone’s face. These usually run small — just an inch or two wide.

Centerpiece

(also called a lead story). Editors decided that this was the top story of the day — either because of newsworthiness or reader appeal — so it gets the best play and the biggest headline on Page One. Notice how this story isn’t about a current event; it’s a type of feature story called a follow-up.

Index

One of the last page elements that copy editors produce before sending the paper off to the press.

Logo

A small, specially designed title (often with art) used for labeling special stories or series.

Exercise 1. Answer the questions:

1. Why do you think it is necessary for reporters to include quotes in their stories?

2. Is it always the custom to supplement a headline with the deck?

3. What is the difference between periodicals featuring black-and-white and color photos?

4. Why are most well-known papers’ flags designed in a special way?

5. How is text of the story measured in Russian media (in Britain, for example, it’s measured in inches)?

6. What are the most suitable topics to be selected for a centerpiece in Russian media?

7. How do teasers differ from each other according to the type of media?

8. Are there special rules for reporters on how to write a good lead?

 

Exercise 2. Find in the text words and expressions that are synonymous to the following:

1. Masthead

2. A main story

3. Piece of news communicated by news service

4. Close-up picture of a person

5. Title of the story

6. To direct to a source for information.

7. A symbol used as trademark

8. Journalist’s contacts printed in a newspaper

9. Main body of the story

Activities

Exercise 1. Match newspaper sections with their definitions.

 

1. Part of the newspaper that provides news about activities of different Religious sects and list of people who died with their burial information.

A) Headlines B) Obituary section C) Classified ads D) Sports

2. Provide movies information and includes games, comics, horoscope.

A) Business and Finance Section B) Home and Culture Section C) Sports Section D) Entertainment Section

3.Provides information about banking, foreign exchange rates.

A) Classified Ads Section B) Sports Section C) Business and Finance Section D) Entertainment Section

4. Most important news title that is printed in big bold letters.

A) Editorial B) Business C) Obituary D) Banner Headline

5. Contains the most important news here or abroad.

A) General News B) Home and Culture Section C) Obituary section D) Sports

6. Contains advertisement

A) Home and Culture Section B) Business and Finance Section C) Entertainment Section D) Classified Ads Section

7. News about recent sports event

A) Business section B) Sports page C) Headlines D) Entertainment Section

8. Section contain views and opinions of the editor or publisher on certain issues or event.

A) Editorial Section B) Business section C) Entertainment Section D) Classified Ads Section

9. Provide ideas about budgeting, food preparation and house improvements.

A) Business and Finance Section B) Classified Ads Section C) Home and Culture Section D) Entertainment Section

10. Contain news from across the country.

A) Local news B) International news C) National news D) Universal news

Exercise 2. Read the article and identified its structural elements: